Joy of Motherhood
The story is based on the poem “Morning Song” by Sylvia Plath.
Motherhood is a beautiful boon, they say. It is the most beautiful and life-changing experience of a woman. When a woman becomes a mother, it’s considered her new birth and she begins a new life as a mother.
Motherhood is not only about the birth of a child but also about the birth of a new mother. Two new lives are born. Having a child is a beautiful experience that comes with a lot of responsibility.
God has been kind enough to bless women with the power of creating and nurturing. A woman not only nurtures a child but society as well. She toils through many new changes, cravings, pain and mood swings, yet she loves her unborn child endlessly. There’s no limit to a mom’s love.
She might be pained or stressed, but seeing her child, she becomes happy and her eyes shine bright. Her children are her reasons to live in this wide world. She’s a mother and only craves for love of her children.
She finishes writing her feelings in a diary. A small smile plays on her lips as she glances at a little baby sleeping in the middle of the bed. Yeah, she’s a new mom and her child is two months old. It’s a baby girl. Her beloved hubby isn't leaving any stone unturned in pampering her and taking her care and also for their little princess.
She’s Ruhana Kumar, a young lady with high ambitions. She’s a fashion designer by profession while her husband Vineet Kumar is a businessman. The couple is madly in love with each other. They’re both very passionate about their career and life. After deciding that they’ll focus on their careers during the initial years of their wedding, the news that Ruhana is pregnant came as a surprise. At first, the girl didn’t like it. Moreover, Vineet didn’t want the child either. They didn’t know what to do but they think about settling the matter.
Vineet and Ruhana have an argument regarding the unborn child who’s yet to come into the world. The latter wanted to go for an abortion while the former has made up his mind to have the baby. After all, the unborn baby is not at fault.
One fine day, Ruhana walks in the park on the society premises. She’s in the park when she notices a little girl sitting on a bench. The little one is crying, almost 4 years old. Ruhana rushes towards her and tries to pacify her but the little one continues crying. Ruhana looks around to find her parents but she didn’t find anyone. She lifts the little one in her arms and asks her name.
“Ananya.” The little girl replies.
“Okay. Where is your Mumma?” She asks.
“I don’t know.” comes the innocent reply.
Ruhana lifts Ananya in her arms and walks around the park hoping to find the girl’s mom. Unfortunately, she couldn’t find the mother and she informs the secretary of the society about the same. She decides to take the little one home and take care of her until they find her mom.
The little girl smiles merrily entering the house. The warmth of the house makes her comfortable and Ruhana feeds her with some food, after which she looks happy. Ruhana also informs Vineet about the girl who’s proactively searching for the girl’s parents.
Ruhana is actively involved in playing with the little girl. She didn’t realise when she inclined towards the girl. For a split second, as Ruhana moved into the kitchen to brew some tea, little Ananya hid somewhere in the house. They’ve been playing hide and seek and it’s Ruhana’s turn to find the little one. As the former walks out of the kitchen, she gets worried to find the latter missing. She looks into the balcony, the living room and even her bedroom but she didn’t find Ananya anywhere.
She panics and calls her husband who comes home in a rush. As soon as Vineet enters the house, Ruhana sighs deeply to see that Ananya is safe with him. The little one is comfortable in her husband’s arms. Vineet tells Ruhana that while she’s been brewing some coffee, he took the little one out of the house.
Ruhana sighs deeply but she realises the stress of not finding Ananya around. In a few hours, she’s feeling so attached to the little girl, then the one she’s nurturing inside her is her own part. She looks at Ananya who’s happily playing with her Vineet. She adores the duo as Vineet lifts the girl in the air and she’s giggling all the time.
Taking care of a child is different from nurturing the child on your own. Though, the attachment is real in both cases. She’s feeling the same motherly feeling by now. She finds the little girl stretching her arms towards her. Ruhana takes Ananya in her arms and kisses her head. She begins to play with the little one. Meanwhile, the doorbell rings. Vineet moves to open the door. She finds a young lady, one or two years older than Ruhana at the door. She is panicked at the moment and she asks about her daughter. Ruhana turns around and the little girl chuckles to see her mom at the door.
