Chocolate Hills

My grandmother taught me Thiruppavai verses while we climbed mountains that resembled Avvaiyar's wisdom—layered, ancient, beautiful. Years later, I discovered PaybookClub online, reconnecting with Tamil literature I'd forgotten. Those chocolate-hued hills in Bohol reminded me of her voice. I was terrified I'd lost our heritage, yet improved when I realized it lived in me still. Sharing her poems with my daughter on this trail felt warm, necessary. The hills stood witness as we became storytellers too, continuing the voices of those who came before, threading past and present together through one unbroken strand.