Say a li'l prayer for her

I often used to wonder why my chhoti masi (Mom's younger sister) loves my sister and me so much.

She only sees us once in a few years. And it's not like she doesn't have any kids of her own, or sons only. She has a son and a daughter, and yet, she adores us like anything.

I used to ask Mom and she would say, "It's a masi thing. I can't explain. You'll know when you become a masi."

But I still used to find it really strange that someone who doesn't even know what kind of a person I am, can love me so much.

Till a few days ago, when I bawled my eyes out for a little girl I'd never seen.

Baby Aish is in hospital. Barely a day after she came home, she had high fever and her heart-rate was low. She's doing better than before but the docs wants to keep her under observation for a day or two more. Every day we wake up hoping that today's the day she'll come home. Apparently, she caught some germs from visiting relatives which included a little kid who had a cold. She was in the ICU where they put her on IV and breathing tubes, because her immune system was not yet ready to handle even minor germs. Every time I imagine the sight of a 3-day-old kid with all the tubes, my heart sinks. My sis said the docs had trouble finding a needle that was small and thin enough for a baby of her age.

I only found out about her being hospitalised a few hours before my flight. I was to fly in the night, and that evening, I received a strange voicemail from my sister. "Call me as soon as you get this. Here's my number. I don't care what time it is, but call before you board the plane, okay? Here's my number again. Call as soon as you get this." I freaked out and called her as soon as I got the message. She told me about baby Aish being in the ICU. "Sayesha, I want you to pray for her. I want you to wish that she gets well. Your wishes are always heard." She said.

I swear I have never been so scared in my entire life. I have no idea how I got by the rest of the day at work. In my mind, I was wishing for her continuously. I knew I was not qualified to pray to God, because I am not religious. I knew that even if I prayed, God, if there is one, would probably not listen to the prayers of a non-believer. All I could do was wish on the basis of my faith -- the faith that nothing bad would happen, and that baby Aish would be fine very soon. But what if faith was not enough? What if you needed something more? My sister had blind faith in my wishing powers, something she's always had ever since we were kids. But did I have so much faith in my own faith? What was it that I could do for baby Aish? I messaged a few friends -- whoever I could contact before my flight -- and asked them to pray for the baby. If not mine, maybe their prayers would be heard. At a time when my family and I were so helpless, and all we could do was wait for news that she was okay, I needed all the help I could get. And that included 'borrowed' faith.

In the middle of the night in the plane, when all my co-passengers were sleeping, I was bawling my eyes out because I could not contact them for the next 22 hours. A few hours after I had landed, I went to the hospital to see the baby -- from a distance though. She was sleeping, so tiny, so precious. Finally, she opened her eyes and looked at me. I'm sure she must have wondered what kinda bewdi red-eyed masi she's got.

She's doing much better now. Though she's still in the hospital, her fever has subsided and her heart rate is normal now. And in spite of not being religious, I know that she recovered because of all the wishes and prayers of everyone. Those who sent me sms messages saying that she'll be fine, she's got strong genes, she'll be all right with all the love and hopes and dreams she's wrapped safe in. And somehow, I believe that the good wishes of everyone who had read my blog post about her had been added in too. Even those of complete strangers who don't know me. My faith tells me so. I guess that's what faith is really about - whether your faith is in God - or in the faith of others.

So here I am, logging in from a laptop in New Jersey, wishing that baby Aish comes home soon, and thanking everyone who spared a little thought for her. I don't think I've ever been more serious. No jokes today - I just want to thank all of you dil se.

And I finally understand why chhoti masi loves me so much.