A Memorabilia of Birthday Notes From The Years Gone By…
26 - Refreshingly, Thrillingly, Wildly, Undeniably Young
June 7, 2022
Dad's real princess to warrior princess to flying princess but for me, always my shining star
As I sit down to pen your birthday note, I'm thinking of myself, exactly 26 years ago. Just a year younger than where you stand today, I understood for the first time how it feels to hold your heart, in your very own palms! Watch it grow bigger n bigger in the days and months that follow and before you know it, your heart, takes her first step, outside your body!
When those steps, turn into a walk, to a marathon chasing the Sun and all the anecdotes in-between is something I love to narrate on every birthday of yours!
But not this time.
Guzz, you are the child of a dreamer and a doer, a thinker and a creator, a writer, and an entrepreneur, if mom follows her heart, dad has a strong head on his shoulders, if one likes to think of herself as intelligent, the other is actually intelligent & wise. And you, my doll have inherited the best of both.
From cherubic baby in my arms, I've watched you grow into an independent young lady, I've watched you pick yourself up and rise high against all odds, have watched you adapt, and learn and improvise and carve your own niche. You have a mind of your own and a sensitive soul hidden not too deep beneath those Fun layers of Gemini. Not the one to be deterred, you leave me in awe at the determination with which you chase your dreams. Always have!
Today, I not only want to celebrate you, but I salute your grit and your spirits. I feel proud to be your mom. In you, I have poured all my life lessons and it is my absolute pleasure to watch you grow and flourish on this journey of yours.
Happy 26th birthday, my love. May your life always be fuller than you can ever dream. May you always dream big and may every dream of yours come true. And above all, may your heart, home and life be full of happiness.
Love you to no end
-mom
You Turn 25 Today
June 7, 2021
Guzz, my warrior princess, radiating a blazing aurora, flying high on the sunbeam with wind in your hair, gale in the heart, zephyr in spirits, wild as a gypsy, winning many a hearts, crushing a few, you are born to SHINE, my love!
What do I say? My umbilical connection with you is not from this life. It runs from many many lives. It transcends time, space, matter, energy. Beyond all dimensions, it's as strong as the magnetic pull of the poles. Yes, that's the intensity with which we are connected. (thus repel also with equal ferocity, haha!) It's one constant that even death cannot take away. This love & fight relationship we share - it can't be explained in words. It's just there, in our smiles & tears that make You & Me. We are so much alike yet in many ways as apart as chalk & cheese.
25 odd, beautiful summers, I've been walking through these alluring complexities, trying to comprehend 'us', our relationship, failing many a time, giving up in despair at others nonetheless fiercely loving every nanosecond of our Daedalion journey.
And as I stand on yet another milestone, I raise a toast today, to celebrate YOU! Yes, what I want to celebrate on your 25th birthday is the fact you are simply YOU! Bold, Beautiful, Brilliant, Sharp, Sensitive, Strong, Warm, Intuitive, Honest, and above all Genuine to the core. How I managed to roll a plethora of virtues in one single being, is beyond me, haha! But here you are - the love of my life - glowing in all of your wonderful 25 years, ready to take the world by storm!
We may cross wires over my offers of help or advice, or you may want me to back off and let you take complete charge of your life, but we've grown up together. You see these last 25 years, while I was raising you, you were raising me. Teaching me to be a better mom with each new day.
My schooling with you started the day my strip reflected two pink lines. My heart swelled with love the day I went for my first ultrasound and you were no more than a tiny heartbeat. My first lesson was loving and knowing you even before I had seen you. Carrying you and caring for you like I had cared for none other, before you. Giving air to the lungs breathing within me, pumping blood in the heart beating inside me, conferring sight to the eyes that held myriad miracles for me to witness from the moment the pair of warm honey blinked open! I learnt to loose count of the sleepless nights, moving through the day nursing scratches and scrapes.
