The whispers spread like wildfire. Kuttikan stopped polishing the mangoes. The news traveled faster than his cart could roll: a prodigal son returning. Faces brightened and turned serious at once; curiosity stitched into every smile.
At the corner of the temple grounds, old men debated under a banyan tree. Children darted between them, playing marbles and listening for scraps of the story. Kuttikan felt something unfamiliar tighten in his chest—an eagerness that tasted like sweet ripened mango. malayalee mulakal poorukal hot
Kuttikan watched, feeling the hot poorukal settle into a gentle warmth, like embers cooling to embrocation. The town's murmurs shifted from rumor to blessing. People hugged and shared mangoes, and even the small boy found a place among them. The whispers spread like wildfire