I was thinking about what to do for your birthday and realised I've already done songs, websites, PDFs, emails and enough nonsense over the years that normal people would probably have filed a restraining order by now.( Thank you for not doing it :p)
Then I thought about something.
When I look back at all these years, the most important thing you left behind wasn't memories.
It was lessons.
Some intentional.
Most accidental.
So here is a list of a few things I learnt from you.
1 · Stubbornness
Before I met you, I thought stubbornness was a bad thing.
Then I met you.
I don't know how you did it, but once you decide something, bas fir ho gaya.
There was no discussion.
No backup plan.
No Plan B.
No "let me think about it."
You just put blinders on and walk towards it.
Meanwhile, I was the exact opposite.
I spend 3 hours deciding what to order on Swiggy.
I could argue both sides of an argument.
I question every decision.
I change my mind three times before lunch.
For the longest time, I thought that made me open-minded.
Now I think it mostly made me confused.
What fascinated me about you was that you weren't trying to convince anybody.
You simply knew.
Even today, when I'm confused about something, I sometimes ask myself:
"What would Khushi do?"
Not because I think you'd necessarily be right.
But because I know you'd actually decide something.
And honestly, that's already better than what I usually do.
2 · Singular Focus
This is something I didn't appreciate back then.
You were always exactly where you were.
If you were studying, you were studying.
If you were working, you were working.
If you were talking to someone, you were talking to them.
You weren't constantly jumping between yesterday, tomorrow and twenty imaginary scenarios that don't exist.
I, on the other hand, have always had a brain that behaves like twenty Chrome tabs opened at the same time.
One tab worrying about work.
One about health.
One about something stupid I said in 2011.
One playing music.
And one completely frozen for no reason.
Watching you taught me something very simple.
Focus on the thing in front of you.
The rest can wait.
Simple advice.
Very difficult to implement.
I am still learning.
3 · Manifestation
I genuinely don't remember how many times you told me to read The Secret.
At some point I stopped hearing it.
It became background noise.
Then years later I realised you weren't really talking about the book.
You were talking about positive mindset.
Something I really needed(still need).
You always spoke about what you wanted.
Never what you did not want.
Never worst-case scenarios.
You always talked about the destination.
I used to do the exact opposite.
I'd spend more time imagining failure than actually working towards success.
Fun fact.
Whenever I look back at whatever little achievements I've had, it has always been through manifestation only.
Lately, I have simply spent more time thinking about what I want instead of everything that could go wrong.
I still sometimes forget this lesson all the time.
But whenever I see myself going into what I call the "Inder Zone", I think of your voice telling me:
"Acha soch, acha hoga".
4 · Humility
This one still confuses me.
Honestly, it used to irritate me.
If I scored 5 100 out of 100's in anything, Hyderabad would know.
There would be posters.
Press conferences.
Possibly a statue.
At the very least I would find a way to casually mention it in every conversation for the next 10 years.
You would do something ridiculous like this and behave as if you'd just bought vegetables.
No excitement.
No drama.
No victory lap.
Bus:
"Haan acha gaya."
And move on.
At first I thought you were underselling yourself.
Later I realised maybe that's exactly why you achieved so much.
You never got distracted by applause.
You were always looking at the next thing.
Most people celebrate the mountain they've climbed.
You were already looking at the next mountain.
Still annoying.
Still impressive.
5 · Respect
If anyone ever writes an honest history of me, they will have to acknowledge one thing.
I have always spent a significant portion of my life making fun of everybody.
Teachers.
Friends.
Random people.
Myself.
Nobody was safe.
And honestly, I have still not changed much.
But you were different.
You respected people.
Not selectively.
Not only when they were useful.
Not only when they agreed with you.
Just people in general.
I would find the one stupid thing somebody did.
You would somehow find the one good thing.
I would notice mistakes.
You would notice effort.
I would notice flaws.
You would notice intent.
And over time I realised something.
Respecting people doesn't just make them feel better.
It changes you.
I'm still learning this one.
Probably always will be.
6 · Not Giving A Damn
This one took me years.
I was constantly worried.
What are people saying?
What are our friends thinking?
What is your family thinking?
What is my family thinking?
What does everybody think?
Sometimes I think I spent more energy managing opinions than actually living life.
You didn't.
At least not initially.
You had this ability to completely ignore the audience.
People talked.
People judged.
People speculated.
And somehow you just carried on.
Looking back, I think I admired that more than I realised.
Because confidence isn't speaking loudly.
Confidence is not changing your life because somebody has an opinion.
I think I have eventually learnt some of this.
A little.
You're still much better at it.
7 · Sacrifice
Before meeting you, sacrifice always sounded dramatic.
Like something people wrote motivational quotes about.
Then I watched you do it.
Quietly.
No announcements.
No speeches.
Just making a decision and living with it.
You were the first person I saw who genuinely understood that if you want something badly enough, something else has to go.
Time.
Comfort.
Convenience.
Relationships.
Something always pays the bill.
And I've carried that lesson into almost everything since.
Work.
Fitness.
Business.
Life.
Now whenever I want something, the question isn't:
"Can I get it?"
The question is:
"What can I give up for it?"
I learnt that from you.
8 · Family First
This is probably the lesson I'm still learning.
Lots of people say family comes first.
You have actually lived it.
Uncle Aunty.
Di.
Simba.
No matter what else changed, those things never changed.
And over time I realised something.
Family first doesn't mean ambition comes second.
It means success becomes pointless if there's nobody you want to share it with.
I don't think I've fully understood this lesson yet.
But I know exactly where I learnt it.
People usually think we learn the most from teachers, books, mentors and bosses.
But when I look back honestly, some of the lessons that shaped me the most came from watching this beautiful stubborn girl who ignored people's opinions, who put her family first and always chased whatever she had decided was worth chasing.
And somehow these lessons have stayed with me longer than most things I have learnt in college.
I don't know if you'll ever realise how many decisions you've influenced without being there.
How many times your voice has helped me make sense of my own confusion.
How many times I've borrowed your conviction when I couldn't find my own.
Life has a funny way of measuring impact.
Sometimes it isn't in the number of years people stay.
Sometimes it's in the things they leave behind.
And if these lessons prove anything, it's that you left behind quite a lot.
So thank you, khushi.
Not just for the memories.
Not just for the time we spent together.
But mainly for the lessons.
Those are the things that have stayed.
Happy Birthday, Khushi.
Here's hoping you have another year full of happiness, achievements, good health, great times, clean fans, a lot of travel and everything you wish for.
And thank you for helping me become a slightly better version of myself.