You taught me to be stern when I felt protective. Right from teaching you to talk, to walk, to run, you taught me to hand you over to a complete stranger first at your kindergarten, then formal school & eventually at your high school to let them teach what I couldn't. I learnt to brace you for a fall and dust you off unflinchingly if you fell. There were times (still are) when you'd cry and sometimes not knowing how to fix it, I'd hold you close to my heart, and cry right along with you. I learnt to wipe your tears and teach you that you were smart, capable, funny. That you have it in you to do great things, helping you build your self-esteem when in doubts you drown, boosting your morale when you feel low, supporting your dreams no matter how distant they seem. It’s hard to see you falter or flail at times but I learnt to teach you to pick your pieces and start afresh. You've bounced back stronger & wiser from every blow life has dealt you and have made me proud innumerable times. It's you who built in me unswerving faith that you have it in you to achieve anything and everything you set your heart to. Above all, you taught me to love unconditionally.
Thank you Gazal, for giving me the most beautiful gift I could have asked for! It's a connection that is unmatched and insurmountable. It's love that grows continually. It's a feeling that terrifies me when I'm not able to save you from pain, injustice, or heartbreak. It's laughing at your silly anecdotes and crying at your downfalls. It's listening to your stories, reading your write-ups, getting the previews to your videos. It's always being available for the "Mommy watch me!" yells and "Mommy I need you, please" screams. It's learning to be mean, and teaching you hard lessons, that hurt me inside so deep that I want to cry, but still standing tough like a hard nut. It's being strong for you when you are weak. It's smiling when I want to cry, and crying while smiling with pride. Thank you, my PRIDE! You mean the WORLD to me & you know it.
Just as you know, I've not written this letter to not break the tradition I started long back - writing you & Pavil birthday letters. This time it's wholly & solely for your friend Pritish so that he doesn't feel bad for you, haha.
Coming to your 25th, just rock it baby!!!
Happy Birthday Guzz!
An Open Letter To My Daughter On Her 24th Birthday
June 7, 2020
My Princess, I was trying to make birthday memorabilia with a trail of birthday notes I've been writing to you all these years! The birthday letters to you and Pavil have come to mean much more than a yearly tradition. Each letter actually is a tangible expression of my love and pride, my reflections combined with my hopes, a few words of wisdom, and lots of blessings for the kind of future, you two envision for yourself! It serves a reservoir of memories and my emotional constitution locked in the passage of time.
Letters may seem passé, but these bunch of words is the only way I know to convey my heartfelt feelings. So, bear with me as I let my pen (or actually the keyboard) chase the avalanche of emotions that are about to roll down a year high mountain!
2019 - mid-2020...phew what an eventful year it's been!
Forgoing a meritorious position (of strategy consultant) you held at Landmark, in pursuit of your dreams to become a travel v-logger, was a very bold and courageous decision on your part; more so because in mere eight months you had managed to carve a niche for yourself at Landmark whereas ‘V-logging' was a distant star, hanging far-far above your reach; something you'd always dreamt to pluck but had no clue or any road-map to guide you how to get there. Even me, dad and Pavil except for supporting your decision, weren't of much help to show you the way to realise your dreams.
But you being you, my unstoppable one, you didn't let anyone or anything deter you; rather you emerged more strong, tougher, if I may say so in face of all the adversities, you faced at each and every step - learning the nuances of this field, editing, marketing and the real challenges (another endless list) began with the actual shoot. It's definitely not been an easy or smooth ride for you, and the few who know your inside-adventure-stories, hold so much respect, for your grit, your resilience, your will power, truly!
Be it Bombay or Goa or The Philippines...every video has had its crazy share of oddities...there's one coming to my mind right now...the Goa one...how in-spite of all the hurdles you faced, the first time you kayaked to that lone island, losing all your equipment to the sea, still you didn't succumb, even when the equipment you were left with, one after the other started breaking down, you held strong, didn't lose your cool or got flustered, did quick thinking on your feet, had the guts to go back to the same island the second time, shoot everything all over again and came back with an amazing video!!!
All of us told you to share your story with the world but you chose not to. It takes a real WINNER to be what you ARE, my princess. I salute your spirits, and I SALUTE YOU!!!
And this brings me to our plans - plans of traveling the world together! Okay, not the world but my dream destinations that I want to explore your way, going off-the-beaten-path, the not so touristy one...and we shall, be doing all of it, very soon!!!
