"Moment Of The Year...!!!"

Welcome Back Ladies and Gentlemen, to what is turning out to be the Longest Awards Gala in *any* history. :D :D :D (We are setting new records everyday!)

Let us now move on to the next category - 

"MeghnaSays... Moment Of The Year"

This category does not require any nominations. There could be only one winner, and I knew this, because this was the most recurring happy memory for me, ever since it first happened. This was an event for which not just me, but many were waiting, with all their might. 

When I did my first article on Khushboo ("You're the Girl, Khushboo...!!!) I had at that time learnt that she was expecting. It was a moment of ecstacy. Spending time with your closest friends is one great thing. Knowing that soon there are going to be mini versions of your friend trotting around, is Euphoria! On an all together different level! 

Having spent all our graduating years together, we know each other inside out. And our telepathy is legendary. Be it what cooks in our kitchens miles apart, or the words we say or things we do. This telepathy went a notch above after we got married. She and Mr. Husband share their sun signs, and on the other hand, I share mine with her husband Ankit. So now, pretty often, all four of us would be talking about and doing similar stuff, despite being in the north and south poles of our country. 

I was the first one who got this awesome news from both of them - that they were going to add a new member to our gang, and Mr. Husband was second. Now, ever since we first discussed this topic of having kids, which as far as I recollect, was in the second year of college, Khushboo always wanted to have a baby girl. Which is very rare. At least for me. In my whole life, she is the first and only person as of now to really want and pray for a baby girl. And this one thing always filled me with so much respect for her. Of course, I have met and known many mothers who have only a boy or boys and they always complained about not having a daughter. But whenever I asked them if this is what they hoped for when they first realized they were expecting, all answers were in the negative. And phoney doesn't go too well with me. 

When Khushboo broke the news, she was obviously elated. She had called from the hospital while waiting for her turn, was talking in a funny hushed tone which could barely mask her excitement, and that was when she first said, I am going to see the Doc to find out when will I be able to finally see my baby girl, and I have a strong hunch it will be on Abhishek's (Mr. Husband's) birthday. I told her not to overthink, and just go see the Doc; for whatever happens and whenever it does, it will be for the best of it. 

And that is literally what I prayed for, for all the long, daunting nine months that followed. 

Her sister-in-law, who was also expecting her second kid, was just twenty days ahead of her. She had a son, and so she too really wanted a daughter to 'complete the family'. Both of them would talk about everything one possibly can in the given situation, and Khushboo would share the insights with me - about hopes, dreams, expectations and the wait - and every time, a million butterflies would take off at the same time in my stomach. What good time to be alive!

In due course of time, Khushboo's sister-in-law was blessed with a cute little baby boy, and though it was a moment of great happiness, that was the only time I found her a bit pensive and low. "Why did God not give her with the baby girl she wanted..? Am I also praying in vain? Everybody you meet blesses you to be blessed with a boy, beti k liye koi aashirwad nahi deta.."

I had no appropriate words to say anything to her. All I could do was to pray even more, and ask her to keep her faith. For that was all what was in our hands.

*****

It was Mr. Husband's birthday that day. And the day wasn't really turning out to be what we would have wanted it to. My sister-in-law has supposedly lost her brand new iPhone 6+, and in all that ruckus, she had totally forgotten about his birthday (a lifetime's first!). And there we were, instead of selecting his birthday present, we were at the Aptronix store, trying to block her number and trace her new, now lost iPhone. At around the same time Khushboo called and said they were moving her to the hospital. She also told that the doctor had decided to operate because in her case, normal delivery would be very difficult. My heart was now racing at thousand beats per second. Who did I first see when I woke up today?

With no success whatsoever with the lost iPhone, dejected, we quickly and halfheartedly picked up a gift for Mr. Husband and drove back home. As we reached home, my brother-in-law and his family joined us. We were telling them about the not-so-happy incidents of the day as I prepped up the cake I had baked for Mr. Husband. The elders started giving us hope, something they are deft at, and my 2 year old nephew turned out to be the silver lining of the day, as his little deeds and words brought effortless smiles to our faces. 

Veiling  a million thoughts behind the cheery facade, and trying to pick up the remaining pieces of the day to still make something out of it, I and Mr. Husband exchanged forced silent smiles when my phone rang. It was my sister-in-law's daughter who had called to tell that the lost iPhone 6 was now found. It has slipped under the back seat of the neighbour's car which my sister-in-law had taken out to arrange the parking space in her apartment building. Phew! God is great!

We all cheered and gave high-fives and started to get ready for dinner. This was a great relief, especially because so much of hard-earned and harder-saved money had gone into that iPhone. And losing it would have meant losing a whole deal of data too. But that was all averted now.  

My mind and heart was repeatedly going back to Khushboo, when my phone rang again. What now? Lost the iPhone again? Please no!

It was Ankit. With trembling hands I answered the phone. And there he told me, "Bhagwan ne sabki sun li. Beti hui hai..!!" ("God answered all our prayers. Its a daughter..!!")

And this, Ladies and Gentlemen, was the Moment of the Year...!!!

I was stunned. My eyes were pouring, and I could not speak anything for moments together. All I could ask was if both Mother and Kiddo were doing good and he said yes and hung up promising to call again later. I don't know how long was I standing there alone, holding my phone and filling buckets with my happy tears, but it must have been really long, because Mr. Husband came looking out for me. 

When he saw me crying, the first thing he asked, "Ab kiska kya kho gaya..." (Now who lost what...). And I laughed out loud. I told him, no one lost anything. But Khushboo and Ankit had now found Everything. God is really the Greatest!!

When I finally talked to Khushboo the first time after she became a Mom, guess what does she start with - "See, I told you my Baby Girl would share her Birthday with her Uncle!"

This kiddo is really an answer to so many prayers. She is a solid reaffirmation of our faith in God.

No wonder her parents named her "Meher" which literally means "Blessing"...!!!