‘OUCH,’ the baby inside my tummy kicked hard. The pain, however, was so soothing. The feeling of a life kicking inside the tummy, I suppose, is the most exciting for a mother.
It was my baby shower. Guests poured in, and Amma’s complete medical fraternity was present.
“Lucky you,” my friends nudged me playfully. “Your Mother-in-Law is a gynaecologist; what more do you need? Utmost care is always next to you.”
They were correct. My mother-in-law, whom I addressed as Amma, had lovingly taken care of every need of mine from the day I conceived.
The first delivery of a girl generally takes place at her maternal house. Still, when my parents broached the topic of consulting an astrologer for an auspicious day after the baby shower to take me home, my mother-in-law did not agree.
She was justified in many ways. She had registered my name with the hospital where she worked as the chief gynaecologist. My mother-in-law, I knew would be the best person to handle my delivery.
So here I was at my in-law’s place, waiting for the little one to see the light of the world.
Taking leave after the baby shower, my mother’s eyes glistened with unshed tears. I knew she missed an opportunity to nurse a daughter during her delivery. I assured her that I will be fine and under the care of my mother-in-law everything will be good.
“You look exhausted,” My husband, Ganesh, said, stroking my bulging tummy when he came to our room after sending all the guests. “Has the junior been troubling you?” He laughed. He had been addressing the kid as ‘junior,’ saying that it would be a boy resembling him.
“No, I am good. It is just that the presence of so many guests became overwhelming after a certain period.” My eyelids drooped even as I talked with Ganesh, and I was unaware when I was in a deep slumber.
‘Hey, how does it feel to be expecting a baby soon? You are excited, right?’ Someone whispered into my ears. The mention of the baby involuntarily brought a smile to my lips.
‘Don’t rejoice yet,’ the whisper suddenly turned harsh. ‘Today was your baby shower. You still have eight weeks to go before the child sees the light of the world. Anything can happen, you see.’ I looked here and there to see the source of this whisper, and there stood a figure covered from top to toe in funny attire, with a face tactfully hidden behind a bunch of unruly hair.
Before I could amass the courage and strength to confront it, the figure took out a sharp knife and menacingly began brandishing it toward my tummy.
I got up with a start! Sweat broke even in the sophisticated AC room, and I shivered in awe. Lying beside me, Ganesh was snoring peacefully. I debated whether I should wake him up and tell him about this nightmare, but I voted otherwise. Knowing his carefree disposition, I was sure he would brush it aside as frivolous, but the dream perturbed me. Why would this kind of nightmare surface on the day of the baby shower? It was intriguing. It rang a premonition. Was it the beginning of a long, long nightmare?
Sleep eluded me for the rest of the night. In the eerie darkness, I feared shutting my eyes lest the same figure surfaces in my dreams.
When I went to the kitchen early in the morning Amma asked me if I would like to have coffee or Horlicks.
Hot coffee I felt would be ideal to soothe my frayed nerves. I contemplated discussing the nightmare with Amma, but she was too busy to be disturbed. Her mornings were always packed. Appa dropped her at the hospital by 8 a.m. en route to his office. She would be home by 3 p.m. Her visit to the hospital then would be as per delivery cases.
I decided not to let Amma know anything about the nightmare. Maybe the nightmare was nothing to brood so deeply into. I was getting worried for no reason.
The night’s sleep was insufficient, and I felt drained. Taking a short break from work around 11a.m, I closed my eyes to catch up on some sleep. The figure was there again. With the same attire and the same messy hair, it let out an evil laugh.
‘How would you feel if the baby is killed in your womb, eh?’ The figure approached me. I frantically wanted to turn back and run, but my legs were numb. It was very near to me now. Suddenly, a wind blew, and the messy hair of the figure moved from its face.
I got up with a shriek. Thankfully, no one heard me.
After the maid left, I was alone at home. Ganesh had gone to the office, and I worked from home.
