Rahul Vaidya can’t keep calm, as he’s a dad now! In his first interview after becoming a father, the singer tells us that he is “on top of the world”. “Ganesh ji ke saath Laxmi ji aayi hain hamare ghar,” he says about his daughter, born on Wednesday — a day after Ganesh Chaturthi.

Ask what it was like holding her in his arms for the first time, and he can’t help but well up a bit while saying: “I was happily numb for three to four hours. Mujhe samajh hi nahin aa raha tha ho kya raha hai. I have cried several times since she was born. Whenever I see her, I get teary eyed. I’m still choking while talking!”

The feeling of becoming a father is just about sinking in, says Vaidya. “While completing the hospital formalities and filling up forms, whenever I read ‘father’s name’, that’s when it would hit me [that I am a father],” he says, revealing that singer Sonu Nigam was among the first ones to congratulate him. “He called and said, ‘Humara bachcha baap ban gaya!’” says the former Indian Idol contestant.

Have he and his wife, actor Disha Parmar, zeroed in on a name yet? Vaidya says they have shortlisted a few: “But, hum rashi ke hisaab se rakhenge. Let it be a surprise for now!”

The singer is set to turn 36 tomorrow. His birthday, this time, will be all the more special: “Disha and our child will get discharged from the hospital on the same day. So, I will bring my baby home on my birthday.”

Though the due date wasn’t until October, Vaidya says he had a feeling the baby may arrive earlier. “Till Tuesday, we were going to people’s houses for Ganpati darshan... I somehow had a strong feeling the baby will arrive around Ganesh Chaturthi. So yes, I manifested this,” he signs off.