#10070598

A first-time father reminisces marriage, love and life thereafter.

Adulthood is truly unpredictable - there’s no way you can be prepared for it. It brings with it a bunch of emotions - happiness, surprise, excitement and shock. Sometimes it throws you off track, at other times it’s just too overwhelming. The lessons from childhood, figuring out ‘life’ during teenage years or even a foray into the professional space - nothing can tell you what’s going to happen next and how to deal with it.

After all these years of dealing with ‘life’ came the biggest milestone - marriage. Thinking of that day still makes me smile and how; after all, it was the most memorable day of my life.

I still have vivid memories of that special day - I was surrounded by my family and closest friends, and there my soon-to-be-wife (who was at a distance) was beaming at me, and I was looking right back at her, my pink cheeks clearly visible to those who were around. While we were waiting with bated breath for this day, behind this excitement was also a tinge of nervousness. I wasn’t the first guy to go through this; many of my friends had been a part of this drill before. I replayed their advice in my head ‘Just keep your head down, count the pheras, keep yourself calm, soon it will all be behind you’.

After we got married, life was a bundle of routines - we set up the house together, shopped for groceries over the weekend or took care of laundry.  I efficiently slipped into the role of a husband, just as an employee who joins a new company. I tumbled and fell several times and tried to achieve work-life balance as much as I could. With high pressure at work, it was difficult to be there at all times, but I gave my best shot. Juggling work, life and love was not as easy as I had thought, but I did all I could to succeed.

After a few months, both my wife and I started to open up to each other, shared better communication and made each other feel truly special. Never did we expect that at this juncture, life would take another turn, but for the better. Guess what? That evening, when I returned from work, Isha hugged me and whispered those golden words “You are soon going to be a father, Shrey.”  If marriage gives one cold feet, fatherhood is about experiencing all kinds of emotions in a split second - shock, happiness and tears.  I was overjoyed and nervous at the same time, but trust me, that moment was when it became real.  

Once again, it was time to witness another milestone in our relationship. As opposed to previous situations, we did all we could to prepare ourselves - right from attending Lamaze classes, stocking up on every baby book there was in the market to being there for each other through this special phase of our lives. I tried my best to ease her discomfort as much as I could. Our relationship had a unique sparkle and strength, just like a one-of-a-kind natural diamond.

While I had a huge amount of respect for Isha, I saw her through these nine months and realised how she is no less than a superhuman - after all, nourishing a baby in the womb is no child’s play (literally!). Through those sleepless nights when she suffered nausea, back ache and several other issues every single day, she remained calm and endured it all with a smile. That’s when I realised how much my own mother would have gone through before I was born. Men might be strong physically or rather appear to be, but women have immense emotional and mental strength that is unmatched. Isha displayed resilience and strength of character and won me over every single time. She’s the real diamond in my life – strong, beautiful and precious. No wonder God chose women to bring another life into this world. Imagine men going through these nine months - nah, it’s impossible.

Here, I was struggling to slip into this new role and my wife was cruising through this journey, and how. It felt she naturally fit into this role and boy, my respect just multiplied. Marvelling at how she dealt with this phase so deftly, I knew I wanted to gift her something that would perfectly epitomize her inner strength, her ability to withstand immense pressure yet shine bright, and also mark this turning point in our journey together.

Fast forward to the day when Kiara came into our lives and not just changed us as people but also our relationship. I was right next to Isha, holding the little bundle of joy in my arms (tears were rolling down our eyes) and we didn’t want that moment to end; it was miraculous and real. My wife held my hand and whispered into my ear ‘We’ve done it; it’s all under control’. My wonder woman, who had gifted me a miracle, transformed me not once but twice, without me even realising how and when this happened. She was rock-solid through it all, just like a natural diamond - calm, composed, brilliant, with an unmatched inner radiance. There was so much I had to learn from her.

While I had been thinking of what to give Isha for a while, it was at that moment I knew I could only give her a natural diamond to celebrate the miracle of life she’s brought into our world. After all, a real diamond is a miracle of nature and truly priceless, just like Isha and Kiara are invaluable to me. In life there are only a few moments that are as rare, real and precious as this one, and only a rare, precious and unique natural diamond can best embody this experience.

All I could think was how to say ‘thank you’ to Isha for bringing this miracle into our lives and for being the perfect partner in this journey of parenthood. From the day we met to now, life has been a rollercoaster, but we’ve dealt through it together and come closer like never before. The ups and downs, highs and lows all seem worth it, after all this moment of joy is incomparable to anything in our lives. Kiara is truly a miracle of life, and Isha now has her own eternal miracle of nature to remember that ‘forever’ moment.