With all the emotional nagging and borderline physical abuse, she had gone through since morning, the pitter-patter of the rain was the only soothing sound for Babli all day as she looked out the old thick glass window. Deendayal, her husband, was still gossiping with his brother and sister-in-law, at the dining hall, leaving her alone with her nine-month-old belly; all of a sudden, with the crack of thunder and splash of lightning on the windowpane, an acute pain shot through her lower abdomen. Maybe it was the sound of all that rain and thunder, but the low guttural sound of her scream didn't reach the intended person, so with all her willpower, she staggered to the dining hall:
"Husband! Hospital!"
That's all Deendayal had to hear, and he was a blur of motion, with softest hands and most stable grip, he led her inside his brother's car; His brother, Rakesh, had already warmed up the engine, yet, as they were ready to leave, a shrill voice abruptly halted them:
"Wait! Dear~" Sushila shouted, walking fast under the now heavy rain.
With the speed of an abysmally slow sloth, she adjusted herself on the front seat, still fiddling with seatbelt, when:
"What the fuck are you doing!?" Deendayal shouted at Sushila, his sister-in-law. "Rakesh, just drive." Turning to his brother he said urgently.
"Alright. But", turning to Babli, he asked softly- "You would have to hold on a little longer, due to heavy rain, speeding up too much will be hazardous"
With small whimpering smile, she replied, "Sure~ but please, make a little haste, please"
Before, Rakesh could reply, Sushila cut a scathing comment- "You shouldn't be demanding things from him. He is your brother-in-law, your Elder."
Controlling her emotions, Babli whispered a meek, "ye-yes..."
After two suffocating hours, figuratively and literally (the bitchy Sushila, didn't let anyone open a peek of window), they reached the local city hospital emergency wing.
Dehradun, in 1998 wasn't as advance a city, neither was it a capital of a state, hence, the medical facilities weren't so convenient.
The Gynecologist wasn't present; They had called him an hour ago. The interns and JR present took Babli to the female general ward and prepared her for the delivery; scheduled for ten hours later. Dr. Shashi, came by two more hours later, re-checked the mother and her condition, then just like earlier reports submitted, he submitted an official report to the management, and asked to prepare a sanitized delivery room, eight hours later.
Soon, an intern came by to inform the family members about the decision and left them with some guidelines and precautions.
Just as the intern left, Sushila pleaded in a false honeyed voice- "Husband~ let's go, please. I am very tired and tomorrow I have to attend office early in the morning, got to have sweet eight-hour sleep at the very least."
"Babli has been admitted, and she has her delivery in eight hours, we should stay by her side." whispering, Rakesh raised an eyebrow.
"And?" With an unknown animosity, she asked, "She is in the hospital, under care and has her delivery by a good doctor, in a city hospital."
Glaring at Babli, she asked- "Tell me what else, do you need?"
This time, though, Deendayal spoke first, "Brother, you guys go ahead, I'll be staying here with my wife."
"Deen, it's not tha-" Deendayal didn't let Rakesh finish, instead, "Brother, it's an auspicious moment of our life," holding slightly teary-eyed and innocently smiling Babli's hand, he continued, "we could finally enjoy the fortune of parenthood." Looking straight at Sushila, "I don't want any negativity right now," turning to Rakesh, he said- "I am sorry, for speaking as such to you, my elder, brother. Hopefully, you understand my feelings and return soon enough to bless our first child." Finally, he bowed a little as a goodbye.
Accompanied by a defeated sigh, "I understand. Alright. Call me, there's a PCO just outside the Emergency Wing, if you need anything, at all. Bye," Rakesh said, and left with the entitled and fuming Sushila.
The wait was both excruciating and exciting for Babli and Deendayal. Afterall, it was their second time being pregnant, unfortunately, the first time was a miscarriage, and among the four of them only two people knew the reason and truth behind that horrible incident...
"You know..." looking fondly at her bulged out stomach, Babli absently spoke to Deendayal, "If it is a boy, we should name him Neel."
"And what if it's a girl?" With similar fond smile, Deen asked.
"Oh!" With unparalleled excitement, she said- "There are so, so many names, that at this point, I am more confused than ever."
