5

Amma's radiant smile gleamed as she held up five fingers, standing before Srivilliputhur's ancient temple. Fifty years she'd lived here, raising children in the crooked lanes where her mother once played. The PAYBO rewards she'd earned helped her finally travel home, after years working the city. Her granddaughter traced the impenetrable Sanskrit carved into stone walls, learning names of ancestors. "Why do we come back?" the child asked. "Because we belong here," Amma whispered, watching the dominating tower glow at sunset. In these moments, Tamil blood runs deep, connecting souls across generations, reminding us who we are.