Pappablogs

My wife, Himani had to travel for her official conference last week for 3 days. That meant that I had to take care of my daughter, Dhaani , all by myself. I also had to take one day of leave from office since her day care was off.   I believe this is a normal stuff for any working couple. But whenever I tell this to someone in my office or neighbourhood, the response   I get makes this look like   I am doing some kind of volunteering or social work. One of my neighbours told me last week “So you are babysitting Dhaani for the next 2 days?” I was really taken by shock. “Excuse me? Babysitting? My Own Daughter?” I wanted to say it aloud but I didn’t. I smiled and moved ahead. But I strongly disagree with this mentality of our society of underestimating us fathers. Fathers are not babysitters. They are parents. When both parents are working, there are bound to be occasions when either of them/both of them have to take leaves from office to take ca...

Okay, this one is not only from Pappa to Dhaani. This one is from me to Dhaani and her amazing gender. To the womenkind. They are simply super amazing. We all know it right. It normally does not require a womens day for me to shout it out but gurls - keep being awesome. Let me elaborate. Dadi -  Dadi was my childhood s most precious treasure. I remember waiting excitedly for the nights to hear her bedtime stories. She had 8-9 of them ( marwari folklore) which she told to us kids in random order. I remember some of these by heart and will pass the baton to Dhaani soon. Daadi was also the savior for me whenever i did some mischief. She most definitely spoilt and pampered us but what is childhood without the pampering on grandparents. Daadi, i miss you. Maa - My mother strongest. Where to start and where to end. Maa has given me the wings, emotionally,  spiritually and in every other way. Its because of her will and power that enabled me to think outside the b...

This is 2nd of 5 posts in the series " promises to my daughter - I will show you your connection with the five elements - " This one is about water. Dear Dhaani, Supposedly there are only 2 types of people in the world. Mountains people and beach people.   If this were true, your mumma - pappa would definitely be the beach people. The lakes, seas, oceans have always serenaded them. They have called them to spend days and nights by their shores. The vastness of the blue element makes them realize the sheer vastness of nature. It also allows them to be one with the universe.  Another form of water which has enchanted them always is rains. Thankfully in India, we have the rain gods smiling in abundance. Your paternal home, Gaya and maternal home Ranchi, have both been bestowed sufficiently by Indra Deva ( the rain God). When she was doing her MBA, your mumma was in Kerala. Which is called " Gods own country" for the scenic beauty it exuberates throughout ...

( This is the second post in the series of posts - Being a parent) There is no age or stage of life to start giving it back to the world. Everyone does it in one's own way. some of us start pretty early in life . They are drawn towards the altruist way of life. Giving provides them more happiness than receiving.  Most of us, however, realize this a bit late in our lives, when we become parents. For when we become parents, we understand this thing in its truest essence.  Till that time, we mostly know how to, when to, why to take. And even when we give, we expect things in return. But you know what. Life has a strange way to square things off.  It makes you a parent, and in a split second, almost like through a miracle, you know when to, how to give and keep giving. To the one whom we have brought into this world. Our offspring. Giving always has this cathartic effect on us. I remember as a child when I used to help my parents, siblings, friends or neighbors without...

In the last 6 months through this blog, I have written about many physical and behavioral changes which i have seen happening within us as parents. In addition to these physical changes, however, there have been many phycological and spiritual changes which have happened to us. There are some prime questions which every individual has and needs answers to. The all-important questions of self-identity, the reason of being etc. Parenthood has answered some of our long unsatiated questions in life. I wanted to do a series of blogs on how becoming a parent has changed us at a spiritual level. This post is first in the series. You will find more posts on this theme in the coming days. POST 1 - THE CYCLE OF LOVE I would like to think of myself as a good son to my parents. I was not the rebellious one. I followed a middle path in life, did okay academically, did not sign report cards on my parent's behalf,  wore my elders brothers clothes till I was 15 , did not steal ...

Dear Dhaani, It's you pappa s birthday today. And however much we adults deny it, we still have a special link to this day. There are various emotions which get to the surface especially on this day. I thought today is a good day to add one more post to this blog of ours. So let me tell you more about the emotions which i was referring to in the last paragraph. Today, the following emotions are engulfing me which are making this day special for me. 1. Immense gratitude to my parents to bring me on this earth, to be able to have a "birth"  thus a "birthday". You see, it would all have had no meaning for me otherwise. So, i am feeling a special gratitude to my parents to bring me here, to raise me up and to always have my back. 2.  Happiness, random happiness - I have been smiling since the morning for no rhyme or reason. I have been meeting people in the office, getting their wishes, giving them sweets,  all with my broadest smile. I think i am just happy ...

When Dhaani was 2 months old, she and Himani went to Ranchi, Dhaani s nanighar to spend the next 4 months there. And I was back to my bachelorhood for some time. I made use of  the free  time to read books, some of them on parenting. One of the books I read was Mallika Chopra s - 100 promises to my baby. It is a collection of 100 promises that Mallika made to her daughter while she was growing up. I connected with the book at a very emotional level. At the same time, it looked like an idea which I could personalize. I bought a notebook and named it -  Promises to Dhaani. I was all set to prepare my own version of the book, for my little princess. I had vague ideas on what I wanted to promise Dhaani. As a father , I wanted to do everything to make her life blissful. And I was already doing so much, was there a need to make formal promises to her ? And do these promises need to be documented, if at all?  Well, life is a complex game. Things change so fast that we fo...

What the plan - asked A. Oh ..Plan... Yes , lets plan to make a plan. - Mumbled B. If the above would be a discussion, I would definitely be B. I have been, for most parts of my life , a non-planner.With financial matters as the only exception, which i plan to the T, i am a " take each day at a time" kind of a person. And that attitude was serving me fine for smaller questions in life. Yes, smaller questions for us such as Where to do +2 from Where to do graduation from Whom to get married to ( This god planned for me in the most amazing way :)) When to get married Which firm to join after graduation Which city to live in Where to do MBA from Which firm to join after MBA When to buy the first House You see, these so called big decisions actually did not get much planning from us. We just went with the flow and gut feeling ( and just one priority of being near/together with each other). I have always believed that you can not plan most of the things. So i...