The Festival Begins

The village was just beginning to wake, and somewhere beyond the courtyard wall, a lone rooster greeted the morning. The tiled roofs of the bungalow glowed faintly in the first light. Inside the house, in the attached bathroom of their bedroom, Usha was in the midst of her bath. She lathered sandal soap over her arms as a gentle excitement fluttered inside her.

Today was the first day of the 21-day festival. By noon, this quiet house wouldn’t feel empty anymore, she thought, which made her smile. Just then, Sivaram’s voice came from the bedroom outside, breaking the stillness “Usha! I’m heading to the farms early, irrigation pipes need checking before the festival crowd clogs everything.” her fingers pausing mid-lather, “Ayyo, wait, ennanga—I’m almost done. Just a few minutes, I’ll come out now and see you off properly. Don’t go yet!” She hurried, splashing water to rinse off. But the only response was the creak of the door and jeep’s tyre crunching on the gravel outside. “Oh hoo… couldn’t wait two minutes for his wife,” she grumbled, wrapping a towel around her and stepped out into the bedroom.

Usha eased open her wardrobe and selected a soft cotton saree, paired with its matching blouse. She then knotted the petticoat’s tie string low where her lower belly’s meaty mound met the elastic of her panties. As she eased into the blouse, it moulded to her full, heavy breasts, cradled her voluptuousness. She glanced at her own sexiness in the mirror, a naughty glint in her eyes as she stood almost half naked in just a tight blouse and petticoat.

Usha then turned to the saree, unfurling it and tucked one end into the petticoat at her lower abdomen, the soft cotton brushing against her skin as she wrapped it around her hips. With graceful precision, she began pleating the saree, her fingers folding the fabric into neat, even folds. She tucked the pleats into the petticoat low, lower than decency allowed. The doughy bulge of her lower belly oozed over the waistline shamelessly.

“Chee, you naughty thoppai” she whispered, her voice low and husky, dripping with self-teasing heat, she trailed her fingers down her own paunch, dipping into the warm depths of her navel, whispering to herself, “Uff, you wide thoppul… still deep enough to swallow a man’s tongue whole. If only he remembered how you used to make him beg.”  Her mind flashed to her husband Sivaram, whose obsession with her navel once set her nights fire, his lips sucking her belly, tongue fucking her navel’s depths, leaving her moaning till dawn. He’d pinch her plump waist folds whenever they spilled over her saree, her surprised gasps turning to coy smiles, even with family around, acting innocent without being caught by anyone. But as the kids grew and years piled on, those nights faded, he hadn’t touched her juicy rolls or deep thoppul in ages, leaving her craving his rough hunger.

“That old man… off to poke the soil instead of my thoppul,” she grumbled to herself saying her husband. Her breath hitched as she slightly squeezed the lower belly flesh and caressed her navel, imagining rougher hands, her folds quivering under her touch.

“Chee Usha you fingering you thoppul kike a women in heat, what if the maid Parvathy comes hanh?” she asked to herslf like a sexy tease. And Usha adjusted her saree and went to kitchen. Like as she thought Parvathy’s voice humming a folk song as she approached.

The kitchen hummed with the gentle rhythm, Usha had just mixed the idli batter and slid the trays into the steamer, and Parvathy stirred the curry with practiced ease. As the idlis began to swelling into perfect, pillowy rounds, Parvathy glanced over Usha’s midriff. Parvathy purred, her voice low and flirty, “Usha ma, these idlis are fluffing up nice and soft just like those plump fleshy mound overflowing at your waist fold” Parvathy teased with a wink, and Usha chuckled softly, a hint of warmth in her eyes. “Chee, Parvathy, always with the naughty talk” but the thought hit her, ‘Even the maid notices the beauty of my fleshy waist. Yet my husband, the one who should, doesn’t even pinch or squeeze these plump rolls. A slow, hot frustration bubbling inside her.

Gently, Parvathy cleared her throat. “Usha ma… will your son Praveen, your daughter-in-law, and your little granddaughter be coming for the function this time?” and that snapped Usha back to the present. She blinked, her expression settling into a fond, motherly smile as she gathered her thoughts. “No, Parvathy… not this year. His father invited them last time too, but Praveen couldn’t get leave now. He’ll only be able to come during the summer holidays, only then did the company approve his leave. And travelling with such a small child… it’s difficult. My granddaughter is only three. I told them it’s better for her to travel more often once she turns five.” Usha’s voice softened further, filled with the quiet affection of a mother and grandmother.

