Baby girl or baby boy

This year has been a year of babies.

At least 10 people of my acquaintance have a new addition to their family and 8 of them have been blessed with a baby girl. The very mention of her makes me so happy. Arrival of a baby girl in one of my close friend's life set me thinking. 

I have been the only child to my parents and was born after 11 generations of boys in my family. My grand-parents were very happy and they named me Deepa very lovingly because I was born around the time of Diwali and supposedly I brought light to their home and lives. My family spared no means to educate me and they encouraged me in everything which I took up. Without them, I wouldn't have been where I am today. The relationship of a daughter with her father is totally different and the daughters who share a wonderful rapport with their fathers can very well identify what I am saying. This is one of the reasons, I want a baby girl because I want my husband to experience that bond and make him realize how delicate and beautiful the world is with a baby girl around. He is always amused by the way I talk to my parents daily and keep them updated of almost everything happening in my life. I want him to go through all those phases and experiences so that he would understand why exactly a father is so protective of his daughter and why does a daughter consider her father the strongest man in the world!

My friends in other countries already know whom they are going to welcome at the end of 9 months. My radiologist might have also come to know whom me and my family are going to welcome in April. But as sex determination is banned in India, none of the doctors disclose it to the prospective parents now.  I really pity those people who consider girls as a burden and abort the fetus after determining the sex of the baby. It also had reasons because dowry was so prevalent then that fathers who had more daughters were the sufferers. Women weren't educated that time and so they couldn't support their parents after getting married. But now, things have changed and women have become independent and good decision makers. They love their parents till the end and support them in every possible way. Same can't be said and expected from boys nowadays. 

My husband grew with a younger brother with no experience of the delicate nature and world of girls at all. If he had a sister, things would have been a little different, but then that was not to be. So, when I got married to him, his world was the other side of the hemisphere to me as I never grew up with a brother. So, the world of boys and their behavior and attitude was totally new to me. I took a lot of time to understand that when boys do not express their thoughts does not mean that they do not care for people around them. It is just a way they are comfortable with.

I console myself saying if at all I give birth to a baby boy, it would be a learning experience for me as to why are boys like boys. Their world, their choices are different. Why not? They are physiologically different than the girls. They are more aggressive and logical and girls tend to be more sensitive and emotional.

Little girls play with dolls and they like to dress up. There are so many choices available for them in the market when it comes to clothing. They are tender and soft when it comes to things. Boys are happy with guns and trains and airplanes and they are more interested in dismantling a toy rather than playing with it. Once they start going to school, they become independent and their emotional attachment with mother and father takes a backseat. But girls are always attached to their parents, no matter how old they grow and how successful they become.

I do not mean to do a girls vs. boys comparison here. Both are very unique and different and the experience I am going to have with one of them is also going to teach me a lot of things and is going to enrich me as a human being.

Be it a baby girl or a baby boy.

Either ways, I am going to be a mom and there is no happiness larger than this.

Important is that the baby is going to belong to us and we are going to see it grow and flourish in front of our eyes.