Mr. & M(r)s. Imperfects

His Childhood

Hi all! Thank you for your constant support! Just a disclaimer, I'm not an expert in the medical field, so I'm using some knowledge I collected and some assumptions to write about hypoglycemia and polyphagia. Please excuse me if I said anything wrong about these, thank you!
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March 16, 1993. Hyderabad, undivided Andhra Pradesh. Vasanthi went into the delivery ward, crying with labor pains. Her husband, Amarkant ("Amar") was waiting with tears coming out of his eyes and his feet tapping the ground. A loud voice of a baby came from the room with Vasanthi at 9:17 AM. The doctor comes out.

"Congratulations, it's a boy!"

Amar rushes into the room and sees the baby crying and cries himself. He comes out of the room and calls the pandit to clarify what name the newborn should be given. "Hello pandit saab, this is Amarkant. I just had a baby boy at 9:17 AM, what should his name be?"

"Hi Amar, congrats but sorry to say, he was born during a time period called Raahu, so I'd suggest that you get a puja done within the next six months. Also, letters 'D', 'V', and 'Y' are preferable for your boy. Good luck and congratulations once again!"

Amarkant put the phone back and thought for a second. "He will be fine after we do the puja, yeah."

He takes out a list of names he had for the boy and circles the names that match the letters.

- Dinesh
- Vishwa
- Viraj
- Yashwant

Amar smiles and goes into the room to see his child again. "Viraj. My raju (prince)!"

After two months, Viraj's puja ceremony was done. Amar was relieved. Since then, he was pampered like crazy.

Vasanthi's parents, both farmers, passed away due to suicide when she was in 6th grade, as they were unable to clear their debts after a drastic storm stole their crops. Vasanthi had always wanted to shower her love and fulfill the responsibility of being a mother to Viraj to the best of her ability.

Amar had a family history of high blood sugar levels and wanted Viraj to avoid sugar at all costs, which led to the most annoying of Viraj in the future.

Viraj turned 5, and he was double (more like "close to triple") the weight he should be. Concerned, Amar forced Viraj and Vasanthi to the doctor's office. Viraj was busy exploring the auto, while Vasanthi and Amar yelled at each and the autowala kept looking at them through the mirror.

"Ugh Amar, Viraj is absolutely fine! I've been feeding him well!"

"That's the point! You fed him way too well!"

"What should I do for that! Whenever I take the plate away, he calls me and asks 'Amma, can I have more food?' How could I not give him more food?"

"He's a kid! You're supposed to limit him Vasanthi!"

They reach Dr. Prakash's office, and the doctor checked Viraj and took his blood test. After seeing the results, the doctor concluded, "Your child had hypoglycemia, or a condition where he has a lower blood sugar level. That caused his overeating problem."

Amar whispered to Vasanthi, "See, I told you that you should control his eating habits."

Dr. Prakash, who overheard that conversation, replied, "Um, that's not right. Looking at his condition right now, he had a deficiency of other nutrients as well, which is why he wants to - no, has to eat more than usual. If you make him limit what he eats, it's going to affect his health big time. If he starts working out or use medication, he would want to eat even more."

Vasanthi, on the verge of crying, asks the doctor, "So that means-"

"His hypoglycemia condition can be cured if you add more carbs to his diet, but his polyphagia condition will stay with him for life."

Vasanthi dramatically runs out, wiping her tears. Viraj, "mumma's boy", follows Vasanthi to wipe her tears, and after thanking Dr. Prakash and catching an auto, Amar wipes the dust on the auto seat.

As Viraj grew up, everyone started laughing at the "fat kid" at school. At first he used to get angry, but with his mom's support, he stopped caring. At that age, Viraj didn't know that this condition would haunt him for almost the rest of his life.