My body shivered in sheer fright. To see a dream of this sort again was not a pleasant experience. Why was I feeling threatened? Was some harm going to befall my kid?
As the night drew closer, my heart began to beat faster. Would the same appalling dream come again?
I must have looked pale; my mother-in-law keenly eyed me. She checked my blood pressure and other parameters. I was worried that the weird dream might have escalated my blood pressure, but thankfully, it hadn’t.
I went to bed with an uneasy feeling, and my fear consolidated as the figure approached me again in my dreams. It was a female, beyond doubt. This time, her hair was done in a decent coiffeur. I could vouch she was not from this world. Her countenance gave me a chill down the spine. Her eyebrows were thick and dense. Her lips looked parched, punctuated with cracks and fissures. The nefarious laughter that she let out made my blood cold. Suddenly, she unbuttoned the shabby cloak that she was wearing, and from her bulging tummy, a newborn child was half dangling with blood smeared all over.
Petrified of perceiving this, I retraced my steps, and I did not notice there was a cliff right behind me!
The nightmare abruptly ended. I got up to see my pillow and sheet drenched in sweat. It was 6:30 a.m.; Ganesh was not on his bed. My legs felt wobbly, and my heart was beating fast. ‘Morning dreams always come true.’ My grandmother’s words reverberated in my years adding to my agony.
I had made up my mind to open up and discuss this nightmare with my mother. Something didn’t seem fine. The terrifying dream has been repeating after the baby shower.
Trying to look calm, I moved around casually till everyone left for their respective work. I patiently waited for the maid to go to make a call to my mother. The maid was a gossipmonger and loved eavesdropping.
My mother had her usual queries about my health, my nausea, and my medicines. It was evident that she felt like a debarred person from this pregnancy and childbirth, but there was little I could do to alleviate her distress.
“Mom,” I said after a while. “I need to tell you something.”
She heard my predicament, and spoke soothing words and promised to go to the temple and perform some puja. “I will get the bibhutti for you and a talisman.” Her voice told me she was worried.
I had several cups of coffee to avoid a siesta. I knew it wasn’t good for my health, but I didn’t want to fall asleep.
By evening, I had a splitting headache, and some whispers kept ringing in my ears, though the words were inexplicable.
Amma disapproved of the bhibutti and the talisman my mother brought in the evening. I was left with no choice other than opening up to my mother-in-law, and tell her about the nightmares.
I noticed that Amma’s face turned from pale to paler, and then a terrified look on her face told me all was not fine. With a wave of her hand, she gestured for my mother to tie the talisman around my wrist and apply the bhibutti.
“Be in my room tonight with me,” My mother-in-law’s voice quivered. She gestured to Appa to sleep in the guest room for the night.
I was overcome with fatigue and went to sleep no sooner than I put my head on the pillow. I didn’t see the figure in my dreams, but a voice that must have been hers whispered into my ears, ‘People are trying to protect you. I had no one to protect me.‘ Then she let out a terrific wail that had me cower in fright. I got up with a start and was bemused to see Amma sitting upright on the chair, not sleeping. It was 2 a.m.
She asked me if I had had the same nightmare. I told her what I heard in a whisper. The colour on her face changed.
“Try to get some sleep. We have an ultrasound at 8 a.m.” Amma tried to be casual, but her expressions and voice betrayed her.
I couldn’t keep myself awake for long. I must have fallen asleep. When I opened my eyes, Ganesh was sitting beside me. He inquired if I slept well or was disturbed by the nightmare. Appa too entered the room with similar apprehensions.
Suddenly, everyone inquiring about the nightmare without brushing it as frivolous stirred doubt in my mind.
Ina while as I approached the kitchen, I overheard Amma, telling Appa that Karma was playing its role.
“What do we do now?” Appa spoke in his baritone voice. “Shhh!” Amma hushed him. “First, let me take Sowmya to the hospital today for her ultrasound. The baby is fine, but I don’t know why an earlier episode is surfacing as a nightmare in her life. It isn’t very comforting. I have made a mistake, but how do I redeem it?”
