Each wail came out like a wild
siren and every time Anand’s heart jumped into his throat with raw fear, and
almost banged the door of the room. Another set of cries, but this time they
were followed by a high-pitched, loud cackle, unquestionably of a newborn,
which sounded like music to him; the sound which washed all his fears with
tears. Doctor came out and Anand didn’t wait for her to talk, as he has already
heard the cry of a little one.
There were two cribs beside
Aisha. Twins! He was almost dancing with elation, as his face swelled with
absolute bliss after a worrisome wait. Twins it is! He kissed Aisha, who was
looking at him and beamed weakly. “Very tired she must be, too weak,” he
reflected and took a photo of his kids and shoved the camera back into his belt
bag. Only then he realized something was odd. Only one of them was crying. The
doctor who was standing at his back gathered all her courage and finally said,
exhaling a deep sigh, “Look at the positive side Mr. Anand, your son is very
healthy. But I’m sorry for your daughter. This happens sometimes when the twins
are of the different gender. They don’t get an equal share of their mother’s
resources.”
He looked at the cribs. They
looked identical, but the stillborn girl was clearly very weaker than his son.
Somehow Aisha was not as
distraught as she would have been as if she was expecting it. She tried looking
at the fuller side of the glass. She prepared herself for a tragedy.
The weeks which followed were
punctuated with alternate melancholy and cheery giggles. The death of their
baby girl, who they would have called Anu, had she survived, has disturbed
Anand a lot more than it did Aisha. Anand was angry, but unsure, on
Going through the death of
their baby girl has been traumatic to both and Anand had a family planning
operation
---
Aamir was an endearing boy and
was an easy boy. But he did prove impossible in some instances, like when he
would keep asking about his grandparents, because all his friends talked a lot
about their grandparents and he didn’t understand when Aisha told him he hasn’t
got any.
He also noticed he lacked
cousins while each of his friends has got a ton of cousins. He was particularly
inconsolable on the day of Raksha Bandhan, all of his male friends sported
colorful Rakhis on their right hand tied by their sister or a cousin, and he
would look at his wrist which was devoid of any bands.
But as he grew up, he
understood better about his stillborn sister and lack of grandparents and
cousins. He grasped that in one way he was the cause of death of his twin.
Although unintentional, he usurped more resources, resources meant for two, the
result of which made him come out extra healthy while his sister’s life force
faded away. This kind of thinking affected him much. He became more introvert
as he grew up, and talked very less, spent more time on his academics and
computers. He never saw any girls, wouldn’t notice anyone. It took a studious
girl, someone who loved math as much as he did to finally make him notice the
other gender, Rashi, his lab mate.
After his engineering, Aamir
married Rashi. They both were computer scientists and immediately after their
marriage left to US where they had good jobs ready.
---o---
Rashi was having her labor
pains and everyone, Aamir, Anand and Aisha were waiting in the hospital. It’s
frightening to Anand, as the only other time he had to hear those pains, pains
of Aisha, there was a tragedy.
The howls of labors ebbed and
there was loud cackle, a healthy baby. And in, they rushed and saw there was
only a single rib. Not twins, Anand offered a prayer feeling thankful. Aamir
sat beside Rashi, holding her hand, conveying lots of emotions through touch
and eyes, emotions which can’t be put into words. Anand went to the crib to
take the baby but
Aamir and Aisha rushed and all
of them did a double take. Tears ensued from Aisha for a different reason.
Anand placed his hand on her shoulder, his own eyes misty. Aamir understood the
reason. He remembered that photo, of him and his twin sister, taken at the time
of their birth. And there couldn’t have been a greater similarity, as the baby
in the4 crib looked exactly like the stillborn sister of Aamir. As Aisha took
the baby in her hands and her cries subsided, and she pushed forth her hand to
Aisha’s cheek, teeny tiny fingers touching her cheek, looking at Aisha, taking
in the visage with her big baby eyes, as if she thought Aisha was her mother.
She was named Anu, a choice
that was agreed upon unanimously, and the suitcase in the attic, which was
exiled forever, saw the light of the day again. Anand and Aisha were over the
moon adorning their granddaughter with all those jewelry. It was not just the
old jewelry that has made a comeback, but so did the old self of Aisha, her
youthful self. Aisha before the tragedy struck her; when she was just a
newlywed girl, who loved traveling and one who was never quiet. It was the
happiest house in the world.
Just two weeks after her birth
she had a high fever, and the doctor said many complex sounding names which
didn’t make any sense to the old couple, they didn’t have so many medical terms
in their days. Doctor said Anu is not so well suited to cope up with cold
climate, at least until she would be of age five, by when she should have
developed enough of something that was lacking in her now.
She can’t be taken to the USA,
nor can she be left at their grandparents, because Anand and Aisha lived in
Keylong, Himachel Pradesh, which is in the Himalayas and is snow covered most
of the time. So Anand and Aisha decided they would travel south, to Hyderabad,
where Rashi’s brother lived. They took a residence there, until such time as
Aamir can take Anu back to US. Although they didn’t say it aloud, both Aisha
and Anand were guilty of being happy at their granddaughter’s sickness, for it
meant she would be with them.
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