TANYA COMES HOME
Thus it was that Anil and Shweta decided to adopt a girl child. Both were very socially conscious and they were fortunate to have their respective families' support.
It was the start of a long, excruciating wait and endless encounters with bureaucracy.
Firstly they had to go to an adoption agency and fill in endless forms with numerous columns pertaining to the minutest of their personal and family details. But then who ever said, bringing a child home is an easy process, irrespective of whether it is a biological child or an adopted one? After satisfying themselves that the potential parents were suitable on the face of it, the officials arrived at their place to interview other family members. It was essential for them to check out what kind of a family they were dealing with and whether the child would be welcome in their home. The interview went on for approximately half an hour. Then the officials went to counter check certain details about the family from a couple of neighbours, whom Anil and Shweta had named as references.
Next came the more crucial part, where Anil and Shweta had to give their specifications about the child they would like to adopt. These were recorded, but did not automatically guarantee that they would get a child satisfying all their preferences. Now came the really agonizing part of the wait. Both Anil and Shweta would sit and spend endless hours planning all that they would do with their child, what they would name her, which school she would go to and so on. Their parents would exchange amused looks, which would sometimes reflect a certain anxiety, wondering what would happen if things did not quite go just the way the youngsters had planned. Would they be able to deal with any more disappointments than what they had already been through? But they would just smile at Anil and Shweta in order to boost their confidence.
Days changed to weeks, weeks to months. Finally after 10 months, they got a call from the agency, stating that a child had been found for them and would they please come over next Tuesday to see her? Anil and Shweta's excitement knew no bounds. Every day and every night stretched endlessly and the wait could now only be described as excruciating. They had waited for 10 long months, but Tuesday seemed an age away.
Tuesday dawned bright and beautiful. Anil and Shweta were awake long before sunrise. Rather, one could say they had hardly slept. They were due to report at the agency by 11 a.m. Quite predictably they arrived around half an hour early. They paced up and down the waiting room and kept checking their watches and also the clock on the wall. At around 11.15 a.m. a peon came and signalled to them to go into the office. The officer in charge welcomed them in with a broad smile. What a contrast it was to all those previous occasions when they had dealt with all those stern looking, unfriiendly beaurocrats. The officer signalled the assistant to go and bring in the child. Both sat there holding their breaths and each other's hand. Eventually a child was brought in. Both Anil and Shweta looked up at her. There she was, a chubby baby, 6 months of age, with a mouth like a rosebud and huge dark eyes on her round face. Oh, didn't she just look gorgeous with those sweeping eyelashes and curly mop of hair? Shweta's eyes welled with tears. She held out her hands to the child, and as if on cue, as if they had known each other all along the child jumped into Shweta's arms. Shweta could not stop herself from hugging the child tight and burying her face into the little bundle. All those years of waiting and agonizing just melted away and here she was, holding her very own baby. Anil looked on impassively and reached out awkwardly to touch her.
After completing some more formalities, the family of 3 - father, mother and child left to go home. It was a strange feeling - one of being complete and a real family at last. They arrived home to a rousing welcome. Grandpa and Grandma had decorated the house and welcomed home little Tanya with a traditional "aarti". There was a lot of celebration that day, and nobody could bring themselves to get on with any work. Everyone wanted to spend time with Tanya. She had finally arrived home.
It was the start of a long, excruciating wait and endless encounters with bureaucracy.
Firstly they had to go to an adoption agency and fill in endless forms with numerous columns pertaining to the minutest of their personal and family details. But then who ever said, bringing a child home is an easy process, irrespective of whether it is a biological child or an adopted one? After satisfying themselves that the potential parents were suitable on the face of it, the officials arrived at their place to interview other family members. It was essential for them to check out what kind of a family they were dealing with and whether the child would be welcome in their home. The interview went on for approximately half an hour. Then the officials went to counter check certain details about the family from a couple of neighbours, whom Anil and Shweta had named as references.
Next came the more crucial part, where Anil and Shweta had to give their specifications about the child they would like to adopt. These were recorded, but did not automatically guarantee that they would get a child satisfying all their preferences. Now came the really agonizing part of the wait. Both Anil and Shweta would sit and spend endless hours planning all that they would do with their child, what they would name her, which school she would go to and so on. Their parents would exchange amused looks, which would sometimes reflect a certain anxiety, wondering what would happen if things did not quite go just the way the youngsters had planned. Would they be able to deal with any more disappointments than what they had already been through? But they would just smile at Anil and Shweta in order to boost their confidence.
Days changed to weeks, weeks to months. Finally after 10 months, they got a call from the agency, stating that a child had been found for them and would they please come over next Tuesday to see her? Anil and Shweta's excitement knew no bounds. Every day and every night stretched endlessly and the wait could now only be described as excruciating. They had waited for 10 long months, but Tuesday seemed an age away.
Tuesday dawned bright and beautiful. Anil and Shweta were awake long before sunrise. Rather, one could say they had hardly slept. They were due to report at the agency by 11 a.m. Quite predictably they arrived around half an hour early. They paced up and down the waiting room and kept checking their watches and also the clock on the wall. At around 11.15 a.m. a peon came and signalled to them to go into the office. The officer in charge welcomed them in with a broad smile. What a contrast it was to all those previous occasions when they had dealt with all those stern looking, unfriiendly beaurocrats. The officer signalled the assistant to go and bring in the child. Both sat there holding their breaths and each other's hand. Eventually a child was brought in. