PLEASE READ THE NOTE......
Chinnanjiru kiliye kannamma
The thought first occurred to him when he felt the slight wiggle he felt when he placed his hand against rishitha bhabi’s tummy. The kick of life was enough to spark the deepest of his heart’s desires: “what if this was raavi? How would it be if she was the pregnant one? And thus began his daydream about their imaginary babies. When will raavi give the good news? How will she break it to me? How cute will chipkali look pregnant? Will we have a girl or a boy? What if we had twins? What would we name them?” Grinning at his train of thoughts of the endless possibilities, he engulfed the woman he’s gonna make future babies within his arms bringing her closer to his chest, shaking his head in reply to her questioning glance.
Chinnanjiru kiliye kannamma selva kalanjiyame
Ennai kali theerthe ulagil aetrum puriya vandhaai
It came to her in her dream one night. After a tiring day, at pandya niwas, celebrating the godh-barai of her sister-in-law, blessing the baby and the mother for good health and happiness, she fell asleep cuddling with her husband on the jhulla itself. She woke up with a start, startling a snoring shiva. He awoke to a scene he would later come to love ,but he didn’t know that yet ,Raavi sporting a huge smile, the bateesi he usually teases her about, and a rosy tinge aptly accentuating her round cheeks. She just simply refused to answer any of his questions and hugged him as tightly as she ever had. She was blushing and smiling and it made him extremely happy to see her in this state that he hugged her back and stopped questioning her after his initial probe.
Pillai kani amudhe kannamma pesum ponchithiramae
Alli anaithidave en munne aadi varum thenae
He held him in his arms as he fussed in his sleep. The birth of his nephew had re-ignited his recurring private thoughts about his babies. “If I had a boy will he grow up to be like me? Will he have her eyes? My nose? Will he fight with his cousin brother? I’ll have to share raavi with him.” Grunting at his thoughts, suppressing the tinge of jealousy that his currently non-existent son evoked within him. His nephew, Vihaan barely a day old and had already stolen all of their hearts by simply existing. He turned to look at his wife, now hugging a very tired looking rishitha bhabi and dev, congratulating them on their little miracle. That night was a very memorable one for more than just one reason.
Odi varugayile kannamma ullam kuliradhadi
Aadi thiridhal kandal unnai pol aavi thazhuvudhadi
Dhara di had offered to stay back and help with rishita and dev and the rest of them returned home, straight to their beds after taking turns to admire the newest member of their family. Raavi, after the initial surprise of the dream, had grown to enjoy her little pocket of imaginary happiness. She would dream of her being pregnant,waking up an exhausted shiva in the middle of the night for chatpata cravings, suman kaki doting on her and showing extra care towards her, she would pat her bump in her dream, talking to it about how much she loved them, and how she couldn’t wait to meet them. The dream made her immensely happy and that night, when she dreamed of her daughter playing with a toddler vihaan, she decided to make the dream real. She turned to her sleeping husband and gently nudged him awake. Irritated by her constant prodding, he shifted towards his side of the bed and sleepily replied something along the lines of, “yaar chipkali pakka mat,sone de.” She,raavi shiva Pandya, was not the one to admit defeat. She bent down, her hair tickling him, pressing kisses along his exposed neck and shoulder, urging him to wake up.“Shiva, mujhe baccha chahiye.” she whispered in his ear when he continue to ignore her. To her satisfaction, this confession, in the middle of the night, achieved what her insistent attempts to wake him up didn’t. He turned around to face her with a bewildered expression that made her snuggle into the crook of his neck, blushing at her own confession “Kya?” “I want a little girl. Let's make a baby, shiva,” she said looking up into his eyes.
Ucchi tanai mugharndhal garuvam ongi valarudhadi
Mecchi unnai oorar pugazhndal maeni shilirkudhadi
They made love later that night, and the night after and for many nights after that, often having late night banters with him teasing her about her waddling in her pregnant state, spilling their previously unspoken wishes and dreams of their future children.Three months later, she ran to the pharmacy, in the early hours of a Tuesday, her heart beating in her ears, after seeing the notification of ‘period delayed by 8 days’. She sneaked back, into pandya niwas, priding herself on her achievement of slipping out and back into the house discreetly, in spite of her uncontrollable excitement. She washed her, hands and placed the tiny little test on the sink, tapping her feet anxiously, dreaming about all the ‘what if’s?’. A minute passed, then 5 and then ten. Suddenly she was left staring at the thing that remained stubbornly unchanged. Disappointment coloured her face as she returned to the kitchen to start the day with her usual chores.
Kannathil mutthamittal ullam thaan kalveri kolluthadi
Unnai thazhuvidivo kannamma unmattamardhadi
Six months later, Vihaan had taken his first steps and people started asking her for good news. Discouraged and frustrated by them and more importantly at herself, she broke down in her husband’s arms, crying to him about her fears of never being pregnant, of them never being parents, apologising profusely for not making him a father yet, to which she got a stern bhaashn about how nothing was wrong with her and how kids were God’s gift and it will happen in its own time.
Unconvinced she requested him to take her to a gynaecologist the next morning so all her doubts can be erased. He agreed somewhat disgruntled.
