Short Story of a Hermaphrodite Baby – Life turned Topsy turvy
Photo credit: e_v_e_l_i_n_e from morguefile.com
It was a beautiful winter morning with the sun shining resplendently. I woke up in the arms of my love, my husband Arnav. He was a gift to me from the almighty. We had met 4 years back while pursuing MBA degree and somehow luck made us fall in love and a year back we decided to tie the knot. Life seemed to beautiful to me. He was sleeping beside me with his arms around my waist and i lay there watching his innocent face.
The week was too important to us because every day brought us closer to the day when i would be blessed with a child. Yes,I was 8 months pregnant now n my husband , my family was eagerly waiting for the child and so were we. suddenly i felt a little pain at the lower end of my stomach, before i could realize what it was it began to magnify. The pain was now enormous for me to bear. Arnav woke up hearing my moan and he knew the moment had arrived. My family took me to the hospital and i what i last remember before entering the labor room was the humming sound of my mother in law singing to god to help me endure the pain and then everything went hazy.
I opened my eyes and came to know that the baby was born from an surgical operation. I asked the nurse “How is my baby? Is it a boy or a girl?”
But to my amazement she gave me a fearful look and went away. But soon to my relief Arnav came. There was a little smile on his face and a baby in his arms. I felt relieved.
“Its beautiful”,he said,”Lets name him Shreya.”
I grew very excited and asked “No,first tell me is it a boy or a girl,lets see who has won ,you wanted a girl and i wanted a boy,remember!!”
Yes,he remembered. He suddenly became sad and said”Dear,we have to bear this pain.the baby is neither a boy nor a girl.She is a hermaphrodite”.
On hearing the words a pang of pain ran through me.I couldn’t believe. Arnav consoled me n said”But its a sign of our love.We will bring it up with utmost care.You needn’t worry and never forget I love u.”
That moment i couldn’t be less thankful to God for Making Arnav my soul mate. Later i came to know that neither of our families wanted to accept the baby and Arnav had fought them all just for me.
I was perplexed what had i done that my baby was meted out such unjustice. I cursed God. How could he be so merciless. I cried in Arnav’s arms. But the pain wasn’t to end here. I was happy that Arnav was with me and i knew together we would build a beautiful world for our child. But the day after that brought with it a flood of sorrows for me. People from the third gender as some call them came in a group to meet me.
But one of the told me “We want to take your bay with us.I promise we would take good care of her”
But i couldn’t understand why they wanted to separate me from my baby.
She explained”Your mainstream society would never accept her and would actually work out to make life all the more difficult for her.With us she will never feel different.I promise i would be like a mother to her.”
Tears rolled out of my eyes. I glanced at Arnav and asked”Is it necessary??”
He didn’t had a reply. What ensued this was a discussion among the elders that they were right and for the betterment of the baby,she should be handed to them. It was most painful for me to accept this and i knew it was equally painful for Arnav as well. But destiny had chosen this fate for us,we could do nothing about it and were mere audience to it.
While departing one of the said “If you want you can always come to meet her but as a well wisher.this is the address.” And before this she denied any financial help offered by Arnav for upbringing of the child.
Few days gone,I got discharged from the hospital. The story of the birth of the baby was kept a secret and relatives were told it was born dead. People came and consoled me. But they didn’t knew it was the society who had taken my baby away. The feeling tore my heart into pieces. Days went by and i became very silent .Years went by and i was blessed with a child again and this time it was a beautiful baby girl. But then i had a feeling of deja vu. I had completely forgotten about the address that i had been given . I urged Arnav to let me visit Shreya. As i had expected he agreed and offered to go with him. After three day we went there. I saw that lady and to my amazement she remembered me. She took us to a little house and called out “Shreya!!”
My heart began to grew faster and faster. Finally she arrived. I saw her. She had Arnav’s eyes but her face resembled me. I was overjoyed at the sight of her , but controlled myself. Shreya came and sat beside me and said “namastey aunty and namastey uncle.”
She was a little chatterbox and grew friendly within fifteen minutes of our stay.She showed us her little paintings. I saw Arnav in tears and i too couldn’t control myself. I said after a long stay of three hours
“I think its time for us to go Shreya. We would soon come to meet you again.”
She nodded her head in support and we departed painfully.
On the drive back to home i sat there in the car pondering how topsy turvy life had turned out to be. I used to have fairy dreams of a happy married life with its highs and lows. But never had i accepted to face such a phase in mu life. My world around me now seemed to be mysterious. We never know whats in store for us. Life is not just the matter of living its a matter of enduring what comes before you.Life is how you turn around little things to bring joy to yourself and your loved ones. No one knows what plan the Almighty is weaving for us, so better we buckle up to face challenges in life. Life is not a smooth drive round the road ,its a roller coaster ride where we would reach extreme of our emotions and yet we need to balance ourselves. Sudenly Arnav put his arms round my shoulder and smiled and i realized i some way life is beautiful if you have a person to share your difficulties with and who is always there for you to help.
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