Hush a Bye Baby

Episode 1

1

– You have reached the Mumbai Police Helpline–

– Fuck! It's a machine!

– Please press–

– No, listen! I can't do that. Please, if someone is listening, I need help. You have to come in the next thirty minutes. Otherwise it'll be too late.

– You have not entered any number. To hear the options again, press star. Else, wait for assistance. Your call is important–

Click.

***

Topic: Thinking about the fragile male

We spend a lot of time talking about what is natural and unnatural here. So I was struck by something – perhaps all the patriarchal male posturing comes from a deep-seated, reptilian knowledge that men are weaker. Because they are. I don't mean psychologically, but physically and naturally. Here's something that doesn't get talked about much: biologically speaking, the female has all the advantages. It's only when society comes into play that women and girls become weaker.

Let me explain.

At the stage of conception, usually, there are more male embryos than female embryos, but research has shown the male embryo is more delicate than the female. It's at greater risk of death and damage from pretty much every disaster that can strike an embryo – brain damage, congenital deformities, premature births, cerebral palsy, even stillbirth. All these happen more to male embryos naturally than they do to female embryos. Even if the embryo is completely normal and healthy, when it is born, there's a difference between newborn girls and boys. Newborn girls are the physiological equivalent of a four- to six-week-old boy.

What I'm trying to point out here are two things: when people kill that newborn girl, they've got to work much, much harder than they would have to in order to get rid of a boy. Because a girl is born stronger, better developed, more likely to fight and survive. Two: boys are just not as resilient as girls, naturally. Girls and women are made weaker as they grow older, by society. Because patriarchy works very, very hard to make up for the natural advantage that a girl is born with. So for all that society does to girls and women, let's not forget that the female is built to survive. That's what Nature has willed.

***

'Hello everyone, it's 11.30 p.m. and you're listening to Andar Ki Baat with Dr Rai on Mumbai's favourite radio channel 98.5 FM. I'm your host Karishma, and Dr Nandita Rai, our favourite lady doctor, is here with me in the studio to answer your questions. Hey Nandita!'

'Hello Karishma. Hello to all our listeners.'

'If you want to ask Nandita a question, we'll be taking a couple of phone calls later in the show. You know the number: 9822336666. Give us a call, and if it's your lucky night, you can talk to Nandita, one on one.'

'You always make it sound like it's a boxing match. One on one!'

'Nandita, with you in the ring, it's way more fun than a boxing match. Shall we get started? We've a lot of questions to get through.'

'Bring it on.'

'So, as always, apologies to those of you whose emailed questions we aren't able to answer on the show. There are just too many emails coming in for us to read out each and every one, but please do keep writing in.'

'And if you're desperate to get an answer, make an appointment with me at my clinic. If you google me, you'll get my website which has my contact details.'