I got a frantic call from one of my preggie friends (let's call her 'S')...I present the conversation below:
S (really flustered): 'Yaar do you know any place where I can get some good posters?'
Me (amused): 'Kaun se hero ka chahiye hai? (which actor's poster do you want?)'
S (irritated): 'yahaan hum pareshaan ho rahe hain aur tumhe mazaak soojh raha hai....please help me find some good posters of cute babies'
Me (still amused): 'arre yaar...you are going to have a baby of your own...why do you need posters?'
At this point, S decided that she had to tell me the story from the beginning to make me understand the gravity of the situation. Her mother had told her about a month ago (on phone) to put up some posters of cute babies on all the walls of her room...so that they could be seen from every position (lying, sitting, waking up etc) and S had apparently convinced her mom that her room had been converted into an exhibition of cute babies...Now her mom was going to visit in person and S needed to cover up her lies and get at least 1-2 baby posters!! So the conversation continues:
Me: 'aaaaaaaah!! why did you lie to aunty?'
S: 'Would you like to cover all the four walls of your room with baby posters?'
Me (shuddering at the possibility and avoiding to answer): 'Actually........why are cute baby posters soooooo important?'
S (with her patience completely lost): 'arre my mom was saying that if you keep looking at beautiful children and cute babies when you're pregnant, your baby will also be cute'
Me (screaming): 'No!!!!!!!'
S (brimming with satisfaction at being understood at last): 'Yes!!!...and the problem is that my mom firmly believes in this theory!! so will you please stop talking and help me get a few posters....she's arriving tonight'
Me (laughing): 'S, didn't you explain to aunty that heredity also plays a small role...and that you and cuteness are opposite things so if you consider the genetics of the situation...(pause)...haan but R is quite cute so there is still a possibility of your baby inheriting some cuteness from him (referring to her husband)!!
S (fuming): will you stop your nonsense (bakwaas band karo) and help me get some posters...uff!!
So after this conversation, both of us and our husbands and a few more friends began our search for baby posters (me from my house - remember doc advised rest - thank God or who-so-ever for internet)...First we looked for 'Archies' or 'Hallmark' shops which used to be the best place for getting cards/posters/gifts when we were teenagers. We were shocked to find that these shops have almost but disappeared (they are now online!!). One or two that remain on ground have stocked a lot of useless gifts like show-pieces...and very few cards (I guess everybody wishes each other on Facebook nowadays...who needs paper cards?)...and no posters (as you have your desktop background that you can change whenever you want)!!! So, no luck there...
We thought of getting poster size prints of some Anne Geddes baby photos (which in my opinion are beautiful!!)...but that was too expensive and we did not get any high resolution photo on the internet....plus we had no time to order through the internet!!
Finally...somebody found two posters in Sarojini Nagar with colour enhanced green and blue backgrounds behind the babies (very very ghati posters like the ones you get in a mela)...but it was already evening and we had to get S's room ready....So I suggested that they buy a roll of paper tape that doesn't leave any marks on the wall and S could easily take off the posters after aunty's visit!!
Finally aunty arrived and saw the posters and remarked, 'only two posters!!' She had no problem with the jarring colours in the background and the poor quality of the posters as long as the babies were 'cute'...My friend thought it was time to put her foot down and said that two posters were enough to impart sufficient cuteness to her baby!!! Aunty did not argue further but said she'll try and get some more posters in her next visit!!!
Phew!!! All's well that ends well!!
So, you must be thinking what a nice story with a good ending...but this is not the end....The day after this fiasco...I called up my Ma to share this humorous situation...but before I could reach the really funny part, she literally jumped at aunty's idea of 'pregnant women looking at posters of cute babies'...and said 'I think that's a brilliant idea...you also get some posters and put them up...do this immediately!!!'
P.S: So now, when aunty will leave, S will send the posters and paper tape to my house...so that I can put them up when my mom visits next week...
P.P.S: What if they visit at the same time? What if S's mom wishes to come and see me or my mom vice versa?