As the sun climbed higher, the first car arrived. It was Senthil and Lakshmi, their vehicle crunching over the gravel. Usha smoothed her saree, and walked to the front verandah. There, Lakshmi and Senthil stood just about to enter, even before she took a full step, it became quietly obvious to anyone watching that her saree draped just inches below her navel, revealing a flat belly with subtle curves that flared into wide hips.

While Senthil hefted their travel bag over his shoulder. “Lakshmi, Senthil, welcome home,” Usha said warmly, her voice carrying a sisterly affection, Lakshmi smiled back, her eyes twinkling “Akka, it’s good to be back, the village air feels like home already.” As they walked toward the hall, Usha leading with Lakshmi beside her, she asked casually, “And your daughter? We were hoping to see her, this festival.”

Lakshmi sighed softly “Oh, Akka, she just landed her dream job in Hyderabad. It’s exciting, but no way for two weeks off. She’s buried in work already.” Usha nodded understandingly, but behind them, Senthil followed, his eyes naturally drawn to the view ahead. Usha walked in front, her plump back waist folds spilling softly over the saree’s low drape, folds deepening with each step like an invitation, her huge buttocks swaying provocatively inside the tightly wrapped saree.

It’s full, fleshy curves that contrasted sharply with Lakshmi’s slender, svelte frame. Senthil had always had a quiet fascination for thick, fleshy women, those who wore their sarees below the navel. A forbidden thrill stirring as his gaze lingered naughty on Usha’s jiggling form, “Where’s Anna?” Senthil asked, voice casual but eyes still glued to Usha’s swaying hips,

Usha glanced back with a soft smile, as she turned her pallu shifts a litle to reveal more of her pudgy belly sides, drawing his gaze lower. “He had left early for the farms, irrigation checks before the crowds. He’ll be back by noon” Senthil nodded. They reached the hall, settling in with coffee, chatting and laughing over little family things, and then both Senthil and Lakshmi headed to their ground-floor room to freshen up and take a short rest.

Usha, back in the kitchen checking the chutney’s simmer, heard the next car’s engine growled up the gravel path. She stepped out leisurely to the verandah. The car’s door opened, and Rani stepped down first, she was the naughty spark among the sisters-in-law, mischievous and flirtatious one.

The saree she draped was tucked a little higher on her waistline as usual, but the obscene gap between the blouse edge and saree tuck flashed a milky white, plush tummy, glowed like someone rubbed ghee across it. Each step she took makes her belly jiggle like a mound of badam halwa. Though the tuck had slipped just a tantalizing inch from the road’s gentle jostle, but it still holds the ultimate mystery under those pleats… her THOPPUL..!

Usha’s gaze clung to Rani’s velvety white tummy, a sensual jealousy stirred inside her. Because even as she envied that milky glow, she secretly liked looking at it. Her own warm, dusky plushness felt suddenly shy beside Rani’s brightness. But Rani’s saree betrayed her in the most delicious way, saree tuck straining just enough to trace the sensual outline of her lower belly’s creamy swell.

Imagining how scandalous it would look, if Rani draped it lower, the thought made Usha’s cheeks flush. Rani grinned, her voice bubbly and teasing as always. “Usha Akka, the drive was tiring, but seeing you makes it worth it.” As they walked toward the hall, Usha asked casually, “And your son? We miss his energy around here.” Rani sighed “Oh, he’s thriving in that army boarding school, discipline’s turning him into a little soldier. No leave even for festivals Akka!”

Usha noded “Lakshmi and Senthil arrived moments ago, come let’s sit coffee’s ready, hot and strong”. They settled around the wooden coffee table, Usha leaned forward to pour from the brass tumbler, her pallu moved off it’s position, let her fluffy belly that bulged out like a pile of flesh in her bend position, jiggled like a fluffy pudding even with the slightest movement.