Shatru mugham shivandal manadhu sanchalam aagudhadi
Netri shurukangal kandal enadhu nenjam padaikudhadi
She went about her day in a daze, like a zombie. Her worst nightmares had come true. She wouldn’t be able to conceive naturally, the doctor had said in a solemn tone. She had weened out shiva’s sight and walked about aimlessly in the middle of the busy Somnath street, ignorant of her inner turmoil. Tears now a constant stream, her feet her taken her to the famous Bholenath temple, where she was later found unconscious by a terrified shiva. She had screamed and cursed at the Lord for His indifference to her pain, not giving two f*cks about the onlookers who gave her confused and sympathetic glances. After yelling and crying to her heart's content she had passed out.
Shiva, heard about his chipkali from his friend Satish, who had assured him that he will take care of Raavi bhabhi till he got there. His emotions had oscillated from being livid at her for pulling a yet another ‘chipkali act’ and running away from him for the nth time and freaking the f*ck out for he didn't know her whereabouts for an excruciatingly painful 2 hrs, till when he received the call from his friend. Thanking, BholeNath for His mercy, he sped to the temple and carried her home, requesting Sathish to take care of his bike.
Raavi, woke up to seven pairs of concerned eyes and one set of extremely angry ones. She did her best to comfort her family members, who were blissfully ignorant of the couple’s problems. Once they left their room, she began crying yet again when shiva started yelling at her for scaring the living daylights outta him.
The words she uttered next were a close competitor to the act she previously pulled." shiva Thu Mujhe chod de. Give me a divorce so that you can marry Disha. She will have your babies and your dream of becoming a father will come true finally. Leave me shiva. I don't deserve you. I couldn’t do the one thing you asked. I couldn’t make you a father. All your dreams have been shattered because of me. Shiva, you deserve everything in the world for you have sacrificed so much. Marry Disha, and have cute babies with her and make your dreams come true.”
Unn kannil neer vazhindhaal en nenjil uthiram kottuthadi
En kannin paavai andro kannamma en uyir ninradhnro
Shiva wore a baffled expression all while she continued her nonsensical ramblings. He always knew, her mattar-jaisi-dimag was capable of spewing rubbish but this was a whole new level. Even for Raavi.” ey thu apna bakwaas bandh kar. Yeh kya thu baar baar mujhe chodne ki baath kar rahi hein. Shaadi ke time pe boli thi na thu, ki yeh agle saath janam mein bhi tu hi mera dimaag khayegi?Ab kya ho gaya? Aur rahi baat hamare bacche ki, i don't care what that doctor tells us, medical miracles happen every day We will keep trying every month and if it’s to happen it will happen. And it's okay even if we don't have kids, we have Vihaan, Taara. They are as much our kids as they are our brothers. Vaise Bhi, I can't even fathom the thought of having kids with anyone else but you. I don't care how much I want kids, you come first. Always. We’ll be each other’s kids.You are my everything. If I no longer have ‘shiva the hot-head, the gawar,the junglee’ reputation, its all because of you. Your love and belief in me has me made a better man and I thank God for your existence every single day and her you are talking about leaving me. Mein tere bina kaise jee saktha hoon, chipkali? Mein tujhe kabhi chod nahi saktha. Yeh Shiva pandy mar jaayega par apni Raavi ko kabhi nahi chodega.Marne ke baad bhi, bhooth banke i’ll haunt you.Samjhi meri baat, or should I explain it my way? I AM NEVER LEAVING YOU NO MATTER WHAT.Besides it’s not like only my dream has been shattered. Wasn’t it your dream too to be a mother?Am i asking you to leave me and marry another man? No right?So please stop with your khurafthi thinking and just be.As long as we are together, everything is fine.No not fine its exhilaratingly awesome.”
She wanted to argue with him and telling him he’s wrong but her conscience wouldnt allow it, so she did the next best thing. She curled up near him,listening to his heartbeats,letting it calm her down and slip her into sleep.
Chinnanjiru kiliye kannamma selva kalanjiyame
Ennai kali theerthe ulagil aetrum puriya vandhaai
After months of disappointment and failed pregnancy tests,on yet another tuesday morning a shreik from the bathroom had everyone worried as they had gathered around to let the new kaand happen.Raavi emerged from the bathroom and leapt in to her husbands shocked yet welcoming arms.She whispered in his ear, the sentence he had longed to hear since the birth of his 3 year old nephew,”shiva, mein tere bacche ki ma ban ne wali hoon.”
Awestruck and unable to comprehend her words, he stood there staring at his wife, who went to take suman pandya’s blessings and announced the good news to the family who were overjoyed and pulled a surprised Shiva into one of their Yaadon-ki-baarat family group hugs.
All through her pregnancy he kept pinching himself at the most random moments,only to check if the surge of happiness was real and not just an extremely vivid dream.To his happiness it was not and he WAS in fact soon-to-be-baba.So when the day his daughter arrived on the face of earth he swore nobody in this world could be as ecstatic as him.
He had everything, his chipkali, and now a little bit of extra-everything. HIS OWN MIRACLE BABY GIRL.Karishma.
CID
