Babies and more.

Hello my name is Aarushi and I may have baby fever.

So it all started this Sunday morning as I was sluggishly moving forward with my morning chores when I was informed that my sister in law was having her baby, as I was being told this news. This was not very unexpected as I had seen her lugging her baby bump for most part of last year, but still the baby was early by a week and we could not be more excited. Let me also mention that I have witnessed a few of babies being born and more often than not the turn of events is almost always the same.

Rushing to the hospital: As is customary in our country, whenever something of importance is happening, everyone gathers around for it, we stand in solidarity even if there is no function for it. I sit idly and as patiently as possible reigning in the excitement, which I involuntarily feel but a sense of community prevails and one gets the feeling that we are in this together waiting for the main event.

The arrival: Then we hear it, the forceful shriek of life and in that moment the excitement has reached its climax and what feels like a synchronised wave of joy hits everyone. The anxiousness gives way to happiness so raw and overwhelming that its quite inexplicable, even bystanders like me were tearing up and giving bear hugs to who ever happened to cross my path. It was rather amazing felling the gambit of emotions for something so tiny and pure and absolutely unknown to us.

The rain. But as soon as everyone has had a moment to collect oneself, the judgment rain begins, starting with is it a boy or a girl? Even if we are part of semi liberal, urban society we still cannot manage to avoid the latent consolatory tones in the congratulations received if it’s a baby girl. No one dares to be overtly upset these days with a girl being born, but its hard to miss the sympathetic nod of the head given by the aunties, conveying to the parents that next time they should try harder with this DNA lottery (as if their lack of intent was the problem). As we move on from this, we find that we can still make our peace with it being a baby girl as long as she is reasonably fair and beautiful, or at least one of the two. The list of all the things the little being of two and half kilograms can be compared against is endless especially if all the relatives are unable to find their own reflection in the baby.

The whole experience leaves one having mixed feelings, with on the one hand is the beautiful memory of joy, forever connecting you in a ethereal way to the little baby. One you can never forget and you will probably never let the little child also forget as she grows up. While on the other is the reality where one is required to fill in the religion of a little baby who has not even opened her eyes yet and is completely unaware of how she has left the safe haven of her mother and entered our fractured world where individual choices are hardly given the importance that they deserve, beauty is only skin deep and kindness extended to others extremely unexpected.