Blog Interview Meme

This is a chain interviewing game for blogs. Here are its rules:

1. Leave me a comment saying “interview me.” The first five commenters will be the participants.
2. I will respond by asking you five questions.
3. You will update your blog/site with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions. (Write your own questions or borrow some.)

Wayfarer has asked me the following questions.

1. How does it feel to be a dad?

It feels great. It is amazing. Very different from how I imagined it. I am not a baby/kid person. My ideal number of children have always hovered between zero and one. So my reaction to Michelle was a surprise. I would say I started feeling love for her around the time we saw her heartbeat on the ultrasound. I am very protective of her and extremely defensive about anyone disparaging my role as a dad. Say anything about boys being better or girls having it difficult in life or girls being closer to their moms and I come out swinging.

2. What do you like and dislike about Atlanta?

Dislike is easy. I hate Atlanta summers. They are hot and humid. Not the kind of weather I like. I also don’t like the somewhat suburban feel of the city of Atlanta. My feelings about the laid back attitude of people here vary. At times, I get frustrated with it and want Atlanta to become a more fast-paced city like New York, but at other times I like the slow pace of life here.

Another thing about Atlanta is the lack of things like museums, theater, etc. as compared to New York, Chicago or San Francisco.

Among likes, there is the fact that one can drive to the mountains (even if they are not exactly tall peaks) in the North whenever one wants to. There are lots of hiking, backpacking and camping opportunities there. There are also lakes and rivers for a weekend of paddling fun in the summer (but please don’t go into the Chattahoochee river in the metro Atlanta area, it is extremely polluted.)

3. Do you ever miss Pakistan? If so, what about it?

I could take the easy way out and say that I miss my parents and siblings. However, I would focus on the place, rather than people. Having moved a few times in my life, I don’t have any sentimental attachments to any place. Whenever we are moving, I am excited and looking forward to a new place while Amber is starting to miss the old one.

4. How did you and Amber meet?

During our high school and college years, we used to live in the same town. Amber was a classmate of my sister. I knew about her when she started going to the same college in which I was studying. We took the same college bus and there were only about 5-6 girls from our town in our college (the female population among the students at the college was 5-10%.) We first met when Amber visited our home some time in spring of her freshman year. She was a bookworm and wanted to study even though the university was closed for a couple of months due to 3 students being murdered in a student “political” clash. So we talked about the university and freshman Math. It was definitely not love at first sight. But it grew over time.

5. Describe the perfect meal.

That is a difficult one. But here are some great meals I have had. Stuffed lamb roast the Baloch way is great. So was the rabbit stuffed with peach I ate in a restaurant in Blois, France. For breakfast, nothing could beat the patisseries in France. For a regular meal, I would say I like an Italian main course followed by a French dessert. That reminds me of the dessert sample platter I ordered in a Loire valley restaurant. It had more than a dozen varieties and full though I was, I couldn’t stop eating the dessert.

While generally the food at our university cafe wasn’t good, once a week they had lentils and roast chicken which was quite good. I think those tuesdays were the only time I used to eat there.

Now it is your turn. If you would like to be interviewed, please leave a comment asking for an interview.