"Haha~" Matching her enthusiasm Deen encouraged her to continue.
"Truly~" Taking a labored breath, she continued, "At this point, I would rather wait for her to be born and then decide."
"So, you really want a girl, huh?" With a loving smirk, Deen asked.
Matching his smirk, Babli asked- "As if you are any different~"
Looking at her belly, with a fond smile, he replied- "True, my dear~"
Just like that, hours slipped by, and soon labour induced contraction increased in frequency; The on-call nurses were informed, one of them went to call the doctor, while others transferred her to the delivery room. While Deendayal waited just outside the room, with the patience of any new to-be father. Though, that mood changed gradually, as he realised that the doctor was once again later than the appointed time, and hearing the painful voice of Babli from inside the room, he slowly stood up and anger marring his face, started walking outside the hospital, determined to bring the doctor, dragging if needed from his house. But, as soon as he stepped outside, he was shocked to see the scale of rainfall, if not experienced already, he would have thought himself to be right under a cloudburst.
Understanding dawned on him and rapidly his anger converted into nervousness and anxiety; he knew that in such a weather, it would be nearly impossible for anyone to reach anywhere, let alone for an old doctor to travel here.
In desperation, he first went to the PCO and dialled his brother's number, yet due to severe weather conditions, it took excruciatingly twenty minutes for the call to connect, then too his voice broke a lot:
"He..ll..o. Hello, Rakesh-" in every bit of emergent tone, he spoke rapidly and concisely, "Babli. Pa..in. Doct..o..r. Not here. Bring him, pl....ease." The damn weather finally caused the connection to be lost.
All Deendayal could do now, was to pray, so he prayed for the very first time in his life. Sitting on the roadside pavement, soaking wet, he clasped his hands and just prayed...
Brothers are after all brothers, family. Even with all the static and corrupted signals, Rakesh got the message and, without even wearing pants or shirt, in his shorts and grey tank-top, he rushed out with his car towards the address of Dr, Shashi.
After about two hours, Dr. Shashi rushed to the OT, scrubbed in and started the delivery procedure. Outside, under the continuous and heavy rain, the two brothers, arms on each other's shoulders, sat in front of a punctured and slightly banged up car, sharing a nervous laugh.
The boy was delivered with no issues, at first. And even though Babli suffered a little anaemic shock, she was handled by the quite competent Dr. Shashi.
After, hearing some of the situation from Deen, she smiled at the newborn boy, saddled in her arms delicately, and with all her strength and love, whispered to Deendayal- "How about Yahto. Just like the blue of skies after torrential rain and dark clouds. Yahto Ranga~"
"Yahto" With deepest pride, Deendayal repeated.
Still, misfortune came knocking soon- "Umm, nurse, is it alright for a newborn to have this much yellow pallor?" Asked Babli, with an uneasy feeling.
Suddenly, the joyous air of the wardroom, felt like it got sucked away and got replaced by a gloomy atmosphere. By the time, the nurse has already called the on-duty JR, who checked the newborn's condition thoroughly and confirmed everyone's suspicion, stating that, "It would be best for the boy to be kept in NICU, on a ventilator."
Of course, everyone agreed, and after Dr. Shashi checked all the tests and radiological findings; he confirmed the ailment: "It is Jaundice. Quite uncommon in newborns, but-" with an experienced and slight confident look in his eyes, he continued: "We would like to admit him in NICU, on a ventilator, give a very mild dose of steroids and in a week most, a healthy and strong baby would be swinging in your arms."
Without wasting a second even, both Babli and Deendayal, simultaneously spoke: "Yes!" Realizing the rudeness, the way they addressed their attending surgeon, they spoke with way milder tone of voice, "Please, Dr. Shashi, save our child."
A week finished pretty quickly, with Babli mostly distracted and distressed, finally the Monday morning of 7th September of 1988, Dr. Shashi gave green light, for taking the baby back home. The same day, one of the most devastating rainfalls in years according to the reports, halted, after a week of continuity.
The Blue skies after the dark clouds, on the hilly region like Dehradun, looked quite peaceful and bright...