A dad describes his adventures in fatherhood!

Hands-on dads are not as rare a breed as we think. Nor are they forced into it.

Meet Kranti Kumar..

He telecommutes to work so he can be with his little daughter more. He is the Head, Business Relations and Client Management at Artefacts Systems, a loving husband and a doting dad!

With an experience spanning over a decade, his career started in software development, and he then moved on to pursue MBA from Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow.

He loves to keep himself updated about the latest technological advances in the world. He is also a big-time foodie and adventure freak who never backs out from trying something new.

The adventure that is most rewarding is also one that will continue over a lifetime - being a hands-on dad and caregiver to Ira, his much-adored daughter.

As a tribute to dads everywhere, we bring you his story in his own words. Read on. 

The Decision

That priceless moment when we saw Ira in the first ultrasound, I knew we had created a being.

I couldn’t wait to go to the next ultrasound, and the excitement only increased with every visit.

After nine months of hospital visits, food changes for everyone at home to keep the morning sickness away, and the built-up anticipation, the reality of becoming a father had finally set in.

My wife and I both have corporate jobs.

After a few years of our marriage, we decided to shift cities when she wanted to pursue other career opportunities.

The organization I worked with was fairly accommodating in this aspect and allowed me to work remotely.

This also meant we would be moving closer to our parents and it could help us when we would plan to have a kid in due time.

After all, marriage means equal responsibility, right?

So we made the decision.

Working from home has helped us more than ever after Ira was born and it turns out this was one of the best decisions we have made for ourselves.

How working from home helped us

They say change is good, and let me tell you how that worked out for us:

1. I’ve heard people say kids are a lot of work. But she’s a stress buster. Bored at work? Too much pressure? I just need to step out of my workroom and there she would be – sleeping like an angel, yawning like me, or excited to play with me the moment she sees that door open. I have never seen a happier smile in my life.
2. I get to spend more time with her. I was amazed to see how she started doing a new thing every day. Little things like holding my finger, listening to me whistling, turning over trying to sit up – it’s almost unbelievable how they observe and learn things without any teaching, and I was lucky to have been around for all of these.
3. It has allowed us to balance our schedules between family and work. Now that she has started going to day-care, I take care of her in the morning, and my wife looks after her in the evening. Saving that extra hour since I don’t travel to work gives me more time. I have also been able to keep my schedule flexible so that I can take care of her late in the night when everyone else is asleep.
4. We stay close to our parents They have been very supportive all this while, and we cannot thank them enough. They have been four selfless pillars ready to put our needs before theirs. But we all know how grandparents can never get enough time with their grandkids! And Ira gets to learn from them every day. So it’s a win-win situation for everyone.

I’m not saying it has been an easy journey so far, but it was definitely a fulfilling adventure.

We were quite surprised when she sat for five straight hours on her first day in day-care without crying.

While we started to learn how to deal with things like missing IPL finals and cutting down on our travel plans, we see that she has started to learn to eat her own food, choose her toys when she wants to play, and understand when we say that it’s end of screen time for the day.

It makes us extremely happy to see how she has grown over the months, and we know now that she is a brave and independent girl, ready to explore the world.