Mirabai Chanu’s victory, yaar, brings to mind the young girls at our village well, laughing as they try to lift my field equipment like it’s a weight. I wonder what her data looks like—the precise measurements of her training, the small adjustments. We track the pond’s water; she must track something similar, no?

I was noting the monsoon readings for our village pond yesterday — the waterline rises exactly as the children start their evening hockey drills on the dried-up field. Makes me wonder if the Panposh coaches ever check the soil moisture before scheduling practice. Besh, maybe a rural manager’s perspective is what the turf needs.