Mumma, can you hear me?

Sarita was a carefree girl, being born & brought up in an upper middle class family, she was far away from the hard realties of life. All her wishes had always been taken care in her parent’s house, it was altogether a different story in this new house, where she has come after her marriage. Now, she is expected to behave/carry herself in certain ways, rather than expecting her new family to pamper her. Her husband is a nice guy, loves her, pampers her, but in a restrictive manner. One reason being, his family was very orthodox, another being he was too busy in his business.
She is a house maker now. She had made herself accept this new life. Her free spirit almost died after marriage, but she never complained about anything. She was pretty okay with her life. After a year of marriage, she had one baby girl and she got too busy with her house & her baby.
After a year, she conceived again. She was not ready for the 2nd child. She also knew that her conservative family now want a baby boy but how could she ensure this? There was no dearth of money in her house, but they need boy to continue the family name, run the family business.
She thought, what a pity, girls are still unwanted in most of the Indian families. If your first child is a boy, your second pregnancy will be almost tension free, because it does not matter whether the second child is a boy or a girl. But after a girl child, everyone in family/relatives will pray that second one turns out to be a boy.
Well, it’s a fact, cost of living has become so high that people can’t afford many kids these days, unlike people a decade back, who used to keep on increasing the family size, unless a boy is born. But modern techniques have solved this problem. Since, mothers have all the right for terminating their pregnancy, you can go for sex selective abortions. Well, its illegal but it’s a business opportunity for doctors who can make pretty handsome amount by doing this and there are no dearths of families/mothers wanting this (even now in 21st century). Sadly, Sarita’s family also held the same view. Though her first child was loved by all, but wish to have a baby boy, was too high. She tried resisting, but finally gave into family pressure to go for sex determination test. She had lost her senses, a small kid to take care of, the pregnancy & above all, the pressure & tension was taking toll on her mental health, but most girls have immense capability to absorb/take any nonsense and still, manage to fake that they are happy & everything is good. Well, the dreaded day came, everyday she had prayed that be it a boy, because she knew the fate of her baby if it turns out to be otherwise.
BUT, against everyone’s wish, it was a GIRL child. She was shattered. She didn’t want to be the killer of her own baby, but family pressure was very strong. Everything seemed to be beyond her control. She came back from hospital. Her family had booked date for the operation (abortion or shall we call it murder??). She could not eat that day. It was her baby & she didn’t have a say. Her whole world seemed upside down to her. She kept on crying & crying and didn’t realise, when she started sleeping and dreaming too. She saw her elder daughter playing with a kid who was exactly like her childhood cherished doll. Such a cute, adorable and doll like kid. They both were playing and calling her – ‘mumma, mumma..can u hear our voice? We love u mumma’ .. she woke up, it was such a beautiful dream, but when she woke up, she again got disheartened due to the circumstances.
She started thinking, (perhaps for the first time after her marriage), because till now, she has accepted the things as they were & have not given it a thought whether they were right or wrong. Perhaps it was time to wake up & realise what she has done to her own self. She was not just about to kill her baby, but to kill her own self. How will she get away with the guilt of killing her own baby? How will she be an ideal mother for her first kid, when something in her own self would die?
Perhaps it was time to say to kiddo that ‘I love you too’.. Sarita realised that no one is going to come for her help unless she takes a stand that she wants her baby at any cost. It is her baby & it is her responsibility to bring her safely on this earth. She had regained her lost self & assertiveness.
Finally, she was at peace with the memories of that beautiful face in her mind & heart.

Jo beet gayi so baat gayi

Was watching 'Big Boss' today. In the end, Amitabh Bachchan quoted few lines from his dad's poem - 'Jo beet gai so baat gayi'..It was his dad's Harivansh Rai Bachchan's 102nd birth anniversary today.
Just after the show, i was tempted to read the entire poem becoz somehow it touched me..though i always knew about this poem, but i had never attempted to read the full text.

Here is the link for the poem:
Jo beet gayi so baat gayi...