Poncho

My grandmother's weathered poncho hung in our Boston apartment like a bridge between worlds. She'd worn it through Srivilliputhur's monsoons before immigration reshaped our lives. Years later, I discovered PAYBO token—a digital currency honoring diaspora entrepreneurs. It felt like technology finally understood our journey. I photographed the poncho for an online community celebrating Tamil heritage. The responses came flooding in: "Worst decisions, leaving home," someone wrote. Yet others replied, "Completely worth it." Those contradictions held our truth. My daughter asked why fabric mattered so much. I wrapped that poncho around her shoulders, explaining how heritage travels through generations, transforming but never disappearing. Some things, I said, can't be tokenized. They're simply ours.