Best Gift by God

My Parents often gets nostalgic whenever they think of the day I was born. Of-course they were super exciting for their first child but my mom says dad could not reach our native place- Ujjain; Madhya Pradesh city of lord Shiv, on time during my birth as she had to be rushed one afternoon to hospital by my uncle and family taking care of my mom and the unborn me.

Mom's case got a little complicated that doctor gave up on her and as per filmy scene the relatives were asked to choose whom to save- the mother or the child, and the mother was chosen. Luckily for me there was a senior doctor who came just in time to rescue me too and saved both of us. I was born normally which made all the relatives take a sigh of relief.

In India C section delivery is a taboo so the moment doctors says its normal delivery relatives starts the celebrations without really bothering to know the health or for that matter the gender of the child. If one female in the house has normal delivery and another cesarean than the later poor chap will have to listen to stories and greatness of the normal delivery of the former female. Years later when I was due giving birth to my first child and doctor announced there is a need for C Section, my family members first doubted the doctor's capability, then stared to infinity, again blamed the business requirement of the doctor and after 2 hours of long round table discussion and consulting my dad (a doctor) finally with heavy heart doctor was claimed right and my baby could breathe in open air on the date fixed by doctor via cesarean method. In such cases, till today people do not consider the risk on life, if my mother had been operated immediately to bring me out she would have not suffered for these many hours and risk her or my life.

So coming back to my birth story mom suffered the pain for good 8-9 hours and the nurses couldn't believe the calmness my mother had on her face. I asked her how the hell she did not scream and made the doctors go crazy knowing her impatient nature, to which she said “I was young having very limited knowledge about any of this sort, no one to support inside the labor room, was scared even to ask the doctor what is happening. Things were very different then so I sometimes regret been so ignorant what if anything went wrong, I was from a small town, never been to hospital and no awareness on the procedure which follows or what could be erroneous. The funny thing is that I patiently waited trying to be as calm as possible not screaming my throat out as there was also fear losing my child”.

This story also made me realise the importance of education apart from regular degree we gain, is so important for all to be attentive, informed and capable of taking decisions the right time during the time of crisis. Also there is a huge support system named husband who cannot be replaced with any amount of love and assistance from our dearest relatives (no offence but it is true).

My mom was from small town but shifted to Mumbai city with me following my dad, since then a small town girl have transformed herself to well informed, independent and confident women who can now turn everything upside down for her family.

Every year on my birthday she retrieves this story with same mix of emotions like fear, happiness, excitement and regrets to which I always conclude: “God gave you the best gift on your birthday- ME” to which she laughs and we wish each other HAPPY BIRTHDAY.