The curse of the girl child!

Scene 1:

The doctor picked up the baby. The pink limbs stretching itself, the baby crying; A life on earth is born. Another! The first cry can be heard outside.

The man was waiting with bated breath. It was his child. He could hear the cry. His heart missed a beat. The granny next to her had a tear. Even before the tear dropped by, the nurse brought the baby to them.

Baby boy! hurray, you can hear the man shout. The baffled nurse said, “sir, it is a girl”. “No, it cannot be. I cannot have a girl. I know it is a boy; I know it is a boy. You are cheating”. The man’s elation turned to bereavement.

Scene 2:

An IUD! Intra-Uterine Death. The baby born was not crying. Stillborn, they called it. The life that was supposed to have never happened. News spread. You could see the wailing outside. It was painful. The air was thick. You could feel the tension in the air. As the babies relatives came over to gather the lifeless body, the crying hit the roof. And then the eyes fell on the beautiful one. Still, yet lovely.

The wailing stopped abruptly. Oh, a girl? They all stopped suddenly. Looked at each other. Just walked out. The pain they had felt is gone. It was just a girl they had lost. Not worth crying over.

Two separate incidents. One week. Two different hospitals.

After listening to the wife tell the first story and my sister the second one, I died within. My wife and my sister. Two women, who are beautiful in their own ways. Both doctors. Brilliant minds. Sculpted in the image of the creator. Much better people than I can ever aspire to be. What makes them lesser human beings in the minds of these vile offenders in the stories just coz they are women?

Men, oh men, when will you step aside and let the women live. Let them be. Just be.