What happens when the ultrasound room in a hospital is separated from the MRI by just a robust divider? You end up sharing the waiting area with numerous ladies-with baby bumps. And well, I joined the penguin parade(for reasons otherwise).
Now, my abdominal belt+ the waddle made my lady companion(the one seated next to me) presumptuous about my ‘condition’.
Questions in rapid fire from ‘ this and that’ to...…and the turning point at
Q3: Any symptoms of morning sickness?
(Dawn of realization: the lady had got it all wrong. But there was some humour to be jostled up here)
<Elusive and exaggerated reply: on the lines of the husband sleeping with a bedpan, by his side, just in case. Will the empathy turn to envy? Nothing cheeses off a woman(Indian) more, than the discovery that her comrade's better half is seemingly better> It did not stall her, though
<Let us skip this one>
Q5: Everything normal?
<what would bring about a twist in the tale? So, I answer “Triplets, you see!”>
Q6(with a look of awe and pity): First time? How old?
<Do I give her a math equation to crack to calculate my age? I let go, adding an additional half-a-decade to my age(37+5) for added ‘cheap thrills’.>
Q7(she just mouthed, the eyes widened in disbelief) :Howwww?
< Well, it was not that either of us were specially gifted women, like those from the Indian epics to invoke the Gods and become pregnant. Or, were we expecting a stork to do the job? Anyways, she had to be given an answer. So, I showed her a password-protected cartoon clip, on my phone, substantiating my stance>
“This is HOW”
Abashed, scandalized, with the look of one, who had encountered the ‘species’, her jaws would have dropped a notch . It revealed a cavity big enough to hole up a pocket. K.sutra book. Unfortunately, I did not carry one that would have been a ‘perfect’ climax for this drama.
Thankfully, she was called in, by which time, I was summoned to the MRI chamber.
(I entered with a suppressed giggle, that even a CT scan would never unravel the layers of hypocrisy, of the Indian mindset, when it comes to s*x)
