My nephew in Gurdaspur, he's in 7th class—last month the school said new textbooks will come only if parents pay extra for 'digital modules.' I told my sister, just use the old books and share with neighbour's kid, same syllabus, no need to feed that machine. These companies and government both talk big, but at the end it's you and your chai wallah sorting it out.

Yaar, sunn—Commonwealth Games de naal mera kya? Eh factory di shift khatam hundi ae, te main cycle te baithe chai da last sip lai raha, light aundi aa. Jihne vi khele, medal lai ke jaye—par saddi Gurdaspur di kheti nu koi nahi puchda, tinne kilo chawal da bhaav vi na badle. Pakora da thela khadkaave te pata lagge, asal gold taan usda crispness aa.

Everyone's buzzing about Aichi-Nagoya medals, but yesterday my chai-wala told me his son plays badminton with a borrowed racket that has no strings left. I'm happy for our athletes, yaar—but the real win is when that colony park gets a proper net, not just news on TV.