my life, my stories

mommy mood swings series:3 Pink or blue for your nursery room Ok, so let’s tackle the elephant in the room. The big Voldemort of issues- especially in India; The one question which dare not be asked but a lot of people are thinking. Do you want a girl child or a boy child? India is one of the few countries where pre natal sex determination of foetus is not allowed. Female foeticide or preferential foeticide is by no means restricted to India, around the world the female child has been prejudiced , notably in China with the one child norm, many countries in Africa and even in the developed countries. But here we’ve taken a stand of sorts, a legal action against prenatal prejudice against women. Somewhere around the time of the ‘banned’ “india’s daughter” documentary on the delhi Rape victim, people across social media put up statuses saying “I will never raise my daughter in this country” and the whole “How safe are our daughters in India?” questions. I wondered th...

mommy mood swings series: 2   The good pain It seems to me that of all the existential questions we ask ourselves like –  why are we here , what is the meaning of life , we often fail to ask the most basic of all existence- why is labour painful ? Why should something so physiological and natural should ne marred by the shadow of crushing , overwhelming , gosh-awful pain? The most practical answer I received was- but naturally – from a man. “It’s quite clear God didn’t mean us to have too many children. It was his way of providing a natural contraceptive. He didn’t trust our ingenuity of making artificial means of preventing pregnancies and thought that a severe painful experience would scar the woman such that she would cry out – never again!” he said, “pain as a sensation was meant to stop us from harming or hurting ourselves, pain from burns and cuts keep us safe from fires and knives, and God, naturally hoped that labour would keep women from attem...

 Mommy mood swings series :1 A mother’s love I was lounging on the settee ,reading the Sunday newspaper when a group of well meaning people (WMP')s came to ask about my health. After the initial pleasantries the conversation naturally drifted to my pregnancy. Unsolicited advice is part and parcel of every new mommy to be and all of that can easily be a fun read for another column. The WMP proceeded to tell about this centre in Bombay where one could, you know, find out whether one had a boy or a girl. A friend of a friend had used the facilities and had been very happy with the services provided. For a few mind numbing moments I didn't quite get her drift and then - It struck, me like a bolt of thunder, was this person threatening the existence if my unborn child! Did she in no uncertain terms suggest aborting my flesh and blood? Now, the most rational and expected reaction would be by saying that sex determination was illegal and a punishable offence in I...