Congratulations! It’s a Girl

Congratulations! It’s a Girl.

-Santi Swaroopa

When a woman gives birth, the first question we ask is, “Is it a boy or a girl?”. If the answer is ‘a boy’, there are loads of congratulatory messages. If it’s a girl, I have seen, the congratulations are still there, but with a little less fervor. 

 Earlier, girls were thought of as a burden. They were to be taught all household chores and supposed to be healthy and we’ll maintained at the same time. They were expected to be humble, graceful and mostly non-opinionated. Well, not anymore. Times have changed. Girls have changed. Thankfully parents have changed. Daughters have proven that there is more to them. 

This write up of mine is a motley of my views on my daughter. Her name is Atulya, which means invaluable. Needless to say, that’s exactly what she is, in her own way. She’s my need, my support, my pride and my prize. I also have a son. But it is my daughter that was the first to teach me about the joys and pains of motherhood. I will stress on the latter word because now that she is a teenager, I’m definitely seeing a lot more of it. 😉

A daughter is life, they say. Not mine. She has the capability of squeezing out the last scrap of your life out of you. BUT, I’m proud of it. It means she is a strong individual.

A daughter is a friend, they say. Not mine. She is more like a mother in law. Caring at times, totally ruthless..most of the times. BUT, I’m proud of it. It means she’s got the will and the knack to get things done, her way. 

Girls are known for their sensitivity, their grace. Not mine. She’s known more for her sensibility and you can constantly hear an  oh,ooh, ah, ouch from whichever room she’s in. And yes…I’m proud of it. It means she’s learning to be herself and not consort to societal norms of being the graceful lady that she will be imposed upon, to be.

Girls spend a lot of time before the mirror choosing or getting ‘THE LOOK’. HELL, not mine! She will be more than happy to just throw on one oversized t-shirt and a pair of slacks,…even to her own wedding. And I’m proud of it. Well, she knows her comfort, where her happiness lies. 

Her taste in music sometimes messes with my brain so badly that I feel it will haemorrhage. But when I hear her humming the same song when she’s by herself, I’m blown at the beauty in it. 

I’m good with my English, but this Hitler-ine girl of mine manages to find flaws and mistakes when I speak. Irritating! By GOD! But, I’m proud of it. She keeps me up and alert. 

I love her. I love being with her. I love being around her. Do you ever have this feeling with someone, where all you need is to just hug them and you can feel the tension in you literally melting down and pooling around your feet! Or when you are happy, a hug from this person will multiply it like a gazillion times! My daughter is that person for me. 

We all love our daughters for all the good stuff. But we SHOULD love them equally or more for their flaws too. No human is perfect, even we are not. Girls are an endangered species. We not only have to save them, we have to ensure that they are happy and healthy.  That I feel can be possible, when we assure them that it’s okay being themselves. 

Finally, when I get my own house, I’m planning to have a pool built in my backyard with a lot of variety of fish in it. Why is this relevant here?

Because when I find THAT STORK that brought my daughter to me, I have to make sure that he gets a proper (PROPER) thanks from me. 😉

Thank you God for the girls. Can’t imagine boys in body cons and stilettos. 

So the next time you hear someone is blessed with a girl, feel happy in the wake of knowing that just by coming into this world, she has already made this a better place or you could feel jealous if you don’t have one or feel a bit burdened thinking about how you can make this world better for her.

*****