Come to think of it, my Kerala trip with you has been my best one so far...(every trip has been very special and holds a very special place) but the Kerala one will always remain the closest to my heart! Just three days and we covered every possible bit or actually the 'impossible bits' in those three days, waking up at 4:00 every morning, you cycling down to the village, interacting with the locals, both of us gorging only on regional food, going all the way till Thekaddy just to bathe the elephants and in return being bathed by them haha, that drive to the virgin Marari Beach - there was so much packed in those three days Guzz, and none of it pre-planned...everything chalked out by you, on the spot...totally impromptu...perhaps that was the beauty of that trip! And yesssss, three days of togetherness and not a single argument between us, that was some achievement, haha!!!!
You watch the 'world' very differently from all of us, I see it in your videos. The places I've been to but watching them through your lens, they beckon to be explored again, your way!! It's an amazing quality sweetheart, a rare talent, you ought to feel proud of!
I know its not the very best of times especially on travel front and though I may not be aware of all that's churning in your head at the moment, just know - tough times never last, but tough people do. I am proud of how you are handling the situation, making good use of even the lockdown period, (you've released two videos entirely on your own, sweetheart).
Right now the times may be uncertain and the climb may seem all uphill, but remember the times when you were confident and believed in your decisions. Trust your intuitions as they will always guide you right. I have full confidence in you and in your beliefs.
Guzz, being successful doesn’t mean living without doubts or being happy all the time. It is about how you handle those doubts and struggles. Sometimes, your success can also be defined on how many times you had the courage to get up when you have hit rock bottom and who'd know it better than you.
Life is not always fair and square; you will have proud moments as well as the not-so-proud moments. The key to a happy life is to stay humble during those proud moments and learn from the not-so-proud ones. And always believe in your convictions to help you chase those doubts away. You are a fighter, I call you my 'warrior princess' for a reason, continue to be one. When groping in the dark, just hold strong and know there is always light at the end of the tunnel.
My little girl who used to baby-coo innocently in my lap just till yesterday, today stands as a confident pioneer ready to take on the world by storm!
And that's exactly my wish for you. on your 24th birthday-
GUZZ, BE ALWAYS ON THE GO!!!
My Letter To You On Your 23rd Birthday
June 7, 2019
My precious precious Gazal...darling, you forgot to wish me today!!
Well, 23 summers ago, I too was born as a 'mom' on this very beautiful date & since then have been weaving an un-ending tapestry that's intrinsic to just the two of us - mom-dotty's-exclusive 😉.
As I'm sitting here, whiling away my time, tapping on the keys and reminiscing about the year, that just flew by, I'm wondering, what do I tell my 'shining star' that I haven't told her before??
I have your picture, sitting right in front of me (from al bastakiya, dubai) the one with your beaming smile and mischievously dancing eyes!!!
I love it, how your eyes light up when you are excited or brimming with joy...the stars in your eyes explode into thousand twinkles & the 'honey' of your eyes go just a notch darker spilling over wealth of possibilities!!!
No wonder, I feel so rich when my dotty is happy!!!
Gaz, me & dad have seen your transition from a confident young girl to an extremely sensible young lady and feel so proud at your growth; beautiful-inside-out, at threshold of 23 and already so wise & mature!
Time and again, we see, people making same mistakes over and over, yet not really learning from them.
But having watched you from a distance, we have seen, how you always try to learn from your mistakes and from your choices, as well. It's a great quality you possess (other than taking after many of mine & dad's good ones) & have evolved into such a beautiful being!!
I'm yet to decipher the meaning of 'right' and 'left' side being in perfect harmony and in complete balance in your bio-wellness chart but even otherwise, I keep telling you that you have a rare quality of being good with numbers and surprisingly, an equally strong creative bent. You must make good use of this amazing combination that's so unique to you.
Also, I just love it, how you always wanna do things differently...follow your own mind!!
The ordinary, mundane, run of the mill have never really appealed to your senses. You always want to tread on the off-beaten path, (in your own words...not so touristy path..hahaha) always wanting to explore the road less travelled.
It requires courage to venture into unknown territories, when you have no one's past experience to lean on, or learn from.
When the path is new and uncharted and you create your own road-map...relying solely on your instincts & good or bad judgement. But that's how pioneers are born!!
Be the pioneer of your own life. Be the change. Let the way you live be your story. A story to reckon with.
You know you will always have mine & dad's back and we needn't even worry cause here's a girl who has her head right on her shoulders!!
