Let's make this birthday one to remember.

88 years old (Born on June 24, 1937)

Happy Birthday, Anita Desai! Celebrating another year of literary brilliance and inspiring generations with your captivating storytelling. From the vivid shores depicted in "The Village By the Sea," which earned you a well-deserved British Guardian Prize, to being thrice shortlisted for the prestigious Booker Prize—your words have truly stood timelessly elegant.

Not only do we admire your remarkable novels but also cherish how you've gracefully balanced creativity with academia as an esteemed humanities professor at MIT. May this birthday bring laughter brighter than campus hallways after finals week—and may each candle on your cake represent yet another chapter filled with wit, wisdom, and wonderful adventures ahead!