Motherhood
Motherhood
Vivek came and said, ‘ Hmm, I see that you drank the milk with saffron. Good!’. Ranjini sat upright on the bed, smiled and said, ‘ I have to have the prenatal vitamins after half an hour.’ ‘Ha ha ha’, Vivek laughed out loud and said, ‘You are very responsible. I appreciate that.’ Ranjini rubbed her protruded tummy gently and said, ‘ How can I not be responsible? There is a little life growing out there.’ Vivek looked at the file kept on the bedside table, took out all the reports, read them carefully and said, ‘ The reports are cool. Both mommy and baby are doing well. Latika will come in some time with the fruits and food. Eat them well. Later, she will take you for your walk and exercise. Bye. See you.’
After Vivek left, Ranjini went for her shower. She usually waited for Latika to come, but today was ‘Thursday’. She had to follow some rituals for her Thursday’s special ‘Pooja’ and the rituals needed time. Hence she went for an early shower. She took shower, draped a pretty saree, tied her hair into a neat bun and went to the tiny shelf right near the bed side bed. She had kept tiny idols of her ‘Shivji’, ‘Ganeshji’, ‘Lakshmi Maa’ and ‘Saraswati Maa’ there. She sat on the chair right in front of the shelf. The moment she sat, the baby inside her kicked her. She smiled, patted her tummy gently and said, ‘ Aww baby, I know you like to hear me chanting the shlokas. I will start right away.’ Saying that, she sang all the shlokas and hymns in her melodious soothing voice and clapped her hands through out. The bright sunshine coming into the room from the windows enlivened the room. Ranjini was immersed in her prayers when Latika came with a big bag of fruits and food. Latika saw Ranjini engrossed in prayers. She quietly kept the fruits in the refrigerator and kept the huge lunch box in the table nearby. While Ranjini prayed, Latika gently washed the apples and oranges. She then cut the washed apples into thin slices and peeled the fresh oranges. Meanwhile Ranjini kept her hand on her tummy and kept on praying. Ranjini then joined her hands, bowed her head, sought blessings from God and said, ‘Please continue showering your blessings on us.’
Latika came closer to Ranjini and said, ‘ Lovely saree and lovely Ranjini’. Ranjini tried to get up from her chair. Latika helped her. Ranjini was 35 weeks pregnant. She was hale and hearty. It’s just that, Vivek and Latika had told her to be extra careful. Hence, she took every step carefully. Latika then gave her the plate of fruits. Ranjini took the plate and ate all the fruits. Latika then gave her one prenatal vitamin capsule. Ranjini gulped it with some luke warm water. Vivek had asked her to drink luke warm water. Despite the summer season, Ranjini drank luke warm water throughout. Ranjini never questioned Vivek.
Latika then gave Ranjini some books. Ranjini got up on the bed and read the books. There was a book of short stories by Munshi Premchand and there were some funny children’s magazines also. After sometime, Latika played some soothing music on her phone. Ranjini listened to the music while patting her tummy gently.
At lunch, Latika served Ranjini soft wheat breads with green veggies cooked in less oil. Ranjini never liked clarified butter, however, in the wheat breads, Latika always added a half a tea spoon of clarified butter. Ranjini detested yoghurt. Nonetheless, she used to have a bowl of yogurt with jaggery everyday. She did feel pukish sometimes, but she was absolutely fine with it, because after all, it was all for the baby’s health.
Come evening, Latika took Ranjini for a walk. The soft breeze, the setting sun, the soft green lawn, made Ranjini feel ecstatic. Whenever she went for a walk, she used to feel the excited kicks of the baby in her tummy.
Next morning when Vivek came, Ranjini smiled at him and said, ‘ Today I had to take one iron capsule in the morning. I took it.’ Vivek smiled and said, ‘ I know. You are one reliable, responsible mommy.’ Ranjini then skeptically looked at Vivek. Vivek understood what she wanted to ask. Vivek gave her a warm smile and said, ‘ It’s done. You can call the school and verify.’ With a tear trickling from her left eye, Ranjini said, ‘ You know I will never do that.’ Vivek then said, ‘ I know, but in case you want to verify, you can always do that.’ Before Ranjini could say anything, Latika came. The lunch box was as always huge. Dinner was usually light, however, Latika ensured Ranjini ate healthy and in short intervals. All of a sudden, Ranjini felt water leaking from her body. She knew what it was. Her water broke. Latika immediately made her lie on the bed. Vivek made some urgent calls while Latika rushed Ranjini to the labour room.
The pain started building. Ranjini groaned in pain. Vivek then told Latika, we may have to go for cesarean delivery if she is unable to push. Ranjini held Latika’s hand tight and said, I will manage. Let us try for normal delivery.’ Latika smiled and said, ‘ You are one strong woman Ranjini.’ After 12 hours of labour, Ranjini delivered a healthy baby through normal delivery.’
After the delivery, exhausted Ranjini was given painkillers with mild sedatives to ensure she got some sleep and rest. There were stitches which would pain crazy when she would go to pee but that never mattered to Ranjini. What mattered was the baby was healthy.
After two days Ranjini was discharged from the hospital. She was happy to be home with Rishi and Ruhi. Rishi was her 8 year old son and Ruhi was 6 year old daughter. Vivek had ensured Rishi and Ruhi were perfectly taken care of through out Ranjini’s pregnancy. He had also ensured that the school fees were paid right on time. In this third pregnancy of hers, Ranjini never knew if she delivered a baby girl or a baby boy, but she knew that the baby was healthy, fine and was in the safest haven. Ranjini was a widow. Vivek was a doctor and Latika was a nurse. Ranjini needed money to take care of her children. When a childless couple had approached Vivek to help them with surrogate pregnancy, Vivek had reached out to some village women. Through them he came across Ranjini, who was young and healthy. Being a surrogate mother was tough for Ranjini. Not knowing even the gender of the child was a herculean pain. But what mattered more was, her biological children needed care and a childless couple needed a child. Hence, with faith in her Almighty, Ranjini had set sail for this journey. She might have just lent her womb to the child, but for her that child will always be there in her well wishes and prayers. Ranjini never knew the identity of the couple, but they were so grateful that every month, they sent some amount of money to Ranjini to take care of herself and her children.