It would be an understatement to say that the words sounded so messy. However, I surmised that the nightmares were related to an earlier event.
I was the one affected by what Amma called Karma. I needed to know.
Amassing the necessary courage, I confronted my mother-in-law, saying I had heard her conversation with Appa.
She vehemently denied it initially but eventually broke into tears and unravelled the tale.
“A young girl named Suchitra had come to my hospital a few years ago. She was pregnant with an illegitimate child. Suchitra was adamant about giving birth to the child, though her lover, a brat from a wealthy family, had refused to accept her. When she was in her late 20th week of pregnancy, the boy’s family approached me, saying that Suchitra was threatening to expose them.” Amma took a deep breath.
“The boy’s father urged me to abort the child. He said, ‘It would be a blemish on my son and our family’s reputation will be at stake if relatives and my business partners come to know about his illegitimate child. We can accept the girl as our daughter-in-law without the kid’.”
Amma gulped nervously what seemed like a huge lump of saliva. She spoke in a quivering tone.
“I objected stating that abortion at this stage is very precarious, but the boy’s father, being an astute businessman, played with words shrewdly, and convinced me that nothing would go wrong. When I still showed reluctance the man played his cards strategically, and, and…………,” Amma began whimpering. “And what?” I asked, not able to contain my anxiety. “Offered me reasonable compensation. The wads of currency notes blinded my eyes, and I performed the all-risky operation on the girl citing some complications. Since I head the gynaecology department, it became easier for me to manipulate things in my favour, knowing well she had no one to fight for.” Amma broke down, holding my shoulders, which had gone numb.
“Suchitra trusted me but seeing the parents and the boy who had ruined her life standing outside the operation theatre, she probably guessed that something was amiss. But it was too late. She was already under the influence of epidural to have any energy to retaliate.”
“What happened to Suchitra?” I asked even though I knew the answer. The girl was the same figure that appeared in my dreams. Amma had snatched her child around the same time I had my baby shower. Suchitra too might have had a baby shower if the treacherous boy had accepted her or if she had a family. Amma should not have looked through the nefarious intentions of the boy’s family. They wanted the girl wiped from their path and shrewdly used my mother-in-law as a pawn. Money had put a veil on Amma’s sense of discernment. It’s deplorable for a lady in a noble profession to have behaved thus!
“Does Ganesh know about this?” I asked, half hoping she would shake her head, but her silence and cringing gave me the answer. Suddenly, the luxury that surrounded me became more like a liability. The expensive curtains, the extravagant sofa set, and the ultra-modern upholstery all began mocking me. Even the MBA degree that my husband earned from a foreign university was probably obtained with the alms thrown by the father of that brat who cheated on Suchitra.
I refused to accompany Amma to the hospital for the ultrasound. She pleaded with me and begged pardon, but I wasn’t the right person from whom she had to seek a pardon.
Late afternoon, I took a cab to the local police station.
“Take your seat, madam.” Looking at my bulging tummy, a lady inspector immediately offered me a chair. “What can I do for you?” She asked.
“I need to register a complaint against an entire family for the murder of a girl named Suchitra and her child a few years ago. More people involved in this heinous crime will be exposed once the investigation starts.” I said, each word ringing clearly.
The inspector wanted to know more in detail. She patiently heard me out. My confidence made the inspector pull out a complaint book immediately. She jotted down my complaint, assuring me of prompt action.
‘This is the only way I can serve justice to you, Suchitra,’ I whispered in the air.
Suchitra must have heard it, for the nightmares ceased.
I slept peacefully in my parents’ home.
Author’s Note: With due respect to the medical faculty, the author would like to state that the story is a pure work of fiction. Names used are all fictitious. Any resemblance to people living or dead is purely coincidental and unintentional.
This Story was published in Tell Me Your Story Project 14.