"Who's the baby?"
"She's my niece. I have loads of cousins and by extension, a lot of nephews and nieces."
"It's a nice picture."
"Thanks. You cannot imagine what was going through my mind while I was holding her."
"Can I guess?"
"Sure, why not."
"She’s so cute you could eat her."
"Haha... obvious guess, but, no. I was thinking about the theory of Twin Paradox."
"Interesting. Care to explain."
"In Twin Paradox, one of the twins goes on a space voyage and the other stays put on Earth. When he returns, he discovers that his Earth-bound counterpart has aged considerably compared to him. I do not have a twin. Nor do I have a vehicle capable of space voyages. But I do live away from my hometown and normally return after long intervals. This time, on my return, I found out that one of my nieces I once used to rock to sleep and carry around in my arms has now become a teenager, taking selfies and applying eye shadow for makeup. Although both of us have aged at the same pace, a second at a time, the passage of time feels different. I must have grown old given the fact that she has grown up. Still, I felt stuck in time. And now I was holding another niece of mine, a few hours before my departure. That bundle of joy was only six months old and was cackling for some reason. I was going away again and wondered what stage of life she would be at when I saw her the next time, crawling, standing, walking, running, going to school, participating in dance competitions... why are you laughing?"
"I was laughing at the way you have conditioned your mind."
"I don't understand."
"You had a genuine human moment. Your heart was telling you about things you were missing out in life. But that comes with a lot of additional work and responsibility. So, your mind avoids going there and instead attempts to correlate a normal emotional moment with a scientific theory that has no practical implications for your personal life. It involves no work and still leaves your heart with a feeling of contentment. You feel connected to science that holds the world together instead of experiencing the mundane life of a common man. For instance, if you don't want to miss the moments of a child growing up, go and get married. Become a father. Experience that firsthand. "
"Why does everything become about my marriage these days?"
***
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