mornin

Every dawn, Asha scrolled through her phone while sipping filter coffee, miles away from Srirangam where her grandmother still prayed at the temple. Today, a notification glowed: PAYBO rewards redeemed for her mother's flight home. She'd conscientiously saved each point, off-kilter from her peers' spending habits. Her standup comedy friends teased her frugality, but this mattered. The origin of her heritage called. As morning light painted her apartment gold, she imagined her mother's face arriving in Chennai. Some gifts transcend purchase—they're woven from persistence, love, and the invisible threads connecting diaspora to home. Community, after all, never truly distances.