My blissful ride

From inside the blanket

Your eyes glittered and beamed so bright

Your looks so divine, your grip so tight!

I walked slowly, carefully, counting my steps

One, two, three and many more, as each

Corridor and its doors stared me…!

Nothing deterred me in my journey

Into this new world of dreams, of laughter

Of moments of silence, of joy and of caress…!

Slowly, steadily, in a fine balancing act –

The first child in me smiled back, as tears

Flowed down, carelessly, as I held you;

And as the doors opened and shut before me.

Moments of joy and fear accompanied

My thoughts, now vulnerable – tears of joy

Still rolled on, as you smiled again for a while!

Unknown into this world, in my arms,

From your mother’s womb, as you join

Me in the blissful ride through the paths and alleys ---

Nine months you nurtured yourself

In her sheltered womb, away from the light and the dust!

She danced, she sang, you heard, you moved;

She felt, you sensed, she cried, you comforted;

She embraced, you cuddled, she secured, you sealed!

The bond has just begun….!

Rajdeep Pathak

June 26, 2013

For my daughter, Sharanya, who is now two-and-a half-years old. The above written lines are those that I felt as a father, when I held her in my arms for the first time on October 11, 2010.