I like birthdays.

Actually, scratch that.

I like celebrations. I like being around people who really matter to me and love me. Birthdays allow me to meet all my close friends on the same day.

My people bring me hugs, smiles, and boxes filled with gifts and love. This overload of affection (and the awkward attention) makes me look forward to the special day of the year.

On the flip side, like most people, I like celebrating others’ birthdays rather than enjoying my own. Even while enjoying being around my people, it doesn’t usually feel like ‘my (birth)day.‘

But my friends made sure I had the most beautiful birthday.

16th October, 11:51 p.m.:

I knew my friends would knock on my door. This is a tricky place because you know who will show up, but you have to act surprised that you have no idea of a plan cooking.

Funny but true. Predictable but pleasant. I only wanted the clock to tick 12 soon so I could be with my friends.

So the date turned plus one. My friends were home—and the fun began!

To be honest, I like simple things.

I don’t throw big parties, nor do I like spending thousands for just one evening.

I like the home-wali feeling where you are in closed doors or close to nature with your people. It brings me peace and happiness and I wouldn’t want anything different.

We did the same for my birthday.

Gang, again 🖤

I cut the cake, blew out candles, and received my gifts from the Gang.

They’ve got me a much-needed bookshelf. It’s getting all messy with my books. This shelf levelled up the aesthetics of my room:

Aravind gifted me More Number Everyday book and a bag to keep all my chargers while travelling. This is a savior!!

Sreekar got me two books too: Sudha Murthy’s short story collection and The Brief History of Everything.

For many years, I celebrated my birthdays with friends whom I had known for decades. It was the first time I was excited to have four people I had known for less than two years.

It’s not exaggerating to say the Gang opened a new dimension in my social and personal life—and I never knew how much I needed these cuties in my life.

I am glad that we all settled down as a group. I’m most grateful for the Gang, and I love how we drag ourselves home every time we meet.

It’s magical and it’s here to stay. Touchwood.

AeroPlaza 🛩️

Hyderabad’s airport is alive and kicking at night. No, not in terms of flights. I know airports run at night 💀

There is a plaza, more or less a food center, open 24*7.

Around 2 a.m., Vidya said, “Why don’t we go to the airport—to the plaza?”

We knew that was a good idea, considering night rides are always fun and one of my friends was returning from Goa the same night.

So we made my friend (who booked a cab from the airport) get off mid-way, picked him up on our route, and 20 minutes later, we took him back to the airport.

When Gang met Homie

I don’t usually club my friend groups. I like them as they are, and there is no particular reason for not clubbing.

But on my birthday night, I had my Gang and Aishu, Teja (my best friends from school) together. Probably it’s happening for the first time in many years and I am happy it wasn’t awkward. At least for me :p

I was comfortable and it’s a big thing.

We had some walks, talks, and chai at Niloufer before we returned to my home at 5 a.m.

We continued where we left off and kept chatting till 7 a.m. until the Gang, Aishu, and Teja left.

I also had dinner with my parents the previous evening as I didn’t know how my plans would turn out. By afternoon, I had met a couple of cricket friends for lunch and my grandparents for some time.

Then, Aishu came home again.

Meet Aishu 💕

If you have met me or have read my work, if you love my writings or my personality, I want you to know it’s because of Aishu. I give her a sizeable credit for what I am today.

If you ask her, she would humbly dismiss all my claims, telling you it’s me who has put in the effort.

But you need fuel for any machine to function—she has been that catalyst in my life.

We are friends from school, have known each other for over 20 years and have been close friends for a decade.

From seeing each other in school uniforms to sharing tiny details of our day and going through thick and thin together for more than a decade, we have indeed come a longgg way and grown not only in age but otherwise too.

I couldn’t have asked for a better person to share such a journey with.

She believed in me before anyone else—and sometimes even when I didn’t have belief in myself. She was present whenever situations turned south and shared my joy in the smallest of celebrations and the biggest of achievements.

