J
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ai and Prerna hugged each other
with delight. Suddenly they felt as if they should have something meetha. It
seemed the Cadbury Dairy Milk ad did make an impact and Jai immediately opened
the Cadbury pack that was in the refrigerator. He lovingly shared the chocolate
with his wife. They spent around an hour discussing how they would break the
news to the family.
They lived in a joint family and
it meant that this piece of news was going to spread like wildfire. After all
everyone was awaiting the first child of this generation. They had been married
for two years now and everyone in the family was eager to hear the good news.
When they finally did tell the
family over dinner that night the cheer and the jubilation spread like madness.
Within a matter of few minutes elders of the family lined up to give blessings
to the couple, younger members started celebrating and making party plans while
others started making calls to near and dear ones.
Very soon the family started
having brainstorming sessions over what the name of the child will be. Someone
from the elders suggested a name which made the youngsters fume as they
considered it too old school. They were suggesting more on the lines of Aryan
or someone from the current bollywood line up. Someone rational pointed out
that they did not know whether it would be a boy or a girl and they should
consider both the options. This was followed by an awkward silence which was
broken by Bunty, a younger cousin who wanted the name of the girl to be Katrina
after her favourite actress. Everyone burst out into laughter and it lightened
the mood.
In the days to come Prerna was
approached by her mother-in-law and she had pointed out how happy she was to
hear about the news. While she was discussing about a few of the functions that
she had planned she mentioned how lovely it would be to have a baby boy. Apparently his father-in-law also shared the same feelings and they had been
planning on great celebrations once the child was born.
It disturbed Prerna a bit
whenever anyone mentioned that they would prefer a baby boy rather than a girl.
She was a highly educated girl and could never understand the kind of logic
that was sometimes displayed in such high class societies and families. Though
they boasted of being modern such medieval thoughts really made her wonder what
would be the reaction of the family it would indeed be a baby girl. She thought
it would be better not to think about such things and rather take care of her.
After a few more days one of the
family aunts suggested that she should get a prenatal checkup done on whether
it was a boy or girl. Prerna mentioned that it was illegal to do such tests and
besides she could not understand what the point of getting such a test done
was. The aunty club did not understand her point and just kept on saying that
they knew a doctor who could do such a test and it would be great to get an
idea whether it was a boy or a girl.
Prerna decided to talk to Jai
about this and relayed how negatively she felt about getting such a test done.
Jai for once understood her point and stood by her side. He talked to his
parents and soon the hue and cry for a test was mellowed down. But Prerna
always heard a few stingy remarks whenever she used to pass any of the members
of the Aunty club. The good thing was that her mother-in-law did not have any
problem with her decision and that gave her a lot of comfort.
She got used to this and very
soon it was time for delivery. The house was excited with the hope of the new
arrival and almost all the members were convinced that it will be a baby boy.
But Prerna had a strange feeling that it will be the opposite.
True to her feelings Prerna gave
birth to a beautiful baby girl. The girl was very fair and had the eyes of Jai.
Jai and Prerna were the first ones to see the baby as Jai had stayed over in
the room to give support to her. Jai was the happiest person on planet at that
time and he had a wide grin on his face. He could not wait to run outside and
tell everyone how good looking the baby was. After a few more moments he made
his way out of the room to join the curious onlookers. They had heard the cries
of the baby and were already celebrating. When Jai came out everyone rushed to
him and waited for the verdict.
Jai announced that it was a baby
girl with a strange wave of his hands. Everyone was happy and then the long
list of congratulations followed. As he tried to move towards his parents he
saw that although they were happy they were disappointed that it was not a boy.
It was the first child in the family and everyone had made plans that it would
be a boy. It dampened the mood of Jai who took his mother aside and asked her
if she was happy or not. She was genuinely happy and told Jai not to worry as
it was natural in their families to expect a boy rather than a girl.
In a few days Prerna came home
with her little daughter. The family made sure that the child got all the love
and affection. Bunty was a bit sad as he was expecting to distribute rasgullas
and eat a lot of them in the process. But now he had to be contented with other
sweets. Jai made sure that he get a big pack of dairy milk for Bunty and make
him happy.
But every now and then someone
would come up to Prerna and say her that they wanted the next child to be a
boy. It really left her speechless as there was a newborn girl in the family
and still everyone wanted a boy. She always smiled affectionately to all the
members and never showed her disapproval to their comments.
When she got time she always thought
what would have been the reaction of the members if she would have agreed on
that sex determination test.
-----------------------------------------
Perhaps awareness about female
foeticide have made the urban families a lot more matured but there is still a
lot of non acceptance in the society and a boy is considered a much better choice
to have rather than a girl.
Do read ->
http://accidentally-mba.blogspot.in/2012/05/kuch-meetha-ho-jaaye-ii.html
Its another take on the same thought by a very good friend.
Do read ->
http://accidentally-mba.blogspot.in/2012/05/kuch-meetha-ho-jaaye-ii.html
Its another take on the same thought by a very good friend.
Nicely written Dude ..the flow is really good which helps on to hold on the main issues which was highlighted through this story ..:)
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot Mr.Ghostrider :)
DeleteThe wheel is rollin now, don't stop
ReplyDeleteYeah. Lets see where the journey takes. :)
DeleteNice observation...
ReplyDeleteSaw something very similar recently in my extended family. Your post made me wonder how deeply such prejudices are ingrained in our society, and how they often remain unacknowledged...
Keep up the good work! :)
Yeah a lot of things are TALKED about in our families. We love watching Satyameva Jayate and love saying that people are doing a great job. But i doubt how much is actually practiced. Never mind. Let people preach for now at least. :)
Deletevery soul touching story.. the narration is really very good.. I personally feel that the problem is more in the urban society..
ReplyDeleteThere are different kinds of problems in urban and rural societies i feel. :)
ReplyDelete