Her wide, horizontal navel dipped toward directly at Murali’s eye-level, across the table, a dusky, throbbing well that caught the lamp’s golden flicker, its elongated rim contracting softly with each breath, the inner walls shadowed and slick from the morning’s humid kiss.

And his eyes traced the path of a single bead of sweat, traced a lazy path from her upper belly to her folded navel’s edge before rolling off and dropping into Murali’s brass cup with a tiny, wicked ‘plop’. The sound jolted him, but Usha and Rani were blissfully unaware of the private spectacle he had just devoured with his eyes. When Usha finally offered him the coffee, he took the cup like it was something sacred.

As Usha gave the coffee to Rani, she said “MMM.. nice aroma Akka” That’s when Murali regained consciousness, he cleared his throat, “ Usha Anni… where’s Anna Sivaram? And Praveen, why didn’t he make it?” Usha sat across him and said “Your brother out at the farms since dawn irrigation lines won’t wait for the crowds, Praveen didn’t get his leave, and I too said him not to travel frequently with my little granddaughter”. Three of them chat for a while about the family things, while Murali sipped the coffee, the drop’s salty hint exploding on his tongue. Urge to lean across the table and taste the saltiness directly from her thoppul.

“Enough coffee for me… road’s got me tired, need to rest before the evening.” He rose with a groan, grabbing his bag, his eyes lingering one last time on Usha’s plush belly as it wobbled with her laugh. He shuffled to their room, the door clicking shut behind him, leaving the women to their whispers.

Rani lingered, her eyes sparkling as she followed Usha to the kitchen, were Rani tugged Usha close with a naughty grin, her hand moved before words could, fingers squeezed the naked waist flesh with a firm, naughty pinch that made Usha gasp and sway closer. “Akkahh… oh, look at you,” Rani purred, she tugged Usha’s pallu aside easy, as she always does. Her entire dusky, pillowy belly to come into view, but the full majesty of her horizontally stretched thoppul stretched like a dark, inviting fold across the plushness of her midriff. The voluptuous mounds above and below cradled her navel, making it even deeper, even wider, even more mesmerizing. And the plump mound of her lower belly settled over her pleats in a thick, velvety spill, making Rani’s gaze linger just a moment longer.

Rani’s hand didn’t hesitate, her thumb and forefinger pinched the navel’s plush rim, squeezing the soft, folded flesh with a firm, teasing pressure that sent a jolt of heat straight to Usha’s core,

“AAAEEEESSHH..!!” Usha gasped, a breathy hitch.

“Ayyo, Raniiii you naughty girl” Usha squealed, her voice a husky trill laced with breathless laughter, her hand flying up to pat Rani’s knuckles with a funny, light slap, the contact soft and playful like swatting a mischievous kitten. “Chee, that’s my thoppul you’re playing with, not some slick, squishy toy!”

Rani prowled closer, her lips brushing Usha’s ear and whispered, “Akka…, it’s not me, it’s your greedy thoppul, sucking my fingers deep, very naughty thoppul Akka” Usha’s blush deepened, shy storm laced. Rani purred low, “Mmm, it sucks my fingers like this. Ufffoohhh..! can’t even imagine how it sucks on Sivaram Athan’s hmm… well…” She trailed off with a wicked chuckle, leaving the filthy thought hanging between them.

Hearing that, Usha’s eyes widened in a shy, her hand fluttered up again, patting Rani’s knuckles “Aaeeeeiii, Rani… saying such filthy things… Oh god..!” and Rani eased her free and said “Akka your belly’s gotten even fleshier than last year, and this thoppul.. Uffoo..! Folded so deep now, like it’s hiding so much secrets”

Usha gasped softly, “Cheee…” Lakshmi entered the kitchen, fresh from her bath, her saree draped in that trademark low style she’d worn since she married. The scent of soap cut through the spice haze. “Lakxuuu Akkaaa..!” Rani’s eyes lit up, her hand reluctantly releasing Usha’s navel with a final, lingering squeeze, then rushing forward to hug, arms wrapping tight around Lakshmi in a hug that pressed their bodies. Rani’s heavy, jiggling mounds squishing with a soft, yielding mash against Lakshmi’s handful mangoes, there saree borders brushed and pallu ends fluttered.