(S got this brilliant idea of getting her and her husband's childhood photos enlarged into poster size- frame them and put them up...but probably aunty feels that their cuteness quotient is a little low...as compared to poster babies- so she is sending four more posters by courier - expected anytime now!!)
another beautiful Anne Geddes baby poster:
I don't know who said this: 'You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can't fool MOM'...but s/he was probably right...S and I should get some good quality posters as our mothers are not going to be fooled easily!!!
ReplyDeleteI think it is a smart idea to share the posters.
ReplyDeleteIf the cute baby theory works we will have the first
twins of the world born from different mothers !!
I think anonymous's idea is good!! So I'll stick to sharing the posters!!!
ReplyDeletedon't know if it is because of this reason or some other..(too much of love!! for my hubby?? )but my mann is exact replica of his father .even the shape of his fingers..i kept kamal's photo all the time with me..ofcourse his childhood pic..
ReplyDeleteI was on bedrest almost for 6-7 months out of my 9 month ordeal... so kept reading books and kamal's pic was my bookmark!!
Your hard luck, Diwali time is not around otherwise you could get a plenty of CUTE baby posters everywhere... or wait.. it is on the way.. u still have the chance. Till that time work out with shared posters. but I am confused how will the baby look if two different posters are seen at different stages???
ReplyDeletehmmm now I understand why some people say that there r 7 people in this whole world who can exactly look like you,I think the mommies of all these babies must have looked at the same poster ;)
ReplyDeleteIncredible! I thought this happened only in Hindi movies!! :)
ReplyDeleteI can actually visualize you, Kanak, having this fervent conversation with "S" :-).
ReplyDeleteHowever, my only concern is.....are the poster kids of the Indian origin or phoreners?
Coz, God forbid, if you guys have "white babies", be prepared to answer your Mommas' queries...you know what I mean! ;-)
Tanu....you always hit the nail right on the head!! as if you were here!! S has a poster of a Chinese baby...like other Chinese products invading Indian markets nowadays, babies in posters are also Chinese!!!
ReplyDeleteWell I was kinda surprised while reading thro the article...you guys were more concerned with the flashy background and faded, not-so-good print material of the poster, least concerned about the actual product. Honey, you need to focus on the "nasl" you guys are going to produce :-)
ReplyDeleteAnd knowing S, she has always been an ardent follower of "sasta ewam tikau", so it hardly comes as a surprise to me for her getting a Chinese poster (now just dont tell me she got it from Chandini Chowk for Heaven's Sake!)
This is true.When i was pregnant my mother in law pasted a picture of bal gopal so that i can see that picture every day and deliver a baby boy.
ReplyDeleteI did the shopping for my wife's kiddy panorama.. and could not come across a single poster that had an Indian kid on it..so I bought her different races in the hope of having a baby thats truly a global citizen..
ReplyDeleteFortunately, my wife kept looking at mine and her childhood pics and our princess has taken on the better features from both of us.
The interesting discussion was about whether its a boy or girl (since in India they don't tell). Several reasons... from the shape of the tummy to the kind of nausea were attributed to the gender of the baby..
Write something on that Kanak!
very nice ....
ReplyDeletei don't think seeing bal gopal or doing any kind of pooja help anyone get a baby boy but you cannot make them understand.When i was prego people used to give me so many advices but i did what i wanted...not the traditional way, i ate whatever i liked,i did lots of yoga,we used go to visit places till my last weeks and i went to see AR Rahman's concert when i was more then seven months prego.Though it doesn't sound nice but sometime our elders like mother and mother in laws are not right every time.some people say don't eat food which had more water in it but we should eat more food like that which helps to take out unwanted thing from our body.so like that there are so many things that our elders and friends says are totally opposite.So do the best for your baby...read more,,try to learn the new things and let others know.Healthy baby what we want boy or girl.
ReplyDeleteJust had this conversation with my mom!! Gave her answers to the best of my capability that we are not going to put posters of blonde babies and it doesn't matter blah blah.. but finally gave up and started doubting my own understanding. Bumped into your blog while googling about why to put posters of babies while being pregnant.. So did it have any impact on S-R baby? :) :)
ReplyDeletePlease change background it hurts the eye...interesting narration
ReplyDeletePlease change background it hurts the eye...interesting narration
ReplyDelete