FF: The Secret Desires (Tere Bin, Meerasim)

Part 26: Patience

"Socio-political law?" Murtasim pulled back to face his wife and Meerab nodded with a pout.... "But didn't they just pass a bill recently?" he questioned, still holding her in his arms... "Yes they did and it still sucks.... the entitlement is not close to bare minimum, Murtasim" she said with sadness.... "What is your take on it?" He allocated her with his undivided attention....

Shuffling a little on his lap without thinking of the impact on her husband, Meerab comfortably settled herself on the spot before continuing, "a working woman, who go through a lot of changes both physically and mentally for 9 months and then enter the world of motherhood, where she has to take over various responsibilities starting from feeding the baby every 2 to 4 hours to changing diapers, is allocated only 6 months of timeframe?....there are many factors that need to be taken into consideration before coming up with such a random number like 6 months" Meerab sighed...

"You know, it is recommended that a baby is breastfed for at least 6 months for their physical and cognitive development.... and by the time she starts the transition, you are expected to return to your work life?....I mean where is the transition period? ...." She tried to make a point as Murtasim listened to her attentively....

"6-12 months is the crucial stage of growth for infants, during this period they want to stay close to their mothers as they develop emotional regulation skills ... and start to feel anxiety at the absence of their mothers.... So, it is recommended that after 6 months, mothers use another couple of months as a transition period to allow their children to gradually get accustomed to the absence of their mothers...this way when the mothers are away for 9 hours a day, the kids don't feel unloved or abandoned" she explained...

"And I did not even mention about the postpartum depression, where the mother goes through a hell lot of emotional turmoil....they feel guilty, worthless, incompetent and start to believe that they are not meant to be mothers.... This is one of the major reasons why many working women sacrifice their ambition and career because they fail to develop that sense of peace in their mind where they know that their kids are safe and happy at home while they are away helping the big corporations make money...." Meerab summarized....

"The law of labor is lacking in this... they should allow at least 12 months in order for both mother and the child to get accustomed to the change in routines" she kept her gaze low.... "It's not easy to be a parent, especially for mothers" Meerab almost whispered to herself as she absentmindedly played with the buttons of his kurta ....this was the side of Meerab that he always found endearing....thinking about the changes in the social norms for equality and development .... "I'm sure, it's not.... and I've witnessed it closely" when Meerab looked up to meet his gaze and he gave her a half smile and suddenly her heart fluttered at his contagious smile...

"I have seen api going through a lot of emotional and mental breakdown....yes, we have a handful of housemaids, caretakers and experienced family members but a mother is a mother, and she is a mother, for the first 3 months she would not let anyone carry Emad without her supervision...and guess what? we had a timeline too, not more than 10 mins per person" He rolled his eyes... "Aww" she sympathized with a chuckled and he took the opportunity to steal a peck from her pouty lips.... "and without Sahil Bhai around, it must have been tough for her, no?.... when did he leave for the training?" Meerab asked.... "when Emad was about 4 months" he answered while removing the lazy strands away from her temple to tuck them behind her ear....

"Poor api" Meerab's heart went out for the lady who had been nothing but a kind and caring soul towards her.... there was other aspects of pregnancy that involved getting back into an intimate relationship with your partner and Meerab chose to keep quiet about it as she did not find it wise to discuss his sister's physical needs for any reason.... "I know ...but in all that, why did you want to swear at some clowns in your class?" Murtasim questioned as he reminded her about the source of her anger....