For me, she is the second born who didn't do any thing path breaking but was still so special that no words can express it. She didn't make me a mother, I was already one. She didn't make me a mom of a daughter, I had already mothered one. Yet, she was special. She didn't add to the 'Indian' quintessential 'Happy Family' thingie but for insiders she did complete us. She may not have been the 'son' to complete our family but she is the 'child' who does make us a family and a complete one at that!
From the time that she was first kicking inside the tummy to todays times when she slaps my face lovingly, Myra is the 'not so pampered' second child. The child who when was born came with the two word declaration from the operating doc- 'Girl child'. Thats what she proclaimed and my heart skipped a beat. Not because I wanted a boy child but because I hoped my family would still be able to rejoice. I always knew I was having a daughter, both times in my pregnancy. Mothers always know!
But to uphold the collective hopes of an Indian family together and bring 'wholesome' joy to them is a difficult task. Congratulations were exchanged but the smiles were faint. Maybe it was fatigue! My heart knew the obvious. But the two smiles that matter the most were bright and curvy. Navya and Mohit coudn't be happier. While the first born had become an elder sister, the doting father was happy to add to his female following! And as the aches and pains of a C-Section delivery went away so did the uncertainty of how loved my 'second girl child' be.
Her birth an year back did mature me into a more responsible character. I started hallucinating of the times they will marry and go away. I was dreading the dowry discussions and the after marriage wrath. Too much, too early. But then again, being a mother is tiring enough and being that of 'two female kiddies' in India is a whole different thing. There is the physical strain on your body as well as the mental responsibility that stays 24 hours. Just another side-effect of being in this Indian society.
The Modern Mommy may not relate to anything that i wrote. But it is the bitter truth that has to be digested with some sugar coating. I and my family love my two daughters to bits and would not want to have anything but them as our first choice. But somewhere in those empty expressions that the world gives when it sees you with two daughters and those curious questions of a third 'boy' child leads to a vaccum that nothing can fill and no one can understand. Apart from the responsibility that comes with mothering two daughters in an Indian society, life throws at you these social conditions that you have to brave through...
Being a second daughter myself, I find it fitting to share this on Mothers Day and tribute it to my Mom. She sailed through in those 'orthodox' times in a 'joint' family so I can surely grumble off the occasional critic.
But to uphold the collective hopes of an Indian family together and bring 'wholesome' joy to them is a difficult task. Congratulations were exchanged but the smiles were faint. Maybe it was fatigue! My heart knew the obvious. But the two smiles that matter the most were bright and curvy. Navya and Mohit coudn't be happier. While the first born had become an elder sister, the doting father was happy to add to his female following! And as the aches and pains of a C-Section delivery went away so did the uncertainty of how loved my 'second girl child' be.
Her birth an year back did mature me into a more responsible character. I started hallucinating of the times they will marry and go away. I was dreading the dowry discussions and the after marriage wrath. Too much, too early. But then again, being a mother is tiring enough and being that of 'two female kiddies' in India is a whole different thing. There is the physical strain on your body as well as the mental responsibility that stays 24 hours. Just another side-effect of being in this Indian society.
The Modern Mommy may not relate to anything that i wrote. But it is the bitter truth that has to be digested with some sugar coating. I and my family love my two daughters to bits and would not want to have anything but them as our first choice. But somewhere in those empty expressions that the world gives when it sees you with two daughters and those curious questions of a third 'boy' child leads to a vaccum that nothing can fill and no one can understand. Apart from the responsibility that comes with mothering two daughters in an Indian society, life throws at you these social conditions that you have to brave through...
Being a second daughter myself, I find it fitting to share this on Mothers Day and tribute it to my Mom. She sailed through in those 'orthodox' times in a 'joint' family so I can surely grumble off the occasional critic.
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