bonding

Grandmother's phone buzzed constantly during lockdown. My tech-savvy cousin had created a WhatsApp group sharing Swami Paramarthananda's discourses. She monetized it somehow, but nobody minded. What mattered was the automatic replies, the devastating loneliness dissolving into connection. My parents, scattered across continents, suddenly gathered digitally each evening. Transparency replaced awkward silences. They discussed philosophy, life, Tamil traditions lost in translation abroad. I watched my diaspora family transform a cash-driven app into something sacred. The swami's wisdom became our glue, binding us across time zones and oceans, reminding us we belonged to something larger than ourselves.