Shree was upset and her pale face bore testimony to the same. Neha could understand that,
something was not right with her bestie forcing her to become forgetful. From last couple of
days neither Shree has been replying on their Whats App group,nor she is pinging her
amidst work which has been her practice otherwise.
“May be the difficulty to keep up with the project deadline is disturbing her” thought Neha
and went back to work.
Shree has been a workaholic and whole office corroborated to the same. A thorough
professional, she hardly spent any idle time. Three years back after lot of pestering from her
parents, she decided to tie the knot and thank God! she found her match in Srinivas who
was not only a decent guy, but also someone who happily consented to Shree’s condition of
continuing with her job post marriage. For first one year both were compelled to stay apart,
owing to their official posting but one year back Srinivas got transferred to Bengaluru and
since then they have been staying together.
Things were good until one-day Sriny’s (Srinivas’s pet name) Amma arrived from Chennai
to stay with the young couple. Amma has been staying alone in Chennai after Appa’ s demise
and now listening to her constant joint pains Sriny thought of showing her to an Expert in
Bengaluru. Amma’s visit was not so welcomed by Shree, as she feared the topic, she has
been evading will again form an integral part of Mother-Son discussion. She had faith on her
hubby but again, she knew that Sriny can’t be blatant on Amma’s face and Amma’s curiosity
is like that hot lava, which is not going to rest any sooner. Her worst fear came true finding
herself at the receiving end, with Amma asking her “Shree, did you guys decide to check
with the Doctor, as to why it’s taking so long?” Then in a slight murmur “If at all it’s not
intentional, who knows?.”
Shree had never expected that Amma will be so upright this time. Last time she conveyed
her message via her beloved son, who immediately cajoled and convinced his better half to
ignore Amma’s words. May be this time Amma wanted to know the answer straight away
from horse’s mouth. Sriny’s words kept on ringing in Shree’s ears and she chose not to
answer, but Amma kept on asking……….finally Shree replied “Yeah, will see and plan”.
Shree was averse to this idea of going for baby from the very beginning. She had seen her
Akka struggle with her two kids, leaving her career mid-way and hence has always been
vocal in expressing her views or in that way choosing her career above family. Sriny loved
Shree immensely and had left it on Shree to take her call on the said issue. Shree wanted her
promotion badly this year, after her bitter loss to Anil in mid-year appraisal. Moreover,
Shree’s US visa was approved and it was only a matter of few months, before she gets to join
on her first onsite posting. Now that the time has come when she can live her US dream, she
couldn’t think of diverting her time and energy to something else.
But again, life is unpredictable and has the habit of surprising us every minute. We plan
something without having the slightest idea, as to what is in store for us. Since the time
Shree skipped her periods, she has been spending sleepless nights. For first eight days, she
deliberately tried to ignore but on ninth day she herself got a pregnancy test kit from the
chemist and was shocked to see the two pink lines appear within fraction of second. She
chose not to discuss the same with Amma, as she knew what her reaction will be listening to
the news. She can’t confide in Sriny either as she feared in Amma’s presence Sriny might be
a bad secret keeper.
“What am I going to do? If I enter into this world of motherhood, then definitely my plight is
going to be the same as Akka. I might have to forego my onsite opportunity and may be after
some years my job and I can’t afford to do that. ”The more she thought, the more she was
getting dragged into it. Perturbed she was not able to concentrate…….
“Thankfully Amma will be leaving for Chennai in two weeks, can inform Sriny then” Shree
thought and was about to take the stairs to the cafeteria in the fifth floor, when suddenly
something stopped her. She immediately pushed the UP Arrow of the elevator and patiently
waited there for the door to open.
“Hi Shree, what’s wrong, you are taking the lift instead of the stairs,” Neha said as she came
running from the other end with her bag and laptop. It was a known fact for everyone in the
office that Shree hated waiting for the elevator or to better say, she was a “Stair person”.
“Hey nothing, just like that” Shree quipped.
