Cocktails and Dreams

Sabz Sitara

"Hammad beta get ready we have to go see your cousin at the hospital"
"Why mum what happened to her?!”
“She had a baby this morning.”
“AGAIN?!”

The term ‘population explosion’ sounded cute at first. Now, it’s becoming scary. It’s spreading like an epidemic, that we seem to have no control over. PEOPLE ARE HAVING TOO MANY CHILDREN! Not that I don’t like idea that much. It’s just that I personally believe that we should concentrate on quality rather than quantity. Moaning and whining all the way, I still accompanied my parents to the maternity home, where there seemed to be a festival brewing in the private ward. I made the sacrifice of opening the door myself. Before I could get a good look around, a rubber band came flying out of nowhere and smacked me right on the nose. Come on! WHY THE NOSE?! Ducking to dodge further attacks, I managed to take a look at the assailant. It was my cousins eldest son (aged 7). He seemed to be practicing some new offensive line of attack that he would be exercising over his new baby sister. I had barely recovered from the vile attack upon my nasal organ when his younger brother (aged 4) yelled a foreign scream from the corner of the room and stampeded towards me. His age was such that his head was at a most uncomfortable height for men of around 5 feet 8. Luckily I reacted in time, and jumped over what would have been his rock-solid head ramming into …er..you get the picture. What WAS my cousin and her husband thinking? These kids could overthrow a military government. In a matter of moments, my uncle and aunt came to my rescue, and the two troublesome toddlers were banished from the ward under the supervision of a relative (who would soon be wishing he was in Iraq rather than with the two boys).
It seems strange, but people nowadays have stopped caring for their children the way they used to. I think a couple of children with decent manners and etiquettes are much better than a cricket team of boys and girls who could tear u down in a minute. Population wise, we should be a country of a moderate nature. We shouldn’t be like Germany, where people get paid to have children, nor should we be like China, where people get imprisoned for having too many. But most important of all, we should concentrate on the ones we have and on making them the best of individuals, both in religious and worldly terms.
I finally got the chance to see the new born. But my cousins daughter (aged 2) was clung to her mom, afraid that somehow this new intruder was going to take over her patch of glory and attention. So I decided to pick her up so I could try and make her feel better and at the same time talk to my cousin. After three unsuccessful attempts of lifting out of the bed, I finally managed to pick her up. She had passed not above my waist when she let out a blood curding scream, kicked my chest with all her might and in an astonishing combo of self defense, managed to regurgitate the her breakfast and spread it out on me in an even coating.
I still do love kids. If they're under the walking /talking age, and theres someone to feed them and clean them.



This article was not endorsed by the Ministry of Family Planning, Govt. of Pakistan.

posted by h@mMy! @ 3:35 PM