The lady thanks Ruhana and Vineet for saving her daughter and also tells them that the mother-daughter duo parted from each other. Also, the lady had assumed that the girl is with her father. Ruhana comforts the lady and soonish, the mother-daughter duo leave their house.
Ruhana sighs deeply as little Ananya leaves with her mother. Her motherly feelings have taken a toll on her and she’s been teary-eyed. Vineet pulls her in a side hug and she finally reaches a decision for her unborn baby.
When a girl whom she hardly knew can make her emotional, then the one she’s carrying is her own part, a piece of her heart.
She decides to give birth to the baby and nurture her child in every way she can.
***
Ruhana comes out of her trance with baby cries. She’s a mother to a baby girl now. Ruhana and her husband have named her Aanya. She lifts her little one in her arms and begins to tend her, trying to calm her down. As soon as her mother lifts her in her arms, the little one gets calm and quiet. Ruhana smiles. She kisses her daughter’s head and tends to talk to her.
“Pulling pranks on Mumma? Why?” Ruhana asks the little one while the baby giggles.
“You do like this, always. Why don’t you try that on your dad?” She asks.
“Because, she’s daddy’s girl, you know. She won’t pull pranks on me.” Vineet enters the room and smiles.
“Huh, how mean? Both of you do this to irritate me.” Ruhana makes a sad face causing Vineet to giggle and the little one also chuckles.
Ruhana frowns but soonish, it disappears and she smiles while looking at the father-daughter duo. She admires them and she remembers how caring he has been throughout her journey. She’s been harsh and rude to him, yet, he’s been the same caring and loving soul. He’s her constant partner in all ups and downs.
She has faced complications in her pregnancy and he has stood like a rock beside her. He’s been the support she wished for and has kept her sane until now. Ruhana gets off the bed when she feels a tug on her hand. She finds Vineet holding her hand. She finds that her little one fast asleep. He makes her lie on the bed and kisses her head.
“You must take rest. You need to rest well, only then you’ll be able to nurture our princess nicely.” Vineet says.
“Vineet, I have a lot of work to do.” Ruhana says.
“I will prepare the food. You should rest. I know, you’re not getting enough rest because of our Princess Aanya.” He says gently and caresses her head.
Ruhana feels herself to be lucky. Indeed, ever since the birth of their daughter, Aanya, she’s been busy in her life. Those midnight feeds, sleepless nights and pacifying the little girl have been hard for the new parents. At times, she felt like sinking into nothingness because of the overwork she was doing. But he never left her hand. They’re on this parenting journey together.
***
Ruhana didn’t know for how many minutes she slept, but she woke up to her baby’s cries. Her husband isn’t around. She lifts the girl in her arms and looks at the clock. It's time to feed the baby. She begins to feed and meanwhile, Vineet enters the room holding a tray.
Baby Aanya falls asleep and makes her comfortable in the crib, Ruhana and Vineet have food. Though, she took a nap, she seems sleepy. Vineet assures Ruhana that he will take care of other chores. He turns to go but Ruhana holds his hand and makes him sit beside her.
She picks up a photo frame, it has a picture of Vineet holding the little baby in his arms while the other picture is of Ruhana holding the baby, on the hospital bed. She looks at Vineet.
"Thank you, Vineet. You cared for me as if I were the baby. If not for you, I'd have denied doing this.” Ruhana says softly.
“It has been a blissful and beautiful experience. Yeah, there was pain and discomfort, we faced sleepless nights, but listening to those innocent cries, I forgot all the pain.” Ruhana says as she smears the lines imprinted on the frame.
Love set you going like a fat gold watch.
The midwife slapped your footsoles, and your bald cry
Took its place among the elements.
“True, Ruhana. That was really a beautiful moment.” Vineet agrees with her.
For both Vineet and Ruhana, the parenthood journey has not been easy. At first, they didn’t want the child and then there were some complications, but now, as they hold their little princess in their arms, things seem beautiful.