Shree herself was unaware of this, until she heard from Neha. Is it simply because she had a
change of mind today or else is it her concern for the life, which has just started to evolve
inside her? Whatever it may be, for those few seconds Shree felt like ignoring everything
and just sipping a Cappuccino which has been her favorite since long. Just when she was
about to finish her coffee, her phone beeped and there was a message from Nima. Nima was
Shree’s maid who used to do all the household chores at Shree’s place.
“Last week only she had taken a leave owing to her Mother’s illness, today again she has her
excuse ready that she is unwell. What to do? Why does she have to inform me at the last
moment? If I would have known earlier then definitely would have left early from work,
anyways need to rush as Amma must be waiting too” …………..Shree thought, as she waited
for the cab to take her home.
“Oh! It’s 8.30, hopefully if Pintu is there then I can make it before Amma’s dinner time.”With
this thought Shree’s eager eyes kept on looking for her assigned Cab and was all smiles
finding Pintu behind the wheels.
“Good evening Madam, once Rohan Sir comes will start” Pintu said, while bringing down the
Driver’s side window.
“Hmm” Shree said in a slight murmur and nestled in the back seat of the cab when suddenly
Rohan came and Pintu started off.
Shree was immersed in her own thought, making various permutations, combinations of
the leftovers she had in the refrigerator, so that Amma gets her proper dinner, when all of a
sudden there was a jerk owing to Pintu’s sudden application of break.
“OMG! Pintu please drive carefully” Shree exclaimed.
Pintu looked back with utter surprise, as he had never witnessed such behavior on Shree’s
part.
“What happened Madam? Don’t worry, will take care”
Even Rohan who was in the front seat with Pintu looked back to confirm if Shree was OK.
“I am doing good yaar…. please, both of you don’t look at me like this.” Shree burst out
immediately.
Deep within she had a feeling that she was not in her usual self. She doubted her own
reaction consoling herself that it was just a coincidence and nothing else.
Sriny was observing a change in Shree’s behavior too. The other day when Sriny asked her
about her US Project updates, She replied in a rather low tone. It was as if her enthusiasm
had taken a back seat altogether. Shree had seen her mom toil day and night to make her
happy, not only her Mom her Akka was playing the role par perfection. Shree had started
doubting her ability to raise and support a tiny being who has just entered her world. Again,
at times her logical side was preventing her from going that extra mile and embracing
motherhood with full excitement.
Finally, the day came for which Shree has been waiting all this while. Amma left for Chennai
and Shree thought of discussing the matter with Sriny once they are both home. Shree
completed her work and was about to board her cab when suddenly her leg slipped and she
fell down. Neha and Pintu came rushing….
“What happened Shree? are you okay” Neha asked supporting her from the back.
“Yeah… I am OK Neha, will manage” Shree said and went inside the cab asking Pintu to drive
immediately.
Shree was nervous. Her heart was beating fast and she was able to feel it. Constantly she
was touching her lower abdomen with her palms as tears started rolling down her eyes.
“What will I do? What about my little one” with these thoughts she googled a practicing
Gynecologist near to her place. Mrs. Joshi’s clinic name showed up and she got down from
the cab to check with her. Her cheeks were still wet and a feeling of apprehension and
uneasiness had gripped her totally. As soon as she went to the reception the lady over there
offered her a glass of water and asked her to wait for fifteen minutes. Those fifteen minutes
seemed fifteen hours for Shree. She was not able to concentrate. Disturbed, she was
pressing all possible tabs on her smart phone. US posting, her upcoming promotion
exercise, career aspirations everything seemed to have taken a back seat and it was her
unborn’s safety which topped the list. It was just that ,she too wanted to become a “Mother”
like Amma and Akka. She can’t be doubtful of the best gift God has sent for her. She can only
pray for her little one’s safety.
As soon as the lady in white announced her number Shree rushed inside barging the door
with a big “Thud”.
“Please Ms. Joshi, check me ……Myself Shree and I am Pregnant”
