Moved to Wordpress

I've moved to http://logicalobscurity.wordpress.com/

Many reasons. Most of them you can find on IHM's post here.

Please don't disown this blog just coz it moved to wordpress. I promise it will be a lot better there.

Thanks and see you guys there.

x
Masood

55 word fiction

“HELP!!! Leave me!! Help, PLEASE!!!!”
“It’s a girl from your college”
“HEY!!! Hey YOU! LET HER GO YOU #%&$@#”
“Aunty, please check on her”
“I’ve lost my honor. Don’t want to lose more”
“He got there on time”
Hero. Messiah.
He was trembling.
7 months later
She saw him. Ignored.
He walked away. Smiling.

Phew! This was not easy. Lame amateurish effort. Couldn't come up with a title too. Oh well, Monkey is off my back now. Cheers.

First Born Tag by a Dad

How can a man take the first born tag? Like this :p

1. Was your first pregnancy planned?

Yes and No. We wanted it but didn’t expect it to happen so soon.

2. Were you married at the time?

I think so ;)

3. What were your reactions?

Delight. And a little fear. It was a big leap. Had all kinds of questions in my head. And a little proud too.

4. Was abortion an option for you?

No and hope never.

5. How old were you?

27. How does that matter?

6. How did you find out you were pregnant?

Those faint red lines (which were non-conclusive) and then a blood test the following day.

7. Who did you tell first?

My brother. And then the entire family while we were out for dinner celebrating my brother’s promotion. I stood up, raised my coke glass, walked over to where my dad was sitting and said this, “This man here is going to become a grand-father and me a father soon. Inshallah”. All hell broke loose after that! (My family consists of 2 elder brothers n their wives, my sis n her hubby n my dad mom and 1 nephew)

8. Due date?

27^th Jan 2009

9. Did you have morning sickness?

For the first few weeks, it was pretty bad. But manageable. She had only 3 separate days during her first trimester when it was absolutely terrible. Otherwise, more or less, OK.

10. What did you crave?

Aah. I cannot mention that here or else I am so dead ;) But for the record, she wanted all kinds of chaats – pani puri was her favorite, ice cream, vegetarian food, 100% attention, unexpected hugs and affection and lots n lots n lots of love….which I gave! :)

11. Who/what irritated you the most?

I think I irritated her the most. I’d like to be proved wrong but that’s what I think. But otherwise, she hated when people kept giving advice. Plus there was this one time when we had a small get together and 3-4 women spoke only about what could go wrong during a pregnancy and newborns. That really had her shaken. Took me days to put her mind to rest. She also hated taking those tablets (Prenatal, Calcium, Iron and Folic acid tablets). Plus the migraine and lower back pain.

12. What was your first child’s sex?

Boy

13. Did you wish you had the opposite sex of what you were getting?

Nope. We were open to both. Did not determine the sex of the child for that reason.

14. How many kg/pounds did you gain throughout the pregnancy?

22 kg. At the time she got pregnant, she was almost 6-7 kg under weight though.

15. Did you have a baby shower?

Nope

16. Was it a surprise or did you know?

Pass :p

17. Did you have any complications during your pregnancy?

A little. We had a few scary moments early on. She had this severe pain in her lower abdomen and we had to get her admitted in the hospital for 2 days. Several tests later docs were unable to determine the reason! Just some cramps they ultimately concluded. I am still curious.

Anyways....a week short of her due date, we took the Doppler test. And that showed that there was some strain on the baby. Blood flow and blood pressure was getting compromised. Doc asked us to get admitted the following morning and they would induce labor and get things rolling.

18. Where did you give birth?

Panat Hospital, Aurangabad, India

19. How many hours were you in labor?

Doctors induced labor. Was in for 26 hours (poor girl :( ) before deciding to go ahead with C-Section. Actually, there was some drastic fluctuations in the heart rate of the baby. They told us the baby could be at risk if we wait longer.

20. Who drove you to the hospital/birth center?

My driver. Along with me, my wife, her mom and her brother who is also a doctor.

21. Who watched you give birth?

Two gynac docs, 1 anesthetist, 2 nurses and 1 pediatric doc.

22. Was it natural or c-section?

C-Section

23. Did you take medicine to ease the pain?

Yes.

24. How much did your child weigh?

2.8 kg

25. When was your child actually born?

20 Jan 2009 at 6:14 pm

26. What was your reaction when the doctor announced the sex of the baby?

I started crying. Not because it was a boy but because it was MY baby. After 9 months of wait and anticipation, the moment finally arrived. I'd been dreaming about this for so long.

27. What was your first reaction on seeing the baby?

Amazement. I couldn’t believe it. His eyes were open. He kept gazing around before stopping to look at me. Like he was checking me out. Even raised his tiny, little right hand as if he was saying hello. He was not crying and kept staring right into my eyes. I can NEVER forget that moment. And he looked just like my wife. Beautiful eyes, great complexion, perfect nose and jawline, lovely face...OK am I praising my baby or my wife? ;)

28. Did you cry?

Probably more than my baby. I cried when I first heard him cry from the operation theatre. I cried when I first held him. Cried when I hugged my wife, dad, mom and my entire family. I think all I did that time was cry.