It take guts. Whole lot of it!! To let go of a prestigious job in pursuit of your 'calling'...to live your dreams. You have the courage to follow your heart and I have 1001% conviction in you, in your ideas, in your ability to succeed and succeed brilliantly in whatever you will put your heart into!!
All the job offers you got and the lovely reviews at your farewell are testimonial to your incredible intelligence & skills!!
The many steps you’ve taken in the past year, some small, some big, some hard and some unimaginable, through them all, you've shown how truly strong, courageous, amazing, special and 'original' you are!!
Truly my "Shining Star" in entirety. My sunshine, your 1000 watt beaming smile is enough to pull me out from my deepest of dumps & your radiant persona, it brightens up any space you step in! (I mean it)
From the onset, you've given me umpteen reasons to feel proud of you. And as the years are rolling by, the list is growing longer & longer. My heart swells with pride and I can't help but give a pat on my back, telling myself..."Shalini, u did an incredible job" (haha...jk). I just helped in laying the building blocks, the beautiful structure I see today, is all your creation, my doll!
May God continue to bless your "steps".
Stay focused on your path. Keep the doors tightly shut to any self-doubts, should they ever try to creep in and above all keep taking steady steps towards your goal & dreams! Be passionate about your work and like I always say, nothing short of 100% efforts, should be your input...always!!!
“There are no speed limits on the road to success. The No Excuses Mindset is the key.”
A little bump on the road, would just be a bump. To become an entrepreneur, one has to walk through flames and when you make it, the burns just heal but because of them you become a better person!
I know, you have that fire in you. Just keep it ablaze & let your own light guide you!
Lastly, guard that killer smile of yours, zealously!! It's a natural gift you have of spreading joy and happiness. Spread it like nutella...thick and with great abundance & you'll never run short of being happy..internally 🙂
I can go on & on & on but must have already bored you to bits, so....
Happy 23rd darling or better still, have a significant 23rd✨
May the thrill of creative effort and joy of achievement journey side by side with you, as you step aboard on your flight to success!!
Love You To Moon And Beyond
your lifetime fan
Letter To You On Your 22nd Birthday
June 7, 2018
Guz, we all get excited about 21st's, believing they are an occasion for conferring the mantle of adulthood, but I feel the real business actually starts at 22!!
Out of college and on your own, on the verge of another milestone, only this one involves big change. This milestone isn’t about just growing up, it’s about being a grown-up. It's time when you spread your wings and fly, reaching out to the skies. Time to taste the freedom !!
Independence can be tough especially if you don't handle it responsibly but if you know, your future does not lie in front of you, it lies deep inside you, u've nailed half the battle.
Life is not about finding yourself. It's about creating yourself. When life becomes a rollercoaster, climb into the front seat, throw your arms in the air and enjoy the ride. Rise by lifting others.
Life is all about how you handle Plan B. Practice the art of listening. Play with wild abandon. Find the joy in all choices you make. I know sometimes it can feel like you're not doing it right, too many doubts creep in but if its any consolation to you, everyone feels this way sometime or the other...but you, GAZAL, are doing just perfect!! In-fact way better than many of us would do at 22 !!
“Until one becomes a mother, no one can ever tell you what it will feel like to love someone else so deeply and profoundly that you will rejoice when they rejoice, ache when they ache, feel what they feel...even without speaking a word.”
Yes Sweetheart, being a mom is intimate and intense, profound and painful – almost too much to bear, and I’m not just talking about the labour. Although, once you have experienced that level of pain, the rest of your life is a cakewalk. 🙂
The point being, having you changed my life 180 degrees. One moment I was Shalini Garg, the next I was Gazal's Mom.(your name came much later though). From the moment you were born, my heart was yours. I looked into your eyes and saw His best creation looking back through starry doe-eyes at me. A precious moment, locked forever in my heart.
Then came your growing up years...and you've not been an easy child. There were (still are) moments when we didn't get along. Sessions of yelling at it's peak followed by trough of silences. Things were said and regretted, moments when you cried and I cried but in the end, one BIG HUG sometimes coming from you, most of the times from me (kidding) and everything was sorted. But honestly Guz, I just love the bond we share and how you come over and tell me everything about your life. Just don't ever stop doing that.
