Actors Karan Singh Grover and Bipasha Basu welcomed their daughter, Devi Basu Singh Grover, in November last year. On Father’s Day today, Karan, in his first interview since becoming a dad, recalls the first time he saw Devi.

“Before I saw her, I thought I’d burn my eyes out, crying. But when I held Devi for the first time, I felt something change in me. When we were pregnant, I’d speak to Bipasha’s belly every day and say, ‘Hi chota babu, Papa is here’. I said that again when I held Devi and she opened her eyes. I did the first skin-to-skin with her, too.”

Though he’s proud to call himself “a hands-on dad”, Karan goes on to salute the power of a mother: “I don’t think any father can be as hands-on as a mum, because they definitely have more than two hands (laughs). Their potential is unfathomable. But yes, I try to do everything that I am capable of and become a better dad every day by understanding my baby’s needs, likes and dislikes.”

For celeb parents, striking a balance between work and their baby could be arduous. Talking about it, Karan shares, “Being a dad takes a lot of my time and I enjoy that. Sometimes, if I have to take things slow on the work front, I don’t mind that because I don’t want to miss out on any of Devi’s firsts — her first crawl, her first wink, her first splash of water... But, I feel blessed to belong to a profession that allows me to do things at my own pace. I can work one day and take the next day off to be with my baby and Bipasha. A lot of people don’t have that luxury.”

She has my chin and she smiles like me. Also, she and I sleep in the same position. Bipasha calls it the fallen man position (laughs).

We have a playlist called Devi’s bath playlist. We play it when her bath is about to start. We also have music time during the day and I sing to her. She enjoys old songs from The Jungle Book, including The Bare Necessities and I Wan’na Be Like You. I dance for her while mumma applies moisturizer.