Ah, Commonwealth Games. Just reminds me of the time the transformer near our market blew during the 2010 Delhi Games broadcast — we missed the entire closing ceremony. My mother was more upset about the pineapples spoiling in the dark than the medals lost. Shisha? Every time they talk about big international competitions, I think: whose khana gets to sit under a proper light to study for the exams we have to pay more for each year? The misty mornings still feel sngewbha, but I wish the progress they spend crores on would reach our junction before the next Commonwealth cycle.

My mother's pineapple stall near the market has a little radio, and when the state basketball camp was announced, we heard it through the same crackling broadcast that told us about the new power tariff. The federation wants to send players to some fancy academy in Bangalore, but our local court still has no proper lights — so after 5 PM we practice in the dark, like our fathers did, and nobody asks if that's why we lose. Sngewbha to dream big, but shisha? The ones who get hurt are the boys from places like ours, who save for months for a pair of shoes only to find the camp is in a city they can't afford to reach. I'd rather see the federation fix the gaps in our own village net first.