a little secret, just for you
Hi Shivani.
Before you can come in, you'll need to prove it's really you. Something only you would know.
ENTER YOUR BIRTH DATE TO UNLOCK THIS
hint: it's the day the world got a little brighter
โฆ you found the key
Welcome in, Shiva ki Nani.
Nineteen little pages. All for you. Take your time โ scroll whenever you're ready.
dear Shivani,
Happy birthday, my favourite person.
Every year I try to think of something big enough to say. I never find it โ because what I actually feel for you doesn't really fit into one line. So instead, I made you this. Nineteen small pages of everything I don't say enough.
Come sit with me for a bit. Let's remember how this all started.
chapter one
The classroom where it began
Years ago, we were just two classmates sitting somewhere in the same noisy classroom. I didn't know then that the girl I kept irritating on purpose would end up becoming the most important person in my life.
Funny how the people who annoy us the most sometimes end up mattering the most.
chapter two
The fighting-every-single-day era
I teased you constantly. You got irritated, gave it right back, and somehow we never actually stopped talking. Looking back, I think that was just my clumsy way of saying "I like having you around."
Thank you for never actually staying mad at me.
chapter three
Classmates, then friends
Somewhere between the arguing and the annoying, something shifted. Classmate became friend. Friend became someone I actually looked for in a crowded room.
I don't remember the exact day it happened. I just remember realising it already had.
chapter four
Shiva ki Nani
I used to call you that all through school just to watch you get worked up about it. "Shiva ki Nani, Shiva ki Nani" โ said a hundred times a day, purely to annoy you.
It's silly. It's still one of my favourite jokes I've ever made. And somehow, all these years later, it still makes me smile.
a little proof
You, being exactly you
๐ Tap to Zoom
chaos & cool cats
chapter five
After school ended
School finished, but we didn't. We just kept going โ best friends first, then something closer to family. Somewhere along the way you stopped being "my friend" and became my sister. Not by blood. By choice.
And honestly, chosen family hits different.
chapter six
The kindest heart I know
You always think good of people. You always find something encouraging to say, even on days you probably needed encouragement yourself. That kind of heart is rare โ and you carry it so quietly, most people don't even notice how much you give.
I notice. I always have.
soft moments
The gentle side of you
๐ Tap to Zoom
flowers suit you
chapter seven
What I admire about you
You motivate me without even trying to. When I want to give up on something, I think about how you'd tell me to keep going, and somehow that's enough to keep going.
You support me without keeping score. I want you to know I keep score for both of us โ and you're always, always ahead.
chapter eight
A promise, said plainly
Whenever you need me, I'll be there. Doesn't matter when. Three in the afternoon or three in the morning โ you call, I come. No questions, no conditions.
That's not a birthday line. That's just how it's always going to be.
chapter nine
Small things I love about your world
Your love for chocolate that borders on serious commitment. The way you laugh at your own jokes before finishing them. The way you still get annoyed when I call you Shiva ki Nani, every single time, like it's the first time.
every side of you
All the versions of Shivani
๐ Tap to Zoom
effortlessly striking
chapter ten
Everything we've carried together
Every late-night conversation. Every time one of us talked the other off a ledge. Every inside joke nobody else understands, including the "Shiva ki Nani" one you still pretend to hate.
None of it was ever ordinary to me. All of it, I keep.
just a little more
One more look at you
๐ Tap to Zoom
calm and lovely
chapter eleven
And now, today
From an annoying classmate to my closest friend, to family โ that's the whole story, and I'd choose every version of it again.
One page left. I saved the most important one for last.
the last page
Happy Birthday, Shivani
Eight years ago, we sat somewhere in the same classroom and drove each other crazy. I teased you until you couldn't take it anymore, you gave it right back, and neither of us knew that all that noise was the start of the realest friendship I'd ever have.
Today isn't just your birthday. It's a reminder of how lucky I am that a classmate turned into a best friend, and a best friend turned into family. You're not my sister by blood, but you are my sister in every way that actually matters โ my เคชเฅเคฏเคพเคฐเคพ เคธเคพ เคฌเคเฅเคเคพ, my Shiva ki Nani, my person.
You have one of the kindest hearts I know. You notice when someone's having a hard day before they even say a word. You show up, every time. You motivate me when I want to quit, and you've never once made me feel small for needing you. I hope today you feel exactly what you give everyone else โ cared for, celebrated, and completely loved.
So here's my promise again, the same one I've made a hundred times: whenever you need me, I'm there. Three in the afternoon or three in the morning, it doesn't matter. You call, I come. That's never going to change.
I hope this year brings you everything you deserve โ more laughing until you cry, more chocolate than you know what to do with, and more quiet wins that nobody else sees but that I'll always notice. Thank you for years of being exactly you. Thank you for choosing me as your person, the way I chose you.
I love you more than all that teasing ever let on.
โ your brother, always