Thursday, June 01, 2006

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.



41 comments:

Rays Of Sun said...

Sab theek ho jaayega:)

Rays Of Sun said...

//Apparently, she caught some germs from visiting relatives which included a little kid who had a cold.//

Thats why its a good practise to handle infants only after disinfecting yourself with a hand sanitizer!
I can imagine ur agony..coz I feel the same for Aryan..
This masi will also pray for her..Thank god u are there for ur sister at this time..
She will be active n kicking..I m sure!
Prayers for Aish and warm hugs to you..gimme ur number..I will call you ASAP

Sahil said...

Hey Sayesha,

Arre, aap ne Tapoori ka naam joh diya, toh is duniya mein aate hi usne darana chalu kardiya na? She's living up to her name. But fikar not, she'll be coming home very soon, and then u can begin her training :)

keep us posted

BP said...

Hey, I'm sure everything will be ok.
Just to be safe though, although I'm not one to pray much, I'll say a little prayer for baby Aish for whatever it's worth.
Meanwhile, keep your faith and enjoy your hols :)

Sayesha said...

#ROS,
Thanks for calling yaar... your call really cheered me up... :)

#Sahil,
Arre yeh koi matlab hai? Hamein daraayegi aise?? :(
Thanks for your wishes yaar... just want her to get home soon...

#Banana,
Heyyy! Thanks for your wishes dear... I'm sure she'll get well soon. :)
ps: Hope everything's fine at work too! :)

Daroga said...

i hope ab tak sab theek ho gaya hoga.....
this post of urs reminded me of my early days(read: years) on this earth..... an extremely sick baby surviving on injections for the first 4 years of his life.... and how my nana,nani,mama & mausi took so gr8 care of me.... (i dont remember all these..... my mamma told me)
its really these wishes and prayers that help (smtimes over everything else)...
MAY GOD BLESS LITTLE AISH....AMEN !!!

Shilpa said...

Thats so scary. I don't really know Aish...but I feel awful for the poor kid !

I hope and pray that she would recover soon and come back home.

Hang in there masi ji !

R said...

I will pray for her.

its me said...

faith IS God.. so you have faith.. implies God is on your side... so dont worry... evrything is going to be fine..

Kathy said...

Don't worry girl ,everything will be fine... i'm praying for lil Aish fast recovery too.
...have faith in GOD, for sure HE will answer all our prayers.
..hugss u Kawaii!

luv,
-kathy-

ritzkini said...

:(
hope she gets well soon..

Mary said...

Hi Sayesha, I have 2 younger brothers who were born early, so they were in ICU for a few months before we could properly cuddle them etc.. so I know how you would feel.. all my prayers for your little niece! I hope she is just fine :)

the mad momma said...

There is a saying in hindi that i cannot recollect for the life of me, but the gist is that after your mother, you get the most love from a masi. Praying for the little one.

Unknown said...

Keep the faith Sayesha. I'm glad to hear she's getting better. ALL our thoughts and prayers are with her. i am sure she's in very good hands.
warmest hugs
tgfi

Archana said...

Best wishes for the lil' one to come home safe and sound soon :-)!

Anonymous said...

my mom sez, "maasi is like 2nd mom"... no wonder ur maasi loves u and ur sis; n u love ur neice so much :)

hope ur neice gets well soon!

dearbharat said...

U must stay calm and unwavered.Everything will be alright.

Anonymous said...

arre m sure ki wo tum se bhi zyaada waali tapori banegi...dont worry and stay calm...everything will turn out to be fine...
*silent prayers*

InfJunkie said...

Hey, everything's gonna be ok :-)
After all, God just cant turn his back on so many prayers...>:D<

aydiv said...

She will be fine :) !

R said...

She'll be home soon. Trust me. It's about honest and loving people.
I don't know if God is there, but I know for sure, those who maintain a faith, get their due.

Here's hoping that the little princess comes home REAL soon and you can post her picture here.

Wishes for the girl! Don't worry! :)

Anonymous said...

didnt know till I just read this post...

dont worry kk... sab theek ho jayega!

~ppcpp

Nirwa Mehta said...

Aww.. Baby would be home soon..

And before you know it, Tiny Tapori (hehe.. i like the sound!) would be peeing in your lap! :-)

It was just to cheer you up! Baby Aish will be all right! :-)

There is nothing a hug cannot do.. so here is one for you>:D<, for your sister>:D< and for Baby Aish>:d< (D is in small letter because she is so small!! :P)

Nirwa

Anonymous said...

she will be perfectly alright.

i have always wondered whether i believe in God or not. and over the years, my willingness to believe in GOd has increased and i have had my reasons.

so have faith in my faith.

Anonymous said...

may god bless her

BP said...

Don't worry... so far so good.
p.s. F&Y successfully pfp-ed today :)

Inder said...

Okay, Aish. Seems you have scared your folks too much. Now, be a good girl and get well soon.

± said...

that is a most beautiful and sensitive post.
don't worry. she'll be fine...
there is a verse in the guru granth saheb that goes...

'Ja ko raakhe saiyaan, maar sake na koi" means thos who are loved and prayed for, cannot come to any harm.

on a lighter note, cant promise top understand the massi thing, but maybe thats coz its not a boy thing...
maybe there is a chacha thing somewehre...
lemme think :-) lemm ask around ;-)

Sirius Black said...

Congrats nd njoy :D
Ache logon ke saath acha hi hota hai ;)

Rays Of Sun said...

#Sirius,
Congrats for????:O

Unknown said...

Never seen you so serious before Sash!!

I can exactly understand what's on your mind coz I've seen my neice in the hospital too! That was the first time in my entire life when I got soooooo scared.. I just couldn't stop crying.. Gone thru this stage.. shit! A chill runs down my body everytime I even think of it!!

Glad to know your neice is feeling better. Wid all my heart I pray she's back home soon for you to spoil her & bear all her tantrums :)

Don't worry..
God Bless her & u too :)
Take care,
Aarti

Just Jane said...

Hey girl, if wishes were horses, Ms Tiny Tapori (good one Nirwa!) will soon ride straight home to Jersey city :D Good wishes to you and your family.

dharmu said...

sayesha bahi, dekho humari li'l taporine aate hi big sayesha maasi ko daradiya na???

are maasi, li'l tapori jaldi ghar aayegi aur maasi ko bohut satayegi, akir aapki jaisehi banegi na, aur jaldi se li'l tapori ka foto shoto blog mein update kardo,
humko dekhna hai, princess kaise dikthi hai.

The Girl Who Sold The World said...

Oh...I really don't know what to do or say. I don't really believe in God...but I think wishes of your loved ones are indeed helpful. I'm sure that'll help the baby. I hope the little princess/tapori (whatever her masi prefers) gets back home soon. :)

Anonymous said...

Baby Aish will be fine. I will wish for her speedy recovery and pray that she gets home soon. She definitely has all your love and affection protecting her and giving her teh strength. And if she is anything like her masi, she is a fighter....Hang in there.

GG said...

She'll be home soon :)

I normally just read and quietly leave...but today I have a tear in my eye.

I'm sure she's getting better every minute...hugs for everyone!!

-GG

GG said...

PS: Masi means Maa ke jaisi :)

Thats why your masi and now you love the neices so much :)

How do we know said...

Masi: Don't worry so hard.. of course she will be fine!!

Preethi said...

Oh my God!! Oh my God!!
I can completely understand the whole situation dear.... and things will be perfectly fine.

Was a lil surprised to see ur posts, coz I thought u wudnt be blogging for a while now coz u were on a holiday... But I guess you needed an outlet, right??
Things will be perfectly fine.. dont worry..

Aakhir Aish mein tera genes hain bhai... mast rahegi, khoob hazar saal jeeyegi aur tereko sar dard degi apne naughty kaamon se...
And pls post a pic of hers when u can take one... I cant wait to see baby Aish.. (Seriously no exaggeration here.. I just love kids!!!)..:)

GuNs said...

Wish the little kid all the best. You know what, babies have a different psychology. You know one's going to live when you see one. Don't you worry.

Came here from the link on Nirwa's blogroll.

-PeAcE
--WiTh
---GuNs

P.S.: LOL to Fanaa. Yash Chopra is such a @#$$. He just makes idiots out of the audience by repeating stories told hundreds of times and just packages them differently.

Sayesha said...

#Everyone,
Just wanna thank you guys for all your wishes... Aish is well on her way to recovery now, and this has just made me believe in the power of collective wishes :)