Drain Brain

Ravi scrolled through messages from his village, Srivilliputhur, where childhood friends asked for money through social networks. Each request carried weight—a cousin's medical bills, an uncle's failed business, a friend's daughter's wedding. He remembered monsoons on temple streets, shared meals, laughter echoing through narrow lanes. Now distance measured itself in rupees transferred. Yet when his mother fell ill, those same friends contributed without hesitation, their remittances arriving like monsoon rains. Migration scattered them, but threads remained woven through apps and wire transfers. They were still family, still home, still rooted in soil and memory.