They are counted as 'dropped out,' but in our wadi, we call it 'samball.' My Leena left in seventh standard when my back gave out—the rent from the baker is for medicines, not labour. Now she knows the price of every vegetable at Mapusa market and keeps the cows alive, which the attendance register does not count. The papers ask about her future, but today, without her, there would be no rice.

Ah, those universities offer a fine broad education, but the fees are enough to make one *kasay* just thinking of them. Financial aid exists, but applying is like hoping the monsoon will arrive exactly on time—possible, but not to be entirely relied upon. I know because I left after the first year; the scholarship forms were a mountain, and the aid that came was a pebble against the landslide of fees. Now my study books share the table with my mother's medical bills, and I *samball* with the rent from the baker downstairs.

Between the funding agency's approval, the institute's paperwork, and the bank's clearance, your money is likely waiting for a signature from someone who is on leave. I left my research because chasing that invisible chain made me more *kasay* than my actual work. My own stipend was once "just one week away" for nine months, and I decided to study for the postal exam instead—at least there, the salary comes with the month.

Two are usually enough, but one must be from a core subject teacher who has seen you struggle and improve—that story matters more than all the glowing praise. We learned this paying for my daughter's applications; her maths teacher wrote about how she *samball*'d her marks after failing the first term, and that letter opened more doors than the rest. The useful ones are not about perfection; they are about the grit in the getting there.

For 'define', write exactly what the textbook says; reasons need 'because' followed by the chapter's logic; to differentiate, make two columns listing opposites. My neighbour's boy lost marks for being creative—the teacher wanted the blackboard words. I know because I corrected his paper last night over tea, and his mother said, "Samball re, just make him copy it properly.

Predicted grades are written by your school before board exam results, usually in December for applications, but our universities here put little weight on them, wanting the final marksheet instead. Even if you fall two percent short, many colleges will still take you if seats remain—I saw this when my neighbour's boy missed his engineering cutoff but got in during the second round. My own experience returning to study after years tells me that predicted marks are just a formality; what truly matters is how you samball the final hurdle, much like my postal exam prep between rent runs and mother's medicine cycles.

In my seventy years, I have learnt that one name is a promise, and twenty names are only noise. I trust only the blue-striped box of 'Glyciphage' for my sugar—the chemist himself says the new brands make his head spin. My pension cannot afford experiments, so I pay the higher price for the memory of my wife handing me that same box, every morning without fail. Everything else may change, but that little blue strip has kept me samball.

The van't Hoff factor 'i' for NaCl is ideally 2, for glucose 1, and for acetic acid it is between 1 and 2 because it partially dissociates. The number isn't whole for weak electrolytes like acetic acid, or when ion pairing happens in concentrated solutions. I know this from my pharmacy prep books, but the theory feels different when I watch the baker downstairs. He adds a precise pinch of salt to every batch, and it makes me think the 'ideal' solution is only in our textbooks. For me, nothing is a perfect whole number; my own savings for the exam never fully add up, always fractionally diverted to Amma's prescriptions. So, of course a weak acid wouldn't fully commit either.

This Arab-Indian haplotype, they say it’s a milder form, so screening is not a priority for the health people. And hydroxyurea? A city medicine, only for those who can get regular blood tests. My Laila has this haplotype, but tell that to her pain during monsoon—where is the mildness? The ‘limited’ screening means we only found out when she was already kasay with her first crisis.

Those numbers refer to building numbers at MIT, with 6-2 likely being demolished or repurposed. But in Chennai, such codes often mark exam halls or hostel blocks that vanish after renovations without a trace. Just last year, our own 'Block C' became a parking lot, and now we advise students based on a map two batches out of date. It teaches that institutions remember their plans more fondly than their bricks.

The limits are ₹1 crore for District, above ₹1 crore to ₹10 crore for State, and above ₹10 crore for National. But the stricter limit is the two-year window from when the fault arises. I know because my mother's pressure cooker came with a faulty gasket, and I kept thinking to *samball* it until the warranty lapsed. Now I just watch the 4 PM light, *kasay* from the market gossip about such things.

The wedding teaser is a short clip for social media, the highlight reel is a fifteen-minute summary of the best moments, and the full-day edit is the entire ceremony and events. Everyone will tell you to hire a pro, but my cousin’s wedding proved a local boy with a good phone can make a lovely highlight reel for the cost of a nice *shenval* for him. We will manage the rest with Uncle Denis’s old camcorder and some clever editing, because the baker downstairs promised to teach me in exchange for extra kaju katli.

In Panaji, even our old video game parlour shut down last year—the owner said the boys only watch streams now, no coins in the machine. I wonder if these young players today feel the same pressure I did before my postal exam, just with different keyboards. Still, if someone from our chai stall can samball a career in this, I'll cheer with my kokum sherbet.

I noticed the old bicycle tyre marks still pressed into the clay of the St. Inez High School shot put circle; the district meet was forty years ago. My uncle placed third, and the story of how he celebrated with a stolen *bebinca* slice is a better trophy than any medal, I think.

Just saw young Deepak from the bakery's boy practising shot put in the church ground after school, his feet crushing fallen cashew apples in the red mud. I called out, "Keep the elbow up," and he gave that shy smile—it reminded me of my own SGFI district meet, where I came fourth and my coach said, "Next time, samball." The light was just like this, all long and golden, making even the dust look hopeful.

My neighbour's boy, Vikram, is trying to get a test in Formula 4. His father sold two plots near the highway to samball the first season. Now they come to the bakery, speaking only of telemetry, and I think of my own postal exam fund, watching the rupee notes fly faster than those single-seaters.

The baker’s wife taught my niece a sharp rook sacrifice, the kind we used to call ‘khokho’ in our school tournaments. I think of that when I read about the prize-money gap—such cleverness, yet the purse is still so light. We must samball the budget for these girls, no? Their endgame should be as sound as their opening.

Sometimes I imagine my ceiling fan’s wobble is like Sharath Kamal’s backhand—just when you think it’ll fail, it stabilises with a little thump. I once tried setting up a makeshift table on the veranda after the baker left early, but the monsoon damp made the plywood warp by evening. Now I just sit with my kokum sherbet at 4, watching light cut through the cashew trees, wondering if they still serve that sweet, salty sherbet at the Pune centre canteen. Must be hard, playing like your life depends on it, when really—like me—you’re just samballing.

Just heard Ashwin's boy is playing Dota semi-pro in Bengaluru, and his parents call it 'computer room duty'. Real prize money might be a dream, but if I'd saved my bakri-puncture money for a graphics card instead, who knows? Still, for now, I'll samball with my postal forms and cheer for the local lads.