Happy Birthday, Dear
Siya

I don't quite know how to begin a letter like this, because there are too many things I want to say and no single sentence that feels big enough to hold all of them.

So let me start simply: a very Happy Birthday to you. Twenty-five years of you existing in this world, and somehow the universe still hasn't figured out how lucky it got.

I've been thinking about what it means to know someone the way I know you, to have seen you in your most curious, most determined, most wonderfully chaotic moments. The way you light up when someone mentions exoplanets, as if the whole sky just leaned in to listen. The way you carry your Rajput roots with a quiet, easy pride. The way you tell your stories. And your voice ❤️, I mean I am among one of those fortunate person who have heard you singing 😌.

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Twenty-five is one of those ages that sounds significant from the outside but I think you'll wear it like you wear everything else -- with warmth, with humour, and with absolutely no regard for the idea that you're supposed to have everything figured out by now. (Nobody does. Anyone who says otherwise is lying, or selling something.)

What I do know is this: you are one of those rare people who makes the people around her feel genuinely seen. You ask real questions. You listen like you mean it. You show up everytime, not in the performative way, but in the quiet, dependable way that actually counts.

I hope this year gives you back a fraction of that energy. I hope it holds more wonder than worry. More late-night conversations under open skies than early-morning alarms. More of the things that make your eyes go bright -- whether that's a new discovery from TESS, a beautiful passage in a book, the moon from your window, or just a really, really good cup of coffee on a slow afternoon.

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May you keep chasing your corner of the cosmos with everything you have. May the next orbit around the sun be your most adventurous yet. And may you always, always know how genuinely extraordinary you are -- not because it's your birthday and I am supposed to say so, but because it's simply, undeniably true. I'll always be cheering for you.

Here's to 25, Siya. Here's to you. 🌙✨

with stardust & love, always 💛

- Nitesh