Delhi
College years
Khalsa College, where getting in means beating almost everyone who tries. She qualified for premier institutions twice, through exams and interviews, and made a family that had sacrificed for her education very proud.
30 SEPTEMBER 2026
Palak
Kapur
Born to shine
This is a birthday present. It could not wait past midnight.
Some people light up a room. Palak lights up the people in it.
That is the claim this page makes, and it comes with evidence. Nearly eighty photographs, taken over the years. The camera finds her in every one of them, because the camera has taste. I only collected them. The shining she did herself.
Before the photographs
This is a birthday gift
This is a birthday present. I made it the way I know how, slowly, with photographs.
There is no occasion beyond the obvious one. It is 30 September, and it seemed wrong to let that pass with just a cake.
Everything on this page is true. The dates, the photographs, the boy. I have added nothing, because nothing needed adding.
Happy birthday, Palak.
Karan. September 2026.
One flower · six moments · keep scrolling
A flower, born on 30 SeptemberThe story starts here. Everything else on this page follows from it.
The Roka, 19 September 2015The first day it was official. Eleven days short of her birthday, so that September got two occasions.
The wedding, February 2016Mehendi on the 13th, cocktail on the 14th, wedding on the 15th. Three days, one ring.
The years in betweenA home, the festivals, a thousand photographs. The ordinary years, which turn out to be the good ones.
Veraaj, November 2020And then there were three. Most photographs since have him in them, usually in her arms.
Still shiningEverything changed. She did not stop. Happy birthday.
The story so far
Eight chapters
The Commonwealth Games
2010
Still an undergraduate, she worked on the XIX Commonwealth Games in Delhi. Strict timelines, many teams, no room for second-rate work. She grabbed it with both hands, and learned early that big things succeed when small units run well.
The teacher on weekends
Always
Alongside college and work, she tutored children from poor families, found them books and uniforms, and talked their parents into keeping them in school. She raised money from family and friends to sponsor the education of seven children. She does not bring this up either.
The banker
India
Her career began at the State Bank of India, one of the largest banks in the world, posted to some of the most rural and remote parts of India. She opened accounts for people who had never had one, helped small businesses survive bad seasons, and was part of Jan Dhan Yojana, the programme that opened 380 million bank accounts.
The Roka and the wedding
2015-2016
The Roka on 19 September 2015, eleven days before her birthday. Then mehendi on 13 February 2016, the cocktail on the 14th, the wedding on the 15th. Three days, and she outshone all of them.
America
2016-
A new country, a new accent to master, and a job at JPMorgan Chase, the largest bank in the United States. She took on the language and the culture head first, and became the top salesperson at the bank. Her clients had changed completely. She had not.
Veraaj
2020-
He arrived in November 2020, and the photographs have belonged to him since. Look closer, though. In almost every frame he is in her arms, or reaching for them. Of everything she does well, being his mother is the thing she makes look easiest.
Now
2026
A decade since the wedding, and a boy who runs through the frame. The girl who tutored other people's children is raising her own, and she is still the brightest person in the room. Today she is another year brighter.
The wall
Pinned to the wall
Photographs from 2016 to 2023. Drag them around.
The camera keeps finding her. It is not difficult.
Her favourite person
Veraaj
Since November 2020, the brightest thing in every room she walks into is usually on her hip.
Player 1: Veraaj
Veraaj, this one is for you.
A little game about Mumma. Collect the stars, find Mumma, and light her birthday candles.
Press start →Turn the sound up
Messages for you
Recorded for today. Tap to play.
30 SEPTEMBER 2026
Happy birthday, Palak.
One candle, one wish. Take your time.
There is something under the candle. Blow it out.
Happy birthday, Palak.
I made this website myself. It took a long time, and I did not mind, because every hour of it was spent with you: with the photographs, with the years, with everything you have been to me and to Veraaj.
Going through those years, I also saw how much I have taken for granted. I know things have been hard between us, and I know my part in that. I have not always been the husband you deserve. I am sorry. I mean it plainly, with no excuse attached.
You have carried so much, for so long, and you have carried it with grace. You are the light in our home, and the reason Veraaj laughs the way he does. I do not say it often enough, so I am saying it here, where it will stay.
I cannot undo what has been difficult. But I want to do better, and I would like us to find our way back to each other, one day at a time, at whatever pace feels right to you.
Veraaj asked me to add one line, and he was very clear about it:
Mumma, you are the best Mumma in the whole world.
Happy birthday. I love you this much.
(Arms stretched all the way out.)
Happy birthday. With love, and with hope,
Karan & Veraaj