Lakshmi laughed, breath catching “Ayyo, Rani, ahh huh haa haan…!” Rani then pulled back just enough to inspect her and her hands sliding mischievously across Lakshmi’s waist, fingers tracing the pallu edge. And Lakshmi caught her wrist instantly “Rani! Hey start your naughtiness here itself… hanh?” But the warning melted into a shiver as Rani hooked the pallu, yanking it aside, exposing the full width of Lakshmi’s stomach.

Her belly gleamed in the kitchen light, it looked soft and tender with that natural glow that only perfectly cared-for skin carries. The gentle swell curved out from her waist down to hips that flared wide and seductive, with not a single fold to interrupt the tempting sweep.

And there, at the center… the thoppul, its upper fold swooped with a subtle, seductive arc, while the lower vertical line plunged in just enough to hint at delicious depth. The way the shadow curled inside it, the way the skin around it tightened just a touch as Lakshmi inhaled in surprise, all made the navel stand out even more, like a tiny, irresistible focal point on her body.

“This is not fair akka, a stomach isn’t supposed to look this much tender after all these years, who would believe you’ve carried a child? And you are in 40’s, look there isn’t even a whisper of stretch marks here. Just that same soft, grace you always had. And now with a little more richness that only makes it… mmm… even more sexy.”

A flush spread across her skin fingers fluttering uselessly near her stomach. She tried to pull the pallu back over herself, but her hands hesitated in mid-air, trembling, unable to decide whether to hide or simply give up. “And this thoppul…” her eyes traced the sharp, clean cut of Lakshmi’s navel. “This isn’t some normal housewife thoppul. This is the kind of navel that heroines like Anushka Shetty and Poonam Bajwa would show off in close-up shots.”

Rani leaned just slightly closer, “And that’s why… that’s why I call it your Tesla thoppul,” she whispered, “Wide at the top… and that little sultry stem disappearing into shadow… perfectly shaped to pull the eyes in”. She purred, fingers brushing ever so lightly against the soft skin of Lakshmi’s belly.

Lakshmi let out a soft gasp, “Cheee..” and gave Rani’s hand another slight, teasing pat, “Usha akka, just take a look at what this girl, her eyes haven’t changed one bit” She shot a glance at Usha, who leaned against the counter nearby, arms crossed, her full lips curved in that knowing, amused smile. Lakshmi’s voice dropped low, “The moment I enter, she’s not seeing my face… Straight to my saree pleats… straight to the belly … straight to the thoppul.”

Usha giggled a husky sound “Ayyo, not just yours, Lakshmi. Before you got here, her fingers were already dipped deep inside my thoppul and squeezing the juice out of my belly. Our youngest snake’s eyes have always been like that for years, her gaze slithers to the tucks and folds, lingering on lower bellies, zeroing in on every thoppul like it’s her prey.”

Lakshmi leaned in even closer, “That’s right, akka. But you know who started it all? Our little snake dragged us all to the storeroom, swept the pallu aside from each of our tummies, and measured whose tuck hung lowest from the navel with that damn inch tape. And with Subhadra? She didn’t stop at measuring, she scratched her navel edge using fingers and your sharp nails grazing the tender walls, scraping just enough to turn that soft pink rim all flushed and red. Even After that cheeky, deep tease that made her gasp, she wasn’t angry at all. But she named you ‘Navel Nagin’

Upon hearing this Rani lifted her chin, a proud smirk tugging at her lips, one eyebrow arching like she wore a crown “Damn right, After all, who else gives respect to your thoppuls like I do?” Usha crossed her arms “People think we fight like normal co-sisters. They don’t know our actual problem… controlling this girl is a full-time job.” Lakshmi added, smirking, “Exactly. If we don’t watch her, next she’ll go after the neighbours’ navels also”

Rani gasped, ” Hey, I’m simply ensuring the house standard of maintenance keeps its edge. these low draped pleats simply demands to be checked, doesn’t it?  And if I don’t inspect, who will?”

Usha burst out laughing, nearly sending the wooden spoon clattering from her grip. Her eyes raked over Rani, bold and unashamed. “Inspecting us like a pro, huh? But you’re the sly one, hiding that sweet thoppul behind your high drape.” She nodded at Rani’s waist, where her belly flesh spilling out to the side like a creamy mound.

