Month: June 2024

This past weekend we celebrated someone who I have had the pleasure seeing go from a baby to a sassy, intelligent, caring, and overwhelmingly loving being. To think that Zara is just turned 6 makes me envy the times I had with my nephew and nieces Maya. Raina, Kavan and Hansa. I was blessed to enjoy them, but until Zara it didnt hit me how lucky I was for being a young uncle but not so young that I don’t feel a certain protectiveness over each of them as if I was their parent.

Each meeting with Zara always contains a chance to feel joy, be seen, and just a chance to see a growing personality that is far older than 6. Seeing her play with her younger brother Ezra and now her cousin Zyan fills my heart with strong emotions that sound inadequate to call just love. Its a bursting kind of amazement, happiness tha threatens to choke my heart. The same feeling I had when I was a Mamu now being called uncle fills me with same kind of ensuring she is safe and take care of.

And she is, the breadth of her clan is already deep, all thanks to her parents efforts to ensure that she knows that she will NEVER be alone, and that family is not simply defined by blood but by time and shared moments. Her birthday wasnt just a celebration of her coming into our lives, but a continuing affirmation of being witness to a beautiful soul who makes so many around her happy.

Her presence has allowed me to relive moments with my own, but in a way that feels like natural outgrowth into seeing her the same. I proudly tell everyone she is my niece, but really she is. Happy Birthday Zara. Sanjay Uncle loves you (and your ofcourse your favorite Bhua)

A gloomy Monday, yet the weekend sparkled beginning early Friday as we got to spend time with so many loved ones, catching up with someone, sharing Zyan with others and then doing some family of 3 time and ended the weekend by having Zyan spend time with his cousins at Balboa Village. It is times like these that create the lasting memories we will look back at fondly, and to think, it just came from simply yes to the opportunity rather than finding reasons not to do it.

With the recent onslaught of blessed work, it has also limited my time during the week to do the things I truly enjoy which of course involve my wife and son. I look forward to the unstructured time I get with him from the morning till his bedtime. I also get to experience things I haven’t done before (like Balboa, or Yorba Linda Regional Park or the Santa Ana Zoo.) Every new thing for him also becomes something new for us, allowing us to build new routines that encourage his curiosity and giddy laughter

As the days fly, I am constantly striving to be present in Zyan’s life. I don’t just want to be a weekend dad all the time. I also get that until I get to have my systems down, this will be my new reality. That knowledge is pushing me this month to really take a hard look at what the gaps are for me at work, and at home, and then work on finding fixes so we can have more perfect weekends like we just did. I am addicted to the collective smiles, conversations, and laughter we shared, and I am determined to make that my routine!