30 days of being a father

She came into my arms a few days before I was expecting her. And the first time, I was very scared to hold her. She was probably fast asleep, and I didn't want to wake her up. May be she would cry out loud if I disturbed her, and I still didn't know how to soothe a crying baby. Although I wanted to hold her, I wasn't sure if I was ready yet.

My wife asked me to bring the baby nearer to her. I was scared, and I tried not to let anyone else know. I hesitated. She smiled and said, "It's OK. Even I am scared". And then I picked her up, as slowly as I could, trying my best not to wake her up. And after a few seconds, she was in my arms, still asleep, and that was a feeling which I would never be able to express. And from then on, I realized, I was already ready to be a father.

It's been a month now. She is doing great. So is her mom. And I am doing great as well, as a father. :)

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5 Things About Life

1. It is never fair. Never ever. Well, may be at times when it is unfair to your enemies, or people you hate so much that you wish them death.

2. You always need help. Wherever you go, and whatever you do, no matter how intelligent or rich you are, you always need someone's help.

3. There's never enough time. You might be the kind of person who loves to sleep, or like me, who hates sleeping. Either way, you never get enough time.

4. You will not be understood at times. It was the same even with Einstein. An Einstein could only understand Einstein. And since most people are no where near like you, be ready to have heated arguments at least 5 times a week. At times you would be crazy, just like Einstein, and you wouldn't find an Einstein who would listen and understand you.

5. Don't believe in destiny. Believe me. Hahaha.. OK don't believe me. It's just a concept. It just doesn't work in real life. I wasn't destined to write this post. I wasn't sleepy, and was thinking about life.

The Cycling Experiences

A daily log

I have been cycling for the last few days, after a long break of about 12 years. I had my doubts if I will be able to utilize it for the purpose I had planned for. Recently, I changed jobs, and my new office is twice as far as my old one. So riding to office daily, or even twice a week is completely out of question now.

I thought I should do about 12-16 kms a day, at least 4 times a week. Not from the very first day, but gradually reach that target in a few weeks. The very first day, I did about 5 km. The next, 11 km and yesterday 15 km. I got to my target pretty quickly, which I had never thought I could. Cycling is a lot easier than running in the treadmill I thought. But I used to run about 30 minutes and complete 5 km. So, I thought to reach the 15 km mark, I have to push really hard. But I got to that pretty easily.

Talking about the roads, about 30% of the distance I bike is just gravels or pot holes. The other 70% of it is quite decent. But the BBMP is hyperactive all the year round. And you should expect the unexpected when it comes to roads here. One fine day, you notice, the road you always take to your office is dug up and you would barely able to be walk over them. At times like this, you feel elated and proud when the frustrated gas guzzlers are sitting ducks, and I just lift my bike up and cross over to the other side.

Even on roads which are pretty bad for cars and motor cycles to vroom by, I could still maintain a decent amount of pace. I lift myself up from the seat, curve my shoulders and flex my leg muscles to prepare for those rattly shocks from the rocky terrain, and feel like John Abraham, when my bicycle overtakes all the traffic, and I murmur to myself, "Dhoom machale!!!".

Its been just over 2 weeks, and I have done 75 km already. By this year end, I am planning to complete at least 3000 km on my bicycle. I think that's a decent target for me.

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Got something, for the New Year

Finally, I got it. After months of planning and postponing, I got myself a bicycle. OK. Now stop sneering please. I know you must have heard this plan of mine last year. But, it's finally official. I am a proud owner of a two-wheeler, which doesn't run on petrol.

And that was my first ride. The Bangalore roads are so bumpy, that I realized that it needs a seat cushion urgently. Or may be I should wait for a few more days, and see if I get adjusted to it. I haven't been on a bicycle in the last 12 years. It's quite surprising that I still remember how to ride one. The first few minutes were very awkward, but then I got used to it.

As for accessories, I just got one unusual one, an Odometer. :D

I guess, that would help me motivate everyday, to keep counting the distance and speed.

I wanted to buy a bicycle, the cheapest one, without all the hifi stuff. But when I walked into the showroom, I kept thinking. And I couldn't control my urge of upgrading to a better one. My brother-in-law, who accompanied me, didn't do anything except laughing. He tried to help, but failed at stopping me from spending away all the cash for that extra odometer.

I ended up spending almost double of what I was prepared for. Only time will tell if it was worth.

The current reading on the odometer shows 15 Kilometers, that's for 2 days. My first experience on riding a bicycle on Bangalore roads was not pretty nice. Bumpy roads, pot holes and other crazy drivers are not at all friendly to people on bicycles, but for now, I am determined to ride on.

"Happy Cycling." The bicycle shop guy greeted me when I got onto it. It was a feeling which was a little weird but nice. They don't say the same thing when you buy a car or a motor bike. I hope there's some good reason for that.

The Christmas Invite and the Plum Cake

Well, my wife didn't buy me a Lamborghini, yet, I am writing just one more post.

We were just siting and watching some boring TV program, and could here a distant noise. After a few minutes, we could tell that there were some children singing songs, beating the drums, and knocking on all doors. They are very loud, louder than we were used to, but we wondered what the children were up to. After some time, there was silence. We heard the footsteps, the hustle-bustle and the murmurs. We know they were coming towards our door. It obviously was something nice, we hoped.

The bell rang, and my wife opened the door. And that was the view. They started singing, beating the drums again, and shouting.

The little Santa offered a bag of gifts, and we took 3 chocolates. And then they invited us for the Christmas celebrations which would happen the next day. Here are some photos from the event.

It was red all around. Kids and their parents, all in red. And there were 2 Santa Claus(s). There was some dancing, singing and some more.

We got plum cakes as well, which the wife was craving for so many days now. And she was really excited when the kids invited us to the party. She was, actually, in her mind, hoping that they will distribute Plum Cakes after the party. She just randomly makes a wish, and wishes for the wish to be fulfilled that very moment, just like magic. If she doesn't get what she wants at that moment, she doesn't want it again the next moment. I really can't express how it works for her, but she is like a wishing(not washing) machine. And most of the wishes don't come out from her mouth. I am supposed to read her mind. The only thing I could try is keep playing the guessing game. Believe me, it's not as easy as a multiple choice question with 4 options. It might well be a question, which has either no options, or has millions of them.

But now, since she got her plum cake, I can take some rest, and breath normally, until she wakes up in the morning.