Recently over the weekend, I had the pleasure of taking three kids out to Big Mac.– My four plus son Sanjiv, and two eleven year old’s –my brother’s daughter Diksha and my cousin sister’s son Manav. As I saw the three of them tuck contentedly into French fries and McVeggie, I was reminded of the birth of all three children.
The moment the phone rang on December 11, 1998 we my parents and I knew instinctively that my sister in law had been hospitalized. We quickly rushed to the hospital in Mahim where all the children in my sister in law’s family had been born. It was a long wait made longer by our anxiety. Finally, a nurse came out carrying what I can only describe as a pink bundle. It was the most delightful shade of pink that I had ever seen in my life, the memory of which was made sweeter by the fact that, I was the first person to see the child.
I saw Manav during a visit to Chennai, about two months after he was born. He was such a small baby at that time, I exclaimed that he was in fact Adhi Manav. I still tease him about the incident about which obviously he has no recollection.
Finally, Sanjiv. My wife had been in the labour room for a while when the doctor, came out of carrying my son. I was clearly frightened when I realized that she was going to drop the child in my lap. I had till then followed a prudent policy of lifting only children after they had crossed a year. I was trying to explain this to the doctor when she said quietly but firmly—“it is your child and you have to take
responsibility for him”, dropped him into my lap and my life. Needless to say that has been the story of my life since then.
1 comment:
This is really nostalgic, reminded me of the whole picture of my kid's birth , all just went by my eyes and left me with a big smile. Thanks for bringing back the fond memories at the start of the day .
Ravindran on Behalf of Harpreet Jabbara
Post a Comment