To be or not to be?

It was a cool January evening.. well as cool as it could be in Mumbai. 

The weather was pleasant, the breeze was nice and the Sun did not really make you reach for your sunglasses. You could walk on the street without the suffocating humidity that is a hallmark of any coastal city and that in itself was a big relief.

Aman and Maya were walking down the road leading to Versova beach. They stayed in an apartment close by and this was a regular weekend routine for them. Fridays were meant for partying with friends and Saturdays for finishing the pending chores but Sunday evenings were meant for just the two of them.

They had been married two years last December and had got into a comfortable space with each other by now. Work kept their weekdays occupied but they made sure they enjoyed the weekends to the hilt. Life was fun when you were young and earning well and did not have to think about owning a home or running around kids or any of the other worries that kept most young couples toiling in thankless jobs. They wanted to roam the world, spend their money on themselves and the families they already had rather than block it in real estate or exorbitant school donations that seemed to be the norm today.  

As they turned left into the short lane that led to the beach, Aman gave out a deep sigh of satisfaction - this was life as it should be. The Sun was low on the horizon and would soon start its descent into the Arabian Sea. The sky was turning into various shades of purple and red that only Maya could identify and people from different walks of life were enjoying the evening. 

He turned to look at her with a smile and she looked back with a question in her eyes. He shook his head and they kept on walking hand in hand onto the beach. The wind ruffled through their hair and the cool sand made their feet sink into it just enough to make the walk slow and languid. The waves tugged at their feet almost inviting them to enter but they maintained their distance from the shoreline since Maya was not too fond of the muddy water.

A brightly colored plastic ball splashed into the water right next to them throwing off some droplets on their clothes and Aman instinctively pulled Maya closer to keep her dry. They noticed the small chubby boy that came running to fetch his ball followed by a young woman who seemed to be his mother by the look of concern on her face. She grabbed hold of him swiftly before the oncoming waves could drench him and lifted him to her bosom in one swift motion. Her charge secure in her arms she walked back slowly to where her husband sat with a grin on his face and everything went back to the way it was before. The ball was forgotten for the time being perhaps because the child had got tired of playing with it.

Aman tugged at Maya's sleeve and gestured to her to sit down with him on one of the many rocks that littered the edge of the beach. They watched families taking joy rides in the horse carts, groups of youngsters clicking selfies, children making castles in the sand and some couples even making out on the rocks. Well it was nothing unusual for Mumbai and Aman looked at Maya and shrugged. 

Maya could read the thoughts in his mind. Theirs was a proper small town arranged marriage but the understanding that they had developed in the last two years of staying by themselves in a new city ensured that they could read each other's expressions by now. She squeezed his hand but did not smile. Her eyes went to the kid who was now busy with his small bucket and shovel. The father was helping him build the structure now while the mother watched with a smile on her face. 

Yes, it would be really nice to have moments like these but at what cost. 

She had heard many of her female friends say that their kids were the best things to happen to them but was a child really worth all the baggage that came with it? It was probably not so difficult for the man. After all his routine was not going to change too much but what about the woman?

The loss of work, the misshapen body that would only result in stretch marks at the end of the grueling nine months, the frustration because of the loss of intimacy between the two of them, the regular trips to the hospital, umpteen medicines and God forbid a cesarean to top it... who wanted all that!

Aman saw her face and squeezed her hand back in reassurance. He understood all the sacrifices that she would have to make and completely supported her decision. Hell he didn't think he was ready for the responsibility himself! It was one thing to play with someone else's kids for a bit but he knew raising a kid of your own was a completely different ball game. They had taken a conscious decision not to become like the other couples whose lives completely revolved around their children and who were frustrated with the effort to manage it all on their own. 

Maya had missed her periods last month and had done a preliminary at-home pregnancy test which had come out negative. They had breathed a sigh of relief and she was expecting things to go back to normal. No matter how cute or adorable children were you couldn't hide the fact that having a child of their own would change their life for all time to come. They were not ready for the responsibility of raising another life right now. 

But she had missed her periods again this month and had rushed to the gynecologist for an examination. The reports had come in the middle of their afternoon siesta and they had read them with a mounting dread - Maya was 8 weeks pregnant. They had not spoken about it since that time, preferring to not ruin the Sunday evening but the thoughts were swirling in both their minds. In spite of all their usual precautions, life, it seemed, had a mind of its own and it was threatening to shatter the nice little sand castle they had created for themselves. 

As the sun finally reached the horizon they looked at the scarlet sky each lost in their own thoughts. 

The brightly colored ball kept bobbing up and down on the waves.

To be a parent or not to be that was the question..



About the author:

Vineet Aggarwal is referred by many as a doctor by qualification, manager by profession and artist by temperament. He lives and works in Mumbai and is the author of popular online blogs dealing with scientific aspects of mythology as well as three books on mythological fiction.

Blogs: DECODE HINDU MYTHOLOGY - http://decodehindumythology.blogspot.com/

FRATERNITY AGAINST TERRORISM & EXTREMISM - http://fateinurhands.blogspot.in/

Books: VISHWAMITRA - http://amzn.to/1hMpa2C

THE LEGEND OF PARSHU-RAAM - http://amzn.to/2qIzw8S

BHARAT - THE MAN WHO BUILT A NATION - https://amzn.to/2BZTDYU