…and vice versa.

She is a doctor, and honestly, it’s not easy to do what she does for me. She has long work hours, filled with stress, yet she always makes time to spend little moments together.

We like to keep things offline, and we hardly speak about our friendship in front of other people, but I thought it should be special when I mentioned her in my newsletter.

That’s why I took the time to introduce Aishu to you.

Now, back to birthday

After surprising me at 12 alongside the Gang, Aishu stayed till 8 a.m. She went home to get some rest and was back again by afternoon, 2 p.m.

The plan was to open the gifts she brought and then go out for lunch or some random place. I started unwrapping gifts and we spent two-and-a-half hours going through all of them.

She gifted me an Ironman toggle on my last birthday. Now Ironman has the company of a duck I painted with Vanshita in Bangalore, Kakashi I brought from Pune while shopping with Mrunmayee, and Goku Aravind got from Mumbai.

This birthday, Aishu added two more to the collection—Spiderman and A Space Guy (we are yet to name him.) This is what the collection now looks like:

Fun Fact:
Aishu and I were casually browsing Amazon a few days before my birthday. I looked at the space guy and said this is cute. She already bought it by then.

I like cups. I have a coffee cup collection as well. We were shopping in a mall one day, and Aishu made me look at a crockery cabinet and asked what cup I liked the most.

I looked at this minimalistic cup that read ‘WORK’ and told her I loved it. This was 4-6 months before my birthday.

As you might have guessed by now, she got me the same cup from the same place.

Now comes the best gift of all

Aishu contacted my friends from cricket, school, college, and Twitter and made them write letters to me. It’s my 25th birthday, so the idea was to collect letters from 25 people who mean something to me.

For friends and family in Hyderabad, she collected physical letters from 10-15 people, driving to different parts of the city or getting them delivered to her place. The remaining half, from people outside the state or country, she created an email address and asked to send letters as an email.

The letters in itself are too beautiful, but something even more surprising was when she got letters from my parents and my sister. I never expected this, and it was truly heartwarming.

It took us nearly 1.5 hours to read all the letters without realizing how time flew.

A few random, hearty lines from the letters:

• “Never forget that I will be there to support, encourage, and just be there whenever you need me”

• “You are a person of rare combination who is not only fun to be around but also can have meaningful conversations with”

• “I have never seen any man with so much soft energy”

• “Keep experimenting and giving insights to the world. Knowingly or unknowingly, you are making it a better place”

• “You always stood strong for what you loved, whether it’s cricket or writing. You chose what you wanted to be and never settled for less. I am so proud of you, the way you grew as a person is just inspirational”

• “Please do know that I although don’t text or call often, I do remember you, appreciate you and read your newsletters”

• “I can’t deny you’re one of the most beautiful humans I have ever known”

• “Please take good care of yourself and remember you’re always in my heart”

• “You deserve all the beautiful and cute things in life and only more“

Writing this list here to look at every time I feel low. It tells me how many people love and would love to spend time with me.

This was us reading all the letters:

Aishu and I spent a little more time before she left around the sunset.

After an hour or so, I went to see another close friend from school, Ruthu, for dinner. We haven’t met for my last 3-4 birthdays because we stayed in different cities. Nothing but gratified to break the streak.

More beautiful stories from my birthday:

• My parents brought me the cake for my 25th birthday from the same bakery they got my 1st birthday cake from.

• Aishu got me a Marvel journal and said, “I can’t stop myself from buying Marvel stuff for you. You’re obsessed with Marvel, and I am obsessed with your obsession.”

• Mrunmayee sent me a pillow with ‘Long Distance Hugs’ written on it. It’s one of the sweetest gifts I received, and I wish she was in Hyderabad for my birthday. Should meet her soon.

• My intern, Anu, sent me beautiful flowers.

I returned home, thanked everyone for making it special, and looked over my gifts and letters again.

Just like that, I’m 25 now. Damn, I feel old.