There is something which has been bothering me a long time...and i mean a really long time...it gets triggered by little comments people make...when they see my kids and envy me saying how lucky I am...not because they are healthy bright children but because of their gender...you see they are BOYS and not girls...I've managed to carry the family name forward...
It bugs me when people go psst..psst when i am teaching the BOY how to wash his plate...Or when the BOY holds a mop...teh reason, boys are not meant for such things. I make my boys do a few odd jobs around the house...Not because i'm a feminist but because i feel that they should know how to make their beds or help in keeping the house clean...
Did you know that India loses @10m female foetuses due to abortion and sex selection? I cannot write about what happens to the newborn girls in rural areas without me breaking down (it's very saddening)...Would politicians take up cudgels for this cause instead of creating a ruckus over who kissed whom and why did X say that?
It's shocking to see this desire for a male baby among the so-called literate upper class strata...It upset me when S, eight months pregnant with her third child confessed to me that she was under pressure from her in-laws, to 'produce' a male child, even though the doctor had advised against it...There was tension writ over her face and her parting words were"Please pray that I have a boy"!!!And this in a highly respected household!!!I've seen houses where the boys are sent to a good school and the girl to a lower grade one, in any case she is to be married off, you see!!
I come from a house where we are all girls and never once have we been made to feel that we were not wanted. This yearning for a boy is alien to me. Boy or girl, enjoy them, not because they are your security for your old age, but because they are your present...They are here because you wanted them to be !!!
P.S. silver lining...i must have done something right 'cos when my bai(maid) delivered her second daughter, she thanked God for her healthy baby and secondly got her tubes tied :)
There were times i wished I had a daughter,then I realised perhaps everything is done for a reason. Now I support a little girl in Mumbai, it's a matter of pride when i get her report card and see her improvement...I do hope i can do more...
Now that I've made my point, I'm gonna let him off the hook now;in any case i have to wash the d**n dishes again...