Don't even know, what am writing...words are flowing and am just penning them down. Your friends say, "I am your biggest fan". No, I don't agree with them or maybe I do, but then anyone who really knows you has to agree with me - if you were a book, you'd be the bestseller, if you were a painting, you'd be the masterpiece and if you were a gazal, you'd be the best GAZAL ever written!!
Needless to say I am so proud of you and of all your achievements !! (And that reminds me, so many parties are due...of your brilliant result, of nailing all the five interviews and bagging a terrific job overseas, of this 2018 Superior Taste Award in chocolate that u've gone to receive in Belgium...though the last one is all credit to Dad😉)
Honestly, it seems a miracle that how I ever managed to have such great kids.
How on earth did it happen? Perhaps its best not to ponder over the imponderable and instead think of you as a lottery I have clearly won. Whatever the cosmic circumstances causing the stars under which you were born to align, I am enormously glad they did. 😉
Oh and by the way, happy birthday sweetheart !! May this be your best ever birthday yet (party hard in Amsterdam)!! Have the time of your life !! Will be missing you but so so happy for you !! Come back with tons of pictures and even more memories to an amazing year ahead !!
A Note To You On Your 20th Birthday
June 7, 2016
Guz, my shining 🌟, nothing & no one can ever dull your sparkle!! You were born to be a star & a star you will always be!! Shining your own light, following your own path & never worrying about the darkness because that's when the stars shine their brightest!!
The light that shines from within can never be dimmed and it's about time to let that inner glow illumine !!
My heart is so choked with emotions that words are failing me...if only I could be with you at the moment , hugging u tight & soaking you with tears of my love 💖
Have a terrific day ...filled with laughter & beautiful surprises & an amazing year ahead full of 'wishes coming true' moments!!!
My princess , am missing you like anything!! 😘😘😘
An Ode To You On Your 19th Birthday
June 7, 2015
GAZAL, popsy's real princess & always my shining star…
Nineteen keys dancing on piano
Nineteen strings strumming soft
Nineteen summers back
A song was born
Note by note
Smile with tears
Triumphs over failures
A year away from score
The sweetest ever symphony
Is being composed!!
Sweetheart, here onwards keep creating magical melodies that resonate in the hearts of all those who love you!! Every choice that you make is a significant chord in an eternal arrangement…don't ever get perturbed by the din of the world or let it affect your beat...stay in rhythm always…make your life an irresistible medley that lingers like sweet perfume in hearts of all those who journey with you. Should u ever feel your notes going out of sync, gather all your thoughts & ur deeds & in the quiet stillness, seek the Divine music & everything will fall back in place.
Fly..soar..touch the Sky..the Moon..the Sun..the Stars…let there be no strings attached yet always be sensitive to the call of the heart n all those u hold dear, there!!
Draw the world, in rhapsody of praise of Gazal, the one & only piece, a masterpiece, unique like her name, GAZAL .♥.•*¨`*♫.•´*.¸.•´♥`
Wishing you the Best'est Birthday ever…magical, musical, melodious Nineteen where every moment hums your favourite tune♡☼*¨*• ˚°❀ღ
Love you to the moon & back…missing you beyond wordsMom's Gift 💝
Gazal my doll, for days I'd been searching, collecting, compiling all the big & small moments, laughter n tears, squabbles & squeals n all that u hold close to your heart...locking in the memories of nineteen into four seasons that have flown by...pics that will delight your heart whenever u will flick through this thick coffee table memory book...
A Letter On Your 18th Birthday
June 7, 2014
Happy Birthday My Princess!! I have so many thoughts and emotions running through my mind right now that I’m not even sure where to begin with. I could share a bunch of clichés with you; tell you how fast time flies, how much happens in the blink of an eye, how “just yesterday…….”, but I’m not going to tell you that. I knew this day would come because I watched you get here.
From tiny toes to Barbie dolls.
From Barbie dolls to make-up.
From make-up to high school.
From high school to college…
Even though we have had some spectacularly explosive mother daughter moments, the kind that tear us apart for moments at a time, I know that they are necessary so you can grow, so you can flex your muscles as a strong and independent woman. As you emerge from the years of teen angst, and finally begin to draw closer to me once again, it’s like almost time for you to spread your wings and fly...
