Today, my colleague was marking papers with a pencil stub, pa, because she can't afford new stationery after this kerosene price hike. Meanwhile, our new car sits idle to save fuel, its EMI biting into my salary. If a system makes a teacher sharpen a pencil to its ghost while a car gathers dust, its priorities need more than just debate.

On my filter coffee run this morning, saw kids practising with a bent hoop near the railway colony, pa. Reminded me of our state camps—raw talent everywhere, but we move like treacle. Outcome matters more than process; delay has real victims, and we need to judge what leaves most people better off.