“It’s been a beautiful phase but exhausting at the same time. I don’t know how to express it but I only have mixed emotions about it, Vineet.” Ruhana says, speaking her heart out.
“I understand, Ruhana. We will take time to cope with it, Remember it’s not about the birth of a child, but it’s about the birth of a mom as well.” He says, softly holding her hand.
Ruhana smiles as she recalls the lines from one of her favourite poems.
I’m no more your mother
Than the cloud that distills a mirror to reflect its own slow
Effacement at the wind’s hand.
“I agree. Nurturing a baby is a different task altogether, Vineet. And a mother sees nothing beyond her child. That’s what I am doing these days.” She says.
Vineet kisses on top of her head and asks her to have a nice nap. It’s night already, and their baby girl might wake up in the middle of the night, and as always, she’ll need to tend to her child. Ruhana glances at Aanya for one last time and after kissing her head, she lies on the bed to sleep. Vineet makes sure that she’s comfortable and moves out of the room to finish the tasks.
***
Ruhana tries to sleep and she falls asleep in no time. She’s a beautiful, new mom. Though, she’s pained and tired because of her new mom duties. Her husband helps equally with the baby's duties, yet, it’s overwhelming for her to handle the baby for the whole day. Vineet has a business to handle and he can’t be available all the time. She takes a deep breath and falls asleep as her husband caresses her head.
Sometime later, Ruhana wakes up hearing meek voices. She gets down from the bed and walks towards her daughter’s crib and finds her daughter awake. Those cute almond eyes stared at her mother. Ruhana lifts Avni in her arms and the girl places her little hands on her mom’s face and begins chuckling. She sits on the bed and her daughter begins to play with the chain in her neck. It seems like her daughter wanted to only play. Ruhana’s eyes fall on the poetry book open on her phone. That beautiful poetry on motherhood holds her heart. She begins to read it again and her eyes stop at a certain line.
All night your moth-breath
Flickers among the flat pink roses. I wake to listen:
A far sea moves in my ear.
The cute sound of her chuckle or the minimal sound of her breath is enough for her mom to get up and hold her. Yeah, she’s sleepy all the time, but the time spent with her daughter is precious.
She doesn’t attend any family functions or she doesn’t meet her friends, the new mom has forgotten her happiness, only to find the joy that her daughter brings to her.
Sometimes, she doesn’t appreciate the things around us, she’s done with the happenings around her, but in the other moment, she has a reason to live – her daughter.
Ruhana is staring at her daughter when the little one chuckles and pulls her hair strand, bringing her mom into reality. She hugs her, pulling her close to her chest. Little Aanya tries to put her hands around her mum’s neck.
Ruhana kisses the girl’s head and adores her. Yeah, her daughter is the reason that she understands love more deeply now. She knows that love has no face or appearance and it just happens. Only a mother can love her child without seeing them.
Ruhana lifts the girl closer to herself and the little one keeps her hands on her mom’s cheek.
“Thank you, my love. You know you’re my best blessing. You taught Mumma the most important lesson.” Ruhana says softly and kisses her head again.
Little Aanya chuckles as if she understands what her mom is saying. Ruhana is still talking with her daughter when her husband wakes up and smiles at his wife. Ruhana hugs him, resting her head on his shoulder. Only he can understand her right now. Little Aanya climbs on her father’s chest as he embraces her in his arms.
Ruhana adores her precious two. Yeah, motherhood is nothing but a journey of bliss and blessings where you love unconditionally. No matter, how old you grow, a mother’s love for her child never diminishes.
Ruhana smiles at her journey— from not wanting a child to becoming a mother to a baby girl. It has been beautiful and enchanting for her. Now, she doesn’t let herself away from her baby girl. Her trance breaks with a loud chuckle. Yeah, all she could hear is the chuckle of her baby, and there was nothing beyond those smiling faces and loud chuckles.
Whitens and swallows its dull stars. And now you try
Your handful of notes;
The clear vowels rise like balloons.
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