The past couple of months have been among the most demanding I have ever experienced. 

As you may already know, the wife had developed some complications with our second pregnancy, and was confined to two months of bed rest after undergoing a minor surgical intervention.  While we were in the hospital, we did not have too much time to think about what would follow.  But, once we returned home, the fun stuff started rolling out, one after another…

At first, it was the matter of designing a head-low bed for the bed rest – Her head region had to be inclined such that it was lower than the rest of her body, all the time!  Once we modified a small bed to accommodate that need, she needed to get used to lying in it all day, with blood rushing to her head, making her woozy each time she had to get out of bed.  After a few weeks, we humans can adjust to almost any new circumstance.  But, her being confined to bed-rest meant a whole lot of things around the house would not get done – unless I got around to them.

Now, when you spend two and half hours commuting each day, and over 8 hours at the office, “spare time” is not something you get too much of.  The prevailing monsoon season in Mumbai with its frequent water-logging and traffic jams did not offer much respite.  That said, you have to do what needs to be done.  And so, began my new routine.

Pumpkin – my three-and-a-half-year-old tornado of a daughter – also needed to adjust to her mama not doing any of the things she was used to her doing.  That was a task in itself!  Slowly and steadily, she started warming up to the idea that ‘papa’ was going to be ‘mama’ for a while.  That included feeding her at dinner time, taking out her school clothes for the next day, getting her out of bed in the mornings, making her breakfast, giving her a bath, getting her dressed for school, etc. etc. etc.

There were also a number of things that (I realized with more clarity!) BossLady used to do for me, each day.  Tasks like doing the laundry, getting the clothes ironed, putting them away in the closet, making my breakfast and many others would now need to be done by your’s truly.  To make matters just a little more interesting, in that span of time, I tore a ligament on my right hand, making two of my fingers immobile for several weeks! 

Of course, through all of this, pressures at work would continue to exist… as if, nothing had happened.  When Pumpkin was first born, after the initial few months of attending to her, I remember gaining a new (and profound) respect for single parents.  After these two months, I gained a new respect for the wife who manages to do so much each day, in what is essentially a thankless, never-ending routine.

Now that most of that time is behind us, I look at it as a wonderful opportunity to have learned so much.  Throughout the past couple of months, we also shared a number of wonderful new moments, including her first trip to a men’s saloon for a hair trim!  Last but not the least, it also helped strengthen the bond between father and daughter – a development that would only help in the days to come, as “sibling rivalry” and separation from her mother will start impacting Pumpkin after the birth of the little one.

It all happens for the best, doesn’t it?