A letter from Jun 02, 2026

Here it is. You are reading this message on the day. 2026. September 7th of 2026. You were 17 years old when you decided this would be your year, how is it turning out so far? Regardless, happy happy birthday. I hope you're reading this on some pinnacle. I was supposed to write this sitting in my fancy Niagara villa, surrounded by a large group of friends, but I was too busy pretending to be drunk and just have a lovely and peaceful time. So better yet, I am writing this 9 months later to do my best to encompass everything that Rohan felt on that night. To begin, we had a beautiful birthday today, but we start a year ago with another large party that was truly one of a kind after the greatest summer of our life. I remember particularly that couple of months after the birthday I was still enjoying, I was very happy. We did some tours like going to the Whiteface mountains for the first time, then we had an amazing diwali party, and ganpati party. So many people, so many things to organise, the music and meeting different people is what WE TRULY ENJOY. Don't reject it, accept it, love it, integrate it. We did start studying around november intensely. This was the time I was branded as "the leetcode guy". I forced everyone in the house to do it. The winter time in December was also an event to remember because for as long as I could remember before then, I always wanted to go all out in a snow ridden county just rolling and fighting AND that's exactly what we did. But then I decided I needed to pay a visit home (great decision) and surprisingly everyone was so lovely this time. Very lowkey, low energy and fun time. Then for the next few month's it was just spending time with everyone I love: Riya, Adarsh, and the rest of the house. Very great moments travelling, cooking, and laughing together. But then Riya and I did our first domestic trip to NC visiting our other friends from bachelors which was a window to a new world entirely, those 2-3 days taught me what I was missing outside of my small binghamton house. It was also this time (few months ago) when I first got my FIRST PAID INTERNSHIP. When I was 20 I fancied the idea of simply making money and that's when I did crypto (worst decision for that time) and I made some money (lost more). Then when I was 22 I fancied the idea of employment (labour) and then around a year later I got my dunkin job. I worked so hard there that I was 23 and I started to fancy the idea of working on a laptop sitting on your chair and still making money, like the way I intended when I enrolled for my bachelors. And around a year later again, that happened. I became an SDE intern. That money, and that feeling changed me. I realised every decision I took before that was right, and everything i am doing is going to give me the fruits I deserve. And that's when it happened. I got my first full time interview call. And it was the AMAZON. Just the email of getting an interview took me so high above clouds I thought I literally had it. The amount of "khayali pulao" I ate during that time, calculating my salary and how i'd spend it and then being worried about the little money i am saving. Moving on, I studied my ******* *** off. I had to add drops in my eyes and put cooling gel on my head to keep me alive. I hadn't seen the sun for weeks. Because all my sacrifices would be worth it... they weren't. I lost that opportunity by a small small margin. I don't think i truly ever recovered from that. Never did i feel a disappointment like that. I usually always get what I want, don't I? Why would God put me in that situation when there was no payoff? Does that mean there is no destiny? There is no one keeping a count of your hardwork and sacrifices? Is the world truly a random chance of events? Yes. Yes to all. This lesson was important. Firstly, it made me realise I am not God's favourite child, nobody is. There cannot be a God, and my fingers tremble while I type this. But every time I win, I will credit my victory to God first. My personal God. So just so know when you're reading this - you are just getting lucky, whatever you have is because luck supported you when you needed it to. You could still be in dighi begging dad for some petrol money to go eat pani puri, but you're not, you are where you are with more money in your bank than your entire family's worth combined because you made the right choices and luck supported you. Luck can be pure mathematics or a game of chance but let's call it God's favour and move on. You did not get into Amazon when you needed it the most. So the worst situation that could ever happened to you back then actually did happen. And you flourished regardless. But what did you do to overcome this intense sadness? You popped a gummy and went to watch fourth of July fireworks and experienced a multi million dollar moment. What else happened this year? The OG trio got completed when Ashish visited. You made a whopping ******* $52,000 in 2 ******* days. And obviously lost it all, but you kind of recovered a huge chunk of your inputs. And then added more to lose that but let's not get there. You sent lakhs home when they needed it, you bought yourself a fancy new IPhone, MacBook Pro, airpods Max, things you could only dream of at a point. You just bought and bought stuff for weeks. Nobody was richer or happier than you in that phase. No you may never make those kinds of % gains again for the better but you didn't know it back then. You had 52k in bank in USDC but you put all that in one coin hoping to make 200k and clearing your loan. That's ok. Moving on. Notable and honourable mentions to people who made this year better was definitely Onkar, Aarya, Anway, and Ranade. But the greatest moment was to meet and spend every day with Adarsh, your best ******* friend of 15 years, together. Giving him a great time and seeing his personality improve was a beautiful time. And then again the person responsible for everything this year is Riya. Idk what exactly we saw in 2020 when I wrote she's going to stay please keep her around, but yes she is still around and she most likely always will be. Man, this person is obsessed with you in a way that no one will ever be. Respect that. And your whole family, parees is still finding himself and his ways but exploration is important and now he seems to have an unlimited supply of money too. Then Mom and Dad, sigh, as always, but doing better as they grow older hopefully. There are some dreams they have that can only be achieved through you. Be responsible. Now back to you. You reading this. If it's the future Rohan's its not for you, this one is for 2026 Rohan. There have been a lot of firsts by the time you are reading this. But thank you. You respected us, and all the us before you. That kid with a robot in his hand a santa clause hat, look into his eyes and tell him you are the man. You did it, you became that, you have set us for the years to come. No, don't think about the things that didn't happen or the things that slipped. Everything you still are is what we wanted to always be. We weren't so lucky to experience what you are experiencing but we are so god**** happy. You have no exited the trial period of life and you are now 25 years old. This is it, the game begins now. No matter what remember that you were born with gifts, not very normal ones. You are destined and determined to be a great personality. You have done it locally, but you need to take this higher. You have the brains and charisma, all you need is some daring and consistency. Don't die before you spread a little Rohan on this world. I meant it like salt, nothing dirty. Happy birthday to the man who changed everything. Happy birthday to the man who suffers silently but never utters a word about it. Happy birthday to the man who tries to enjoy every phase of his life trying to hold the world stable while battling reality. Happy birthday to the 25 year old fully brain developed muscular **** wealthy funny intelligent and charismatic guy ever to step foot on this planet. That is what you are. Feel it and project it. Nobody tells you where you stop. You go higher. See you next year. You made me proud. 2026 was our year, huh? All the best. Take care. Best, Rohan (2025, supposedly)