29. What did you name him/her?

Ibrahim :)

30. How old is your first born today?

2 months and 12 days.

Thank you, Solilo. This was fun. It's like reliving those fantastic memories this first pregnancy brought in our lives. I'll ask my wife to do this as well. Will add her comments to mine later.

Fit hai toh Hit hai

This is a fitness update. For the record,

I've started the "couch potato to 5k" running plan and "100 push ups" training program along with my already hugely successful "Atkins" diet plan.

In 39 days of diet, I've lost 10 kg. Another 6 kg to loose before I reach my target weight. But in terms of fitness, there's a long way to go.

Gone are the days when I captained my college cricket team or represented my region at the All-India national athletic meet or was the sports captain at my school.

For now, I am just a couch potato (who does not eat potato coz of the diet) but spends a lot of time on the couch! But that's going to change. And soon. Last evening was my first training session.

Thank you, Roop for sharing these fitness programs. And to Fitness Fervor.

p.s. Wasn't that a bloody clichéd title? :p

Isn't a baby girl your child too?

Yesterday afternoon, an ex-colleague visited my office. She was here to pick her final settlement cheque and experience certificate. She dropped by my desk to say hello and congratulated on my baby. She had had a baby girl a few months back so I inquired about her. She was doing well. Even showed me her photo. Cute little girl. Asked her about how things were otherwise? She informed me that she almost got divorced. I was a little shocked. Stepping into some personal space, I asked her what happened. The reasons:

1. She gave birth to a baby girl
2. She called her mom over for the delivery

Who was the architect behind all this? Mother-in-law
Husband was helpless. Mentally poisoned & emotionally blackmailed by his mother.
Things are OK now. They are back together after 6 months of separation.

I was so freakin shocked. What is wrong with a girl child? Why are people still bloody fixated with this boy child thing? Isn't a girl also your child? Is that old women fuckin nuts?

And what's wrong if she called her mom over for the delivery? Wouldn't she want her mother around during her difficult time? Completely beats me.

A couple almost got divorced because she gave birth to a baby girl. It just did not register in my head. He is a young, educated guy working with a MNC. How could that jerk let this happen? He even got her visa canceled and sent her back home.

I've heard such cases but was under the impression it predominantly happens in rural India. Illiteracy, society, finances, unawareness, call-whatever-fuck-you-wanna-call-it, could be reasons. But how can you explain this?

We may have hopped into the 21st century but our minds are still rotting. Thousands of women have made this country proud and still people separate because it is a baby girl? Fucking hypocrites.

I am appalled. I feel disgusted. What does it take to change such lousy filthy minds? How does their damn consciences allow them to sleep at night? Is this what we call progressive India? I am sure this is NOT a one-of case. Thousands must be suffering the same fate as my friend. When does it end?

My idea of therapy

No bones to guess I was depressed all weekend. And now I've decided to put an end to this. No more depressive, sad, sombre or pitiful posts. Folks who know me or have followed this blog for a while know I'm better than that. Enough is enough. So what did I do to get over the mood?

Therapy!

No, I did not see a psychiatrist. Not that kind of therapy but the other kind. This kind:

1. Shopping therapy:

There was a sale at Azzaro. Need I say more? ;)

2. Food therapy:

Why wouldn't a double cheese, grilled jalapeño chicken burger make you feel good? ;)

3. Fun therapy:


And with whatever little frustration left, I knocked out those pins left, right and center!!

I think it was just in the mind. The moment I decided to let go, everything was instantly better.

Thank you to one and all for your supportive and encouraging words. Cheers :)

Too many whys and what's with the 'T'

I don't know why people blog. Is it because:

1. They are bored and don't know how else to kill time
2. Want a medium to express their views be it personal, social, political, sports or current affairs
3. To vent out their frustration. Rant, blah, ramble, swear etc.
4. Those with literary aspirations use this as a platform (be it writing, poetry or even photography)
5. It's cool to have a blog
6. Networking. Want to be in touch with family/friends/acquaintances/fellow bloggers
7. Record their lives and experiences. A public diary.
8. To tell the world how well they can cook?

There could be more. Me just thinking aloud.

I started blogging for just one reason: #7

But with time #2, #3 and #6 jumped in.

And today I proudly introduce you to the latest joinee: #1

Yes, that's what this post is about. I've got absolutely nothing to do. So here I am.

As I write, my wife and baby are guest of honors at a big family gathering hosted on their behalf. It's a celebration usually done when the baby is forty days old. No clue why. But they do it. My baby is two months old (touchwood). They had to delay the function for some reason.

So it's happening today. What's really weird is I could not attend. For some reason I had to stay put. I still don't know why. And I can't believe I'm sitting here typing this post rather than be by my wife's side holding my adorable little baby. Will never be able to get over this. I've written numerous times about my baby and how much I miss the little kiddo. This was my chance to spend a quick weekend with them and I've missed it. This regret is gonna be with me for a long time.

For now, all I can resort to is write a post about it and continue feeling super-miserable.

p.s. My last five post titles have started with a T!!!! WHY?