My girl, you are so incredible. You bear an amazing strength of conviction, intellect, and most of all, amazing self-confidence. I can’t imagine a young girl at your age knows who she is, what she wants, and more importantly, what she doesn’t…
Your fingers create magic, your body moves to the music like no one is watching, when you smile the whole world lights up. You are a plethora of talent !!
Two lasting bequests, i wanna gift you on ur 18th birthday -
"roots to hold on to &
wings to touch the skies”.
My doll, I wish for you the stars. I wish for you everything and then add to that infinity. I wish you big dreams n than those dreams coming true. I wish you true love & that love to be always be with you. I wish you all the happiness in this world.
Enjoy every moment of your special day
Love you forever n ever more
Hau òli la Hanau Gazal!!
Lovely hoalohas
thanks for donning
floral shirts, grass skirts & leis
& turning Gazal's birthday
into a memorable
Hawaiian Soiree~
The Cake And The Related Memories From Your 17th Birthday
June 7, 2013
In your words,
”Its the BEST birthday cake EVER :D
Cant miss even the smallest of elements like my Peanutbutter n jelly jar (yumm :D), Hazel <3, COSMO :P and YOUTUBE :D
Luv you loadsssssss” :* :*
Though one tiny little detail you did miss was the clothes, girl on the cake was wearing - pink shorts and off white t-shirt, same what you’d planned to wear for your birthday!!! Now, won’t you call it, down to the minutest detail. haha :)))
My wishes for you, my princess, star of my eyes, on your 17th birthday…
at iSkate with your friends!!!
Not beginning from beginning but from sixteen…
June 7, 2012
Sweet Sixteen, sounds like music to the ears, the first 'hi' point in a girl's life- when from a little princess she grows into a beautiful young lady, just two steps away from being an adult! But ask a Mom, for whom she'll always be her little princess, who till yesterday used to be trotting behind her on her tiny feet...
You are the apple of my eye, in you I live my life anew;
And as you reach for the sky, I too take fresh steps few
You live, I breathe fresh air; you achieve, I richly applaud;
You color each rug and stair, while I undo every step flawed
It's your day to dance & feel as happy as a lark
shine & sway, to the rhythm of life with a bright spark
You, my first love, still hold me mesmerized
A peal of quick, easy laughter glows on your face
With your disarming smile and dancing eyes
You are an enchantress with natural grace
Uncommonly pure is your little heart
that tugs at mine, filling me with so much love
I feel like rewinding to the time when you
Slept wrapped in my arms fitted like a glove
Like a thief, you arrived, stealing my heart
Years went by in the passing of a beat
You're growing up so fast; already on your sixteenth year
I just watch from a distance and smile through the tears
There’s a charm and grace about you,
a spirit free and wild,
the kind that’s true and honest
like that of an unspoiled child.
Yet you walk the walk of a woman
who is confident and sure,
and can stand against the wind
while maintaining feminine allure.
Your heart is full of compassion,
you have an independent mind,
and that makes a combination
in this world that’s hard to find.
There are no words to tell you
how much you mean to me,
or how proud I am of the woman,
when I look at you & see...
A breathtakingly beautiful, impressively intelligent, lavishly lovely...
You are an inspiration to all the little kids of our family
you really do make others want to emulate you, young lady !!
That’s a trait that not many people have. You can brighten up someone’s day with a quick flash of your splendid smile. (So do me a favor and never forget to brush your teeth ;* ; With all the stresses people have these days, we could all use a smile like yours once in a while :))
It's your day, wanna make it so special for you, know that you are missed the day in & night out, airing kisses n hugs n all my love to you...wishing you super sweet sexy n spicy sixteen ;)*
your birthday gift!!
Some of the golden memories from 2012 - Stanford, USA & King’s Academy, Jordan
If only you knew the effect of your eyes
And how they disarmingly tantalize
Your beautiful, alluring, long-lashed eyes
Like perfect almonds, especially when you emphasize
A natural beauty with no disguise
Only sexy eyes, that mesmerize
You have no need to apologize
To those who think you dramatize
Even when you flutter them like butterflies
Leaving a few envious and many to fantasize
Over your startling looks and sexy eyes
Sexy eyes that mesmerize….
~shell
Believe in yourself as much as I believe in you!!!
