So... My youngest sister gave us the good news about an addition to the family in the second half of 2016. The baby would be a younger sibling to Princess and would become the eldest of my youngest :)
I gave the news to Princess - Bua is going to have a baby. She didn't understand it at first - i mean, she was just 7. I don't recall but she said something which was funny for us. But when finally comprehension dawned on her, she was ecstatic ! She was going to be an elder sister. She would no longer be the youngest in the family.
She proactively looked up the development of the child in the womb, in an encyclopedia we have at home. Understood how big the baby gets over a period of time, how does development take place, what's a water bag, etc and then discussed that with Bua. I didn't even realize that this was something that i could have looked up and shown to her. Princess did this on her own and made me so proud. She had hazaar questions - how does baby breathe in the womb ? can baby hear inside ? how does baby move inside ? I tried to explain as best as i could and Bua did too.
Princess chatted with Bua regularly, got updates about the baby. They discussed multiple things, 90% of which she didn't share with me, coz, she'd take the phone and retreat to her room to talk with Bua. The baby was named Chipkoo, by my sisters, while in the womb. We called him Chipkoo till the final month. Then, my sister said, the baby really needs to drop and let go. And he needs to let go fast !
Now, we as a family believe in the power of the 'name'. The name of a person has a distinct bearing on the destiny of the person, on his/her personality, on everything.
My name means - Good friend. And while i don't have a lot of friends, i try to be good with the few who are. I do try.
My sister was named Rimjhim - and she would cry all the time... till Mum changed her name. Soon, her crying stopped.
Princess, was nicknamed Roli. Roli is my favorite name in the whole wide world. I just love it. And i insisted that we call her Roli at home. Unfortunately, my daughter would just not smile and cry and cry and cry all the time. You know - Roli. So, my youngest rechristened her Hasumati. Lo and behold, her crying gave way to smiles. Cute smiles. Lovely smiles.
So, Chipkoo as a name just had to go ! We three chatted and discussed a few names. Finally we settled on Speedy ! He had to have a Speedy arrival... and mostly, he did :) I still call him Speedy Singh and will continue to do so all my life. I don't think anyone calls him Speedy at his home... but he will always be Speedy to me !
I have this bias towards girls and wished for a girl. I think Princess also would have preferred a girl. But, it doesn't really matter now does it ? A baby in the family is a great thing. A joy to behold. Thankfully, he's a happy child and gives the best smiles. He has an infectious laugh.
Speedy was due to come in March. Princess had her final exams in March. We bought tickets for the day after her exams ended. Hopefully, we would get there roundabout his birth.
Now, my wife and I, had been a little worried about our daughter meeting her younger sibling. In the time that we'd been in Hyderabad, our next door neighbor had a daughter, a cute little thing...but our daughter just refused to acknowledge her, to play with her, to share any toy - new or old... or anything at all. This behavior was very concerning for us. I mean... who doesn't like infants/kids ? What would Princess do ? How would she react upon meeting her younger brother ?
Speedy arrived in March of 2017. We landed a couple of days later.
Princess was a little apprehensive at first. Small baby, do i touch him ? Do I go near the baby ? What do i do ?
We got her to sit on a sofa and put Speedy in her lap. She was happy. I could see it on her face. She didn't say a word, just looked at the baby and held him protectively. She was now an elder sister ! I was happy. She'd accepted Speedy and wanted to be with him.
Later, i remember, she went to my sister's place and helped clean her room. Put things in place. Folded clothes. Did the bed. She's not very proactive when it comes to cleaning her own room... but she did it for Bua and Speedy. She doesn't say it out loud, but she loves them a ton ! In her own way, she tries to engage with Speedy, the couple of times that we've visited.
She remembers his birthday.
Then... Naughty arrived in April of 2018. Cute little thing with a button nose and a furrowed brow, with the weight of the world upon him :)
My sister found out that she had conceived while Dad was hospitalized. She'd given him the news in one of his coherent moments, when he was awake and he'd responded. But, he was not to be with us for Naughty's arrival. The vagaries of life.
I looked forward to Naughty's arrival, as did my Princess. All of us were sure that it would be a girl ! There wasn't ever a doubt in our minds that she'd have a girl. Princess was so so so looking forward to a younger sister. Speedy was the younger brother and he'd filled a void, now only a sister remained to complete the circle for her. Princess and my sister chatted quite frequently on video calls during the months of her pregnancy, talking about names, things to do etc. My sister was still working with her design house though I wanted her to be at home, (maybe i'm a little too protective sometimes), but she put in her papers to coincide with the final months of her pregnancy. She kept us upto date with the results of her scans etc etc. Princess took a keen interest in all of it...though she didn't show it.
She made a card - a birthday card for him, before he came. I said, let me take a snap and share it with bua. NO. Absolutely not. She was adamant. He's not here as yet. How can you show the card to bua ? let him come. She hid the card from me !
One night, my youngest sent a dancing potato as a message...and both my sisters started calling the baby - potato. I didn't really like it... so, i said, sweet potato. So, baby was named sweet potato while in the womb. We always referred to her as sweet potato. Now, tell me, isn't sweet potato a sweet name for an infant girl ?
Princess' new term was to start in April and i booked our tickets to Bombay, just as soon as her summer vacations started, towards the end of April. Naughty was due to come in middle of April and we thought it fit in nicely with her school.
Naughty however, had other plans. He announced his arrival on the 6th !
My sister called me with the news - Its a Boy ! And being honest, i just stopped for a second. I couldn't believe it. No No, it cannot be. It was to be a girl. A younger version of my frumpy sister. My sister, who used (not anymore) to forever frown and wouldn't smile. She had tomato cheeks and tears streaming down them, most of the time. When i was young, i'd prayed and prayed for a sibling and she'd come into my life. My darling. My sister. My baby. I still think of her as my baby. No. She IS my baby, my bachha.
Well, after a couple of seconds, i responded - Wow ! As long as he had 10 fingers and 10 toes, eyes, nose and lips, everything attached in the proper places, i was happy. More concerned i was about my baby. My baby took precedence.
Gave Princess the news once i picked her up from daycare. She too had a similar reaction - Oh no ! brother...but no, i was to have a sister.
See, she's in the phase of not liking boys. Boys are arrrggghhhh ! They're useless, they scream & shout, they don't know how to talk to girls, they are just generally pesky kids. So, she and I sat down, and I explained to her that this was going to be an opportunity for her to teach the correct things to both her younger brothers. How to talk to girls. How to behave in the proper manner with girls. How to be considerate and helpful towards girls. She argued, he's too small to understand anything. He will not listen later on, etc etc. We discussed some more, that she would also be older and after all she was the ELDER sister, they would have to listen to her ! Not entirely convinced, but, she got around to accepting the fact that she had another younger brother.
Don't ask me who he resembles - my sister or brother in law. I've always been blind in that department. I just can't figure out. I'm defective that way :) He's pretty (maybe i should use the term handsome ?) and cute. See...i'm surrounded by girls - wife, daughter, two younger sisters... so my vocabulary has always been biased towards darling, honey, sweet heart, beautiful, pretty girl and various other synonyms. Naughty would also be a darling !
We left for Bombay as soon as her school finished. I hoped that Princess would be conducive towards him, given that she was so looking forward to a sister. It was needless. I shouldn't have worried. While she didn't talk a lot with Naughty, she was caring enough of him. Held him in her lap, lay down with him and patted him to sleep...at least tried to :) She had accepted her younger brother and was protective towards him.
One incident stands out for me. Rakhi is just around the corner and Princess and I were driving to the market. I asked her, how many brothers do you have ? We need to buy Rakhi for all of them and send it out. She said, i have lots of brothers. I said, give me a number. She thought fo r abut and said - 8. I said, okay, we will buy 8 rakhis and send it out to all of them. She said ok. Then, i added, you also need to write a letter to each one of them, coz, you can't just send them a rakhi, it needs to go along with a letter. We will just buy two rakhis, prompt came her reply. not even a moment's hesitation and she made her intentions clear ! Her priorities became clear.
Another thing which happened recently, touched me a lot. Naughty had been taken for a vaccination and i told her of the same. She winced immediately ! She felt her youngest brother's pain and demonstrated it, without actually being in the room with him for the injection. Sweet child of mine.
Both the boys will be naughty and reckless and I can see my Princess getting exasperated with them. But, I also know that these three will have a ton of fun growing up. I hope they spend a LOT of time together and have a close bond.
I love my kids ... and their kids.
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