Around the World in 80 Clicks

Since I never pass on tags, the name of this post is kind of rendered useless. How can I ask a Mom in Mogadishu or a Dad in Dar-es-Salaam to write 5 things they like about being a parent - without even knowing them???

I am very old-economy that way.

But the tag itself is quite cute and worth a try on Sunday morning. More so, since my son is hogging the remote and I am tired of playing Geo Challenge on Facebook (which explains the exotic cities named above).

What are the 5 things I love about being a father?

Hereditary traits

My father has a pout, which is not apparent now but shows up wonderfully in his kiddie pictures. My pout is visible only when I am sleeping. My son has that exact same pout.

My sister was the Queen of spoonerism (paan mein darza, gaai ka bogar and all that) when she was small. She grew out of it and we forgot. Till recently, my son wore his mom's dupatta as a cape and tried flying around the house screaming SUNERPAM!

And of course, I am being blamed for passing on my naughty genes to him.

Infinite Patience

Earlier in boarding queues, I used to spot how many babies were going to be in the flight and get psyched if there were too many. Now I am unperturbed since I can sleep through all their antics (unless some one pukes on me, which hasn't happened yet)!
I can explain a million times a million kids how one should not flush before one has finished peeing and how one should never step into the commode bowl. Ever. I can also watch Owl, Piglet and Wabbit count 1-20 a million times. I can wait for anybody take several hours to swallow one spoonful of rice-and-egg.
Except my colleagues in office are constantly cribbing that I have a bad temper. Wonder what they are talking about?

Unbelievable Sensations
One of the most fun things I have done regularly in the last two-odd years is to place my son's hand on my cheek and let it be. The other fun thing is to place my nose in the nape of his neck and smell the baby powder. Not to mention wrestling and tickling him on the drawing-room rug as he goes berserk
The latest addition to this list is when I run down the stairs with him in my arms, he holds me tightly and keeps kissing me, screaming all the while because he is scared that we may fall!

Reconnecting with Family 

One of my uncles landed up at our place - quite out of the blue - for the first time in end-2006. I never knew he traveled to Delhi. He said that he came quite often since his head office was here and stayed in a guest house, quite close to our house. When I asked why he never landed up before, he sheepishly (but honestly!) admitted that he was very excited at having become a grand-uncle and came to see Joy.
Our aunt in Muscat, uncle in Gurgaon, sister in Dubai, aunt in Pittsburgh, cousin in California, mother in Calcutta - every one calls to ask about our son!
Except for my grandmother, who still asks about me first.

Joy of responsibility 

When you realise that there one person on earth who is totally, completely, unequivocally dependent on you, it brings about a sense of responsibility like no other.

And nothing brings that home better than when you are dropping the kid to school and he doesn't want to. When the auntie tries to take him away, he clings on to you like his life depends on it. And the feeling of the slowly releasing grip of his baby fingers on your neck has to be the most difficult sensation you've had in a long time.

But I am told that being a grandparent is even more fun than being a parent.
As my father says, "If I knew grandsons were so much fun, I would have had them earlier!"