ABHIMANYU IN CHAKRAVYUHA

Have you ever talked to your child in the tummy?  Oh, oh! If most of you are men and pretty young women, you might not have been blessed with this er… what do I call it? Opportunity? Nightmare? 

When my second child was eight months in the womb, one night I heard a “Psst! Mommy!” . I thought that it was my elder daughter and shouted as usual “You Chatterbox! Not yet asleep?”. There was a complete stunned silence and I was surprised because my elder daughter is a fire brand and can match me word for word. But she was asleep! Then who called me? Suddenly the realisation dawned on me! Oh, it is the cute little thing in my tummy!

I started cooing to the baby “Oh, my lovely child! Is it you? When are you coming out?”

Pat came the reply “Mommy, I don’t want to; I am afraid”.

“What? Afraid? But why?”

“Mommy! Such tensions! It seems there is pollution even in the air and the ocean. There is shortage of water. Then global warming, cancer, aids – all caused by the insensitivity of human beings!”

“My,my! How do you know so much?”

“I listen to TV, phone, whatsapp, youtube! In short whatever you see and hear! Nothing sounds right, ma! Why should I be born?”

I was alarmed. We have read about Abhimanyu and Prahalad who have been active listeners in the womb itself! But this child of mine! It seems to take stock of all bad things and worse, it negotiates with me even before birth! I decided to change my tactics.

“Hey you! Now is the time for you to rest and grow! Why do you unnecessarily break your head about things you cant help? Haven't you heard of Seven Habits? I read it for full 20 minutes! You seem to absorb only wrong things!”

“Mommy, see, already you are angry with me. I hear that angry moms get babies killed by the midwife!”

“Such things happen only in some remote villages. We are all much civilized! See, child! Behave your age! You don’t know many things. There is police; there is Govt; to take care and to help”.

“But Mommy, who helps the fish that die in ocean due to plastic or the elephant that accidentally steps on the beer bottles casually thrown in the jungles? ”

I have made a mistake! I should have read Bhagavat Gita or Bible or Quran instead of reading the local news! Now, how to convince this baby to come to the world? How can I go around being 8 months pregnant all my life! Again I changed my strategy.

“Oh my darling! Oh my precious! You seem to be so intelligent! We will love you and pamper you with icecreams, milkshakes!”.

“But Mommy, you are a working woman, I may not even get my proper milk. No, ma? I wont come! No! No! A definite NO!” 

Suddenly I was speechless! The baby is right! It has every reason to fear! What are we doing to this world? And the baby’s last question shook me. For every child the modern world, the very motherhood has become a chakravyuha; a circle of death! How do we correct this? We cannot stop the wars; we cannot wipe away terrorism; we cannot even wish away pollution. Look around us! We have polluted even the ocean with our plastic waste. 70% of the food that we take is contaminated by chemicals.

But something must be done to give hope to every unborn child. The world belongs to them. So I decided that instead of lamenting about what is not in my control, let me see what is in my power to make at least a small change. I started by reducing my carbon footprints in the following ways:

1. Carrying my own bags and reducing the use of plastic.

2. Using LED lights to consume less electricity.

3. Driving less. Walking wherever I can.

4. Whenever there are picnics and tours not leaving behind left-over food and plastic waste.

5. Having my own kitchen garden; using water sparingly and planting as many plants as possible.

These are only baby steps. I continue using my imagination – sky is the limit. I take it as my duty to heal and clean the world to make the Mother Earth a better place and to welcome my own Abhimanyu who is destined to win over the world in this birth! And my Abhimanyu is watching.