For Usha – at my Sashtipurthi (Sanskrit for 60th birthday)

For Usha, at Sixty

Today, as sixty seasons turn behind me,
I pause—not to count the years,
but to bow to the grace that walked beside me
through every one of them.

Usha,
you are the quiet strength behind my every dawn,
the order that steadies my restless thoughts,
the selflessness that never asks to be seen
yet shapes everything it touches.

You are truly lovable—
not in fleeting ways,
but in the enduring manner of things
that grow more precious with time.

With every passing second,
my love for you deepens,
as though the heart keeps discovering
new rooms it never knew it had.

You are the one I wish to spend more time with,
even after a lifetime together.
The one who understands my silences,
who hears meaning before words are spoken,
who cares not out of obligation,
but out of an instinct woven into her being.

You are my muse—
the unseen hand behind my courage,
the calm behind my ambition,
the reason I believe effort is worthwhile.

You are my heart,
steady and faithful.
You are my everything,
named simply, lived completely.

Pretty, yes.
Gorgeous, undeniably.
But more than that—
you are my inspiration for all that I strive to be,
in life, in love, in becoming better
than I was yesterday.

As I step into this sacred milestone,
I do not mark my age—
I celebrate us.
And I offer this moment, this verse, this life,
to you.
Always.

Love forever and more,
Mani