First Glance

He was sleeping quietly, until he was woken up by the painful groans of his mother. When he opened his eyes, he saw that his mother was crying and shouting in pain while holding her enlarged belly. His father got beside her and immediately tried to calm her down.

The boy couldn't understand what was going on, because it was new to him. In his four years experience about life, this was something new to him, something he was not aware about. But seeing his mother in pain, he immediately got up and stroked his mother's belly. Somehow, he was able to feel her pain. As if god heard his wished to lower the pain of his mother, his mother calmed down a bit. She smiled to him and said, "Karan, soon, you will have a brother or sister, whom you will be taking care of, just like you did now."

She smiled at him with evident pride, while Karan just smiled at her because he was waiting to become a brother.

Karan was soon left with his grandmother as his parents and grandfather rushed to the hospital. Karan was really disappointed that he was left alone. He kept on pleading, only to be ignored. He was still a child, and hospital is not an ideal place for children.

He was crying while isolating himself in the window pane, staring at the road to see his mother. Often, he would murmur, "I want to mummy. I want to go to her....I love her."

His grandmother somehow managed to get him out of the window pane. Then she made him sit on her lap and told her all kinds of fairy tales, moral stories and rhymes. Soon, he fell asleep, forgetting that he was crying so hard just a while ago.

When Karan woke up, the sunlight coming from the windows illuminated the entire room. He rubbed his eyes as he searched for the one person he was used to see first in the morning, his mother. But, he remembered that his mother was not there as he saw his grandmother sleeping peacefully beside him. He shook his grandmother with his soft and gentle hands, groaning, "Grandma, I am Hungry! I want mummy to feed me!"

When his grandmother woke up, she was surprised that she managed to wake up that much late. She hurriedly got up and checked her keypad phone. She sarcastically said, "Only 38 missed calls"

She dialed his son, waiting for the good news. He picked up as she said anxiously, "How did it go?"

He yawned and said, "It's still not here. We have to wait a little more. Mansi is doing fine. How is Karan?"

"Fine! He was crying when you left but I managed to make him forget about this."

He laughed lightly as he said, "Good. Tell him that he would be a brother sooner than he thinks!"

They both shared a laugh and ended their conversation.

Seconds seemed like minutes, minutes seemed like hours, as both of them waited. Karan's grandmother was worried about her daughter-in-law, whereas Karan was waiting for his mother to play with him like she usually does. After pouring some milk in a bowl full of chocos, Karan's grandmother went to perform a puja for Karan's mother. Meanwhile, Karan was eating his food with big spoonfuls. After all, it was his favorite breakfast. After he finished his breakfast, he tiptoed to his grandmother. He peeked into the prayer room to check out what his grandmother was doing. But to his misery, she was not there. He was about to tiptoe inside the room when a voice startled him from behind as it said, "Stop!"

He froze to his spot, not sure what to do next. One major difference of this innocent mind is that it still cannot think of lies. He turned around to find his grandmother standing with a basket full of flowers and some bronze vessels. She said, "How many times I have told you Karan, you should not enter the prayer room with dirty clothes and unwashed body."