Baby Talk

Before I got married, I used to wonder why a couple would want a baby. Why would anyone want to put up with the sleepless nights, the forever running nose, the smelly diapers, the screaming and the wailing? The agony list is just getting started here, and its length, and the magnitude of problems, are directly proportional to the age of the kid. It is one thing to see someone else's child and exclaim "How sweet!!!", and a totally different matter to have one of your own. Maybe the decision is a result of the pressure applied by the remainder of the family. In my place, and I think in all parts of the state, a newly married couple would frequently be asked, "Vishesham valadum aayo?" (Any good news?). As time goes by, this question becomes, "Ithu vare vishesham onnum aayile? Sho, athu entha?" (No good news yet? But why not?). Initially, the response to these prying questions is a shy smile, but as months fly by, the coyness gets replaced by poorly suppressed irritation. Finally, when the extended family starts research on good doctors in the locality, and parents start frequenting places of worship, the troubled couple come up with the good news. At last....phew.

After I became a mom, I realised that whatever reason anyone has for wanting a child, it can be assured that the little fellow is going to turn your world topsy turvy. From the moment you set eyes on your child, he (or she) enchants you, the toothless smile warms you somewhere deep within, the little coos and giggles make you wonder at the tiny miracle that god has sent you. And mothers are luckier than anyone else, because the bonding begins even before the baby arrives. Maybe that is why everyone gets concerned when there is a delay, because they do not want you to miss out on all the fun and love that a baby brings along.


The teddy bears are for all the little angels in my family, especially the latest addition, my little niece S.A.M, and her proud brother, J.I.M.