There is no exam to become a daddy!

Happy father's day to all our readers! 

"Children don't come from you. They come through you.", a great Islamic poet has written that legendary line. It was something I had read way before I became a father. But it is a line engraved on my mind forever.

Apparently, there is no examination or prep time to become a father. Mothers are somewhat better off I feel. As the baby grows inside them, being a part of their own bodies, mothers are prepared by nature, slowly and surely, over the period of those nine months. On the other hand, a father is created in minutes. Now you know why they call it 'POP' corn? Those people were smart people.

I stood outside the delivery room while my wife was inside, giving birth to our first daughter (we have two of them now, and I could not ask for more in life) and at 7:30 AM or something, I was Rahul. Come 7:40 AM and I was a father. Darn! Now what was I supposed to do? Is there something special that I say now? Is there a new way to walk from today on? Is there a mantra you chant at that moment and divine knowledge comes to you like a free download? No.

But, a journey begins. While the mothers are almost at the top of the plateau, your journey as a father, to the top merely starts from here. A long, hard and amazing journey triggered by a new arrival in your life. Someone who feels like a miracle when you first see her. Then a toy, the best one you will ever have. And slowly, you start looking at yourself as the protector and the provider. To be fathers out there, take it easy buddies. You don't have to know it all from the beginning. You don't have to be perfect. Just take it one day at a time. So many times, I have stood in one corner of a room full of people congratulating the wife, staring at my little girl. Trying to connect with her first yawns. Trying to sync my feelings with her first smiles.

Such is fatherhood. The best of my friends hugged me right after she was born. Everyone who mattered to me was there. I spoke with everyone. I smiled at everyone. But in reality, I was lonely. Disconnected like that MotoGP rider walking around the pits like a zombie, with his soul focussed on tomorrow's race. That was the one time in my life, when I felt the most focussed ever. The convergence point of all that mental torque being my little girl.

There is no exam to become a daddy. You have to wait. Every minute, every weekend and every bad day at the office to hear your baby call you that. And when that moment happens, whether you are a serial killer, a goon or someone as inexpressive as Dr. Dolittle running a great nation, you WILL cry!

Enjoy the journey dear fathers and to be fathers out there. And don't complain about the hardships. You will notice I have not mentioned a single one of them. There are simply, none. The rewards, happiness and learning along this journey outweigh everything else.

Happy Father's Day folks. Being a dad, you have chosen the second toughest job for yourself in the whole world.

Cheers!
-Rahul Mishra