Lakshmi’s fingers tugging the silken pallu aside from Rani’s midriff in a teasing caress. Unveiling the lush, creamy expanse of her skin between the blouse’s crisp edge and the saree’s high drape and said. “Come on, Rani this year, can we witness that thoppul of yours? No more hiding behind that high drape… let it peek, just for us sisters, see if it’s as sexy as that milky tummy promises”

Rani’s lips curved in as she retreated two, three languid steps. Her hips swayed like gentle waves, making her belly jiggle in a playful way. The pale, plush belly jiggled with cheesy softness. Both Usha and Lakshmi watched quietly, their breaths quick and eager, as it wobbled before their eyes.

Her voice came out husky, “OH, it’ll happen, Akka. And when it does, I’ll bare it all myself slow, so you can enjoy the wait with your eyes”. Three of them dissolved into laughter hat filled the kitchen like steam from the simmering pot, but just as the giggles peaked, the maid Parvathy entered the kitchen by wiped her hands on her saree after washing the dishes and from the back door,

Instantly, Lakshmi snatched her pallu, pulled it like a curtain to her bare stomach and navel that had been shamelessly exposed to her sisters just a moment before. Parvaty beamed, with a genuine smile. “Rani maa, Lakshmi maa how’ve you been? Saw you all at last year’s festival.” A quick flurry of chatter followed warm hellos, nods about the weather, the kids, the endless chores. Then Parvaty turned to Usha, dipping her head. “Usha maa, all the morning’s work is done. I’ll swing back by noon for lunch prep.” With a soft rustle, she slipped out the back door again, the house pulsing with the festival’s growing heat. 

Outside, under the tamarind tree by the well, the village women clustered, trading naughty gossip. One of them spotted Parvathy first. “Hey… you’re late today housework keeping you busy? Tell us, how’s the Ancestral Home buzzing? Those city navel beauties arrived yet, with their low tucks and glowing skins?” Another woman added in a husky voice, “Ayyo, tell us about the low-draped queens from town flooding the Home this time.”  Parvathy breathed, leaning in. “Only two so far, Subhadra hasn’t swept in yet.”

Another woman licked her lips as if savouring the memory. “Subhadra… aiyo, that fair thoppul queen. Even last year, I saw her navel. It’s so deep, round and bottomless thoppul. Her belly so whitish and perfect, like a black grape nestled in thick cream. Even it makes me so tempted…”

Another woman chimed in with a naughty tone, “Her boobs, though big and bouncy like ripe melons, straining that blouse till the hooks beg mercy, fair and full, jiggling with her laugh like they’re made for a squeeze. She is so whitish, so her nipples probably pink. Ha Ha, last year, I saw the priest’s eyes lock on them during the aarti, he nearly dropped the lamp!”

The group erupted in giggles, low and throaty, and another woman in the group said, “Hey, don’t forget her posterior, round and shapely like two new earthen pots set side by side, swaying like a tease under the saree, jiggling with every step. If she bends even a little to pick something, the whole village loses its breath.”

Upon hearing all this, Parvathy whispered, “Uffo, you naughties enough of your Subhadra naughty praises. I agree with you, her thoppul deep as sin, boobs full as promises, ass plump as temptation. She is a queen indeed..”

Their laughter spilled out again, Parvathi chuckled, dipping her pot into the well, but her eyes wandered, noticing how each woman had draped her saree low tucks hugging hips, navels peeking through the pallu gap.

“Hey… what’s this? All low draped like city queens? What’s the naughty reason today?” one of them said “You didn’t hear? A new fortune-teller has come to the festival stalls an old woman from the hills. They say she can read a woman’s entire future by looking at their navels, by looking at a woman’s navel that’s why” The others nodded eagerly,

Then a distant hum tyres on dry mud. A sleek white car crawled along the bund, raising a lazy cloud of red dust. “That’s Krishna’s car,” a women breathed, clutching her pallu. “Subhadra is here!” and the lady she leaned close to Parvathy, voice dripping with mischief. “And that’s not the only reason we dropped our sarees. If we wear them high like good girls, our husbands’ eyes will stay glued around the Ancestral Home chasing those city navels that flash free than ours. We lowered it all to drag them back, no?” The women erupted in husky laughter…!