I Remember The Day I Was Born

1st Jan 19_ _

It was approximately 5:18 am as far as i remember though no one actually remembers the stride of events when one is born , how is he born ,who was the 1st one to whom his eyes opened to , it’s all what your near dear ones tell you about that moment of moments. It is probably the only big event of your life which you fail to have any memories about , but somehow i distinctly remember the day i was born.

The sun had just left the horizon and was yet to come on full, the winds were minty ( chilly as expected of jan winds carrying with them the smell typical to hospitals ) though the room inside was the warmest and cozziest one i have ever been in , with i cuddled next to my mom in a wrap of the softest cotton fabric. It was probably the 1st time i was not at all self-conscious inspite of so many strangers (or should i say relatives i met for the 1st time) looking at me , actually they were rather looking into me , with heads tilted down and a bit sideways, with bodies still and the lips making a very slight smile , trying to imagine and relive the time caps when they would have laid the same way near thier mom. Some of them were switching looks between me and my mom , me and my dad , me and the mirror and evthg living in the room , trying hard to categorise my different body parts – “rang to apne papa pe gaya hai , aur aankhein iski dadi pe gayi hain , arey aur iski naak …….. ekdum tote(parrot) jaisi nahin hai “.

While all the elders were having me in their arms , my brothers n sisters stood huddled in a corner as though frightened what if they were asked to have me in their arms , and they were right , my aunt asked my niece to take me for a while , my niece rimjhim (14 yr old) was already too confused , her belief in the equality of man and woman had been shaken upto its very root when she saw the 1st naked boy in her life , but being the optimist she was she thought it to be just a matter of time before things turned back in to never return , then my innocent 11 yr old nephew karan was asked to have me , but he pushed himself deeper into the crowd of nieces n nephews ( thats what families are for ) , then rimjhim said ” bhua woh nahin lega woh darr raha hai” listening this the 11 yr old child , remembered , he was a 11 yr old child who was a “boy” and stepped forward , and took me in his arms . I could instantly feel the stiffness all over his body as if he had just seen my previous life’s ghost in the room and he started counting backwards 10,9,8…..1 , at the end of which he bellowed ” maine pakad liya ab koi aur lelo” . This way all of them passed me from one to another as if they were asked to play “passing the parcel” with the parcel being a timebomb , obviously they feared “kahin gir gaya toh , mujhe sab kitna daantenge” and on top of that i was very fidgety (not general with babies just a personal trait) and was named by my dadi as “thur thuriya ram” so holding me in the arms was like holding a fish ever ready to leap out of your grip.

My cousins were happy enough to compare there hands and fingers to mine ,the innocent ones were awed at how small my fingers and toes were and the mean ones were happy to know how big their fingers and toes were.

Then after all the touring i was placed back on the bed and came pouring in all sorts of nanima and dadima’s piece of advices (invaluable) the greyness of their hair speaking out , though no one spoke on the allopathic front coz my parents are both doctors that too a much sort after combination of paediatrics and gynae , so a healthy childhood was guranteed for me.

My birth date (1st Jan) has always been registered with “oh’s and ahh’s” lucky boy, though there have been some ppl who repeatedly ask me to tell my original birth date and not fake one , coz their minds have already signed up 1st of jan for the new year , but ya i can understand 2 big events (my birth and the new year) on the same day can be hard to take in one go .

N ow I am tired and need to sleep come on what do you expect from a newly born child , he needs atleast 18 to 20 hrs sleep. aaaaaaahh ! yawn! yawn! yawn!

Written by Thur Thuriya Ram on 01.01.19 _ _

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