Page 158 - Kolaj Sharodiya Review Edition

Destined

Suvayu Pal

“Will she never be able to talk?” she couldn’t hide her fears.

“Why not Mrs Sharma, don’t be so negative”, doctor’s voice was full of hope.

“…but she is already one”, she put forward her doubts.

“She is absolutely fine Mrs Sharma. Maybe she is not getting to hear much at home, which is delaying her speech.”

Mr and Mrs Sharma moved to Mumbai around three years back. About a year ago they got the third member of the house, their only daughter Hanshita. Hanshita was just like
any other girl of her age, a small packet of infinite energy. All day long she used to play with her mother, after her father had left for office. She had but this one problem which
bothered both Mr and Mrs Sharma; she wouldn’t utter a single word except ‘Maa’. With passing days, their worries started to grow more and more. They finally decided to
consult a doctor after Hanshita had her very first birthday celebration. Mr Sharma went to the reception to check in for the appointment.

“What did she say?” asked Mrs Sharma in a soft tone, “When is the doctor going to see us?”

“She asked us to wait for a few minutes; he is busy with a patient.”

Hanshita was not able to understand any of these. She was sitting beside her mother on the metal chair, swinging her legs and wondering what was happening. Finally it was
the time to meet the doctor. “Let’s go Hanshita”, said her mother. The chair was a bit too high for her age and it took a great effort for her to come down; of course she had to
get help from her mother. Holding her mother’s fingers, she started to follow them to an unknown place. On the way she was looking at everything and might have had a lot of
questions in her mind but she couldn’t ask. Dr Khan checked Hanshita for any abnormalities and assured that she was perfectly fine. Mr and Mrs Sharma still were worried as
their daughter was old enough to utter more than just a word. Normally a child learns to speak about twelve to fourteen words at least, by the time they are ten to fourteen
months old. Hanshita could speak only one by that age. Dr Khan asked Mr and Mrs Sharma to talk more with her; as she listens to different sounds, so she could reciprocate
those. They were a family of three and most of the time of the day, Mr Sharma used to be busy with his office and work. Hence Mrs Sharma had to solely take the responsibility
of it.

All day long Mrs Sharma used to talk to her, read her stories and sing to her. Even with all the efforts of her, something was lacking. In this fast paced world, most of the families
are now “Nuclear Families”. The concept of living together perished much ago from the west and east too was catching up. To survive in this cosmopolitan world people have
to search for jobs which paid better than the previous; this leads them to relocate to a region unknown, to people never met before, to a language not understandable, to a
cuisine never tasted and to a climate not accustomed to. Leaving the comfort and warmth of the family, they start their journey for that unknown place, on a route they have
never travelled before. In the midst of all these, the concept of joint family is becoming just a mere concept. People today can surely argue that it is better in concepts than in
reality but then again, Hanshita proved that our ancestors were not that wrong to be holding the concept so dear to their heart.