A Birthday Letter To The Kashmiri Boy Who Made Me Braver

Whenever my phone lights up with your name, I pause for a second, I already know you're calling with a problem that has slipped out of your hands. Then you deliver the same line, almost like a template: “Raqif bhaya, apko pata hai kya huva.”

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I can judge the size of the trouble from your voice. If you add “matter hogya,” I sit up straight. That phrase has become our personal alarm.

People speak a lot about responsibility. I rarely hear anyone talk about the strange comfort inside it.

Your trust in me has steadied me on days when our homeland feels heavy. Work becomes uncertain, Winter makes the streets empty faster. Young people carry pressure from every corner while trying to find a path.

Through all of that, your faith in me has stayed the same.

Whenever I doubt myself, I think of how quickly you reach out to me. It pushes me to show up with more strength.