We are family

"Ah! Aww... Look Doctor , she is looking at me!" exclaimed an ebullient Aniruddha , holding the delicate new born in his hands. The doctor expressed her content with a smile for she knew how complicated the surgery had been. Prerna had been bleeding internally during her delivery. However, the surgery ended successfully and Aniruddha's jitters diffused when he caught the first glimpse of his daughter , whose arrival , he had been so desperately looking forward to.

As the doctor and her retinue of assistants left the O.T. , he could no longer repress his emotions. He felt his eyes moist. Prerna, who had although regained consciousness from Anesthesia, was still in a half conscious state. Somewhat soporific . Yet, she was in enough senses to catch her husband engaged in his emotional bout. His pearl sized tears were too conspicuous to be ignored. Seeing his wife making a movement, he sprang to his feet and walked towards her bed. She made an abrupt attempt to lift herself up and Aniruddha, in his gentle baritone said "Relax! You have stitches."

His gentleness moved her. She felt a sense of great relief to learn her husband's concern for she had always believed that Aniruddha is indifferent towards everything , especially towards his wife! During the years of their nuptial courtship (there was apparently nothing between them that could qualify as "courtship") , she developed certain notions regarding him. She believed him to be a workaholic, self centered, hugely indifferent ,typical corporate automaton devoid of feelings. Though she never complained about his deliberate apathy towards her, yet she could feel an emptiness that was eventually encircling her.

She kept her anger, her resentment, her needs, her aspirations to herself. She never knew what marital bliss was like, neither did Aniruddha. They never fought. Never hurled expletives at each other. They lived together yet they were apart. Prerna was never annoyed when Aniruddha forgot her birthday. She never expected him to remember either. The indifference eventually grew mutual and they seemed complacent with it. They had everything that a prosperous household should have, all comforts, both earned well but somewhere deep down inside, there was a sullen disappointment, a towering regret.

Their marriage was young, yet it felt as if they were forcibly trapped for years. Their conversations gradually reduced to monosyllables. A few words and a long uncomfortable silence was what they exchanged. The relationship was dead and both sequestered themselves in their respective shells. Four years had passed and life looked all the more mundane. As a result, they kept themselves engrossed in their professional lives and hence tried not to remind what mental havoc their marriage had created.

Once in a family function, one typical garrulous aunt commented at them. Bantering , she exclaimed "God! 4 years and when shall I hear the good news? How long will you rush after your careers? Settle down and give parenthood, a thought!" The banter had a ring of truth and a disturbing silence ensued as neither Prerna nor Aniruddha, could prevaricate the topic.
It was a fact that such a thought had never crossed either his or her mind. Later both somehow triggered the discussion and talked out the matter eloquently. Both wanted to free themselves of loneliness and despair they   had entrapped themselves in and thought that may be a child could make them realize what a "family" meant. They could see a dim ray of hope in the idea of parenthood.

The first seed of happiness sprouted in their barren, unromantic lives when Prerna learnt that she was expecting a new arrival. Aniruddha seemed to do away with his reticence for the very first time and felt a genuine happiness . "They" were happy. Indeed!

Carried way too far by a train of past memories , Prerna couldn't hear the new born's cry. Aware of the thoughts that Prerna was preoccupied with, Aniruddha lifted the child and gently handed her over to his wife. He softly whispered "Look, she has taken after you. The same eyes, the same nose." She looked into his eyes and found that genuine concern that she had been looking for over the years. The baby cried and Prerna smilingly asserted "Yeah, yeah, your mum is at your service, my princess!" 


Ambili, their daughter, was now four years old. Playful, cheerful and ever smiling, she was a happy soul. Prerna and Aniruddha felt like proud parents, seeing their daughter grow. Though their indifference still lingered, but it was Ambili who kept them together and gradually they forgot the coldness and were united as one happy family, a threesome that discovered how imperfect things could be made perfect or at least made better.... They understood that a family fetches an unconditional source of love and an eternal sense of belonging.