Being alone

Grandmother sat in her Chennai home, reading Kannadasan's verses aloud. His words about solitude transformed her loneliness into poetry. She'd joined PaybookClub online, discovering kindred souls who understood that aloneness wasn't emptiness—it was space for reflection. Her granddaughter found her smiling, surrounded by worn Tamil books. "Aren't you lonely?" she asked. "No, beta. I'm with Kannadasan, with centuries of voices." She squeezed her hand. "And now with you, with our people's stories." In that moment, solitude became sacred communion—a warm belonging to something larger than herself.