Happy 19th, Tanjal – Growth, Giggles & Occasional Existential Crises

Nineteen.

The age when your Spotify playlist gets moodier, your coffee gets stronger, and your comebacks sharper. And yes, the age when parents like us still don’t get how that “assignment deadline” is somehow a reason to disappear from WhatsApp for two days straight and then sudden bursts of messages of missing home...

But here we are—back under the same roof, finally! And we’re not just happy… we’re borderline clingy. You’ve been home for barely 48 hours, and we’re already trying to freeze time like it’s some Marvel multiverse glitch. Because truth be told, the house echoes a little louder when you’re not around. Your room stays too neat (which is suspicious), there is no midnight snacking out of Fridge, and nobody is consuming the Maggi or Momos for months in a row.

You’ve just wrapped up your first year at Ashoka—our little liberal arts intellectual with an evolving wardrobe and endless opinions. We love the new perspectives you bring, and we’re learning to nod wisely even when we don’t completely follow your theories on country's economic policies or why does sleeping late past 2 am is still considered to be cool.

But here’s the thing, birthday girl—19 is a weirdly beautiful age. You’re not quite a full adult, but you’re no longer anyone’s kid-sibling either. It’s that space where you start learning not just what you want to do in life, but how you want to be as a person. And while academics will arm you with intellect, it’s life that’ll teach you people.

So here's a humble nudge from the sidelines:

• Learn to read the room before you speak.

• Pause before judging.

• Say sorry when it counts.

• Listen more than you think you need to.

• And always, always carry a tissue in your bag—it solves more emergencies than you’d imagine.

We are insanely proud of your growth—not just the kind captured in photos or being event HODs like Agneepath or Banjara, but the deeper, invisible one. The way you’ve handled your independence, the little ways you've grown wiser, kinder, more you. You’ve got the fire, but also the soul. And somewhere between your sass and silence, we see glimpses of a remarkable young woman unfolding. You have had your share of people experiences so far and you exactly know how the world operates differently than home. It's all a learning that will come along with you on your lifepath.

So go ahead, rock your 19th year. Laugh loudly. Cry if you must. Call home more often (seriously, your mom misses those random updates about everything and nothing).

And don’t forget—no matter how adult the world expects you to be, you’ll always be our little Tanjal who not once but twice swallowed battery cells and a metal screw and made us run to hospitals.

Happy birthday, Tanju.

Love you to the moon, past the WiFi router, and back.

—Dad & Mom

(a.k.a. your biggest fans, always spying lovingly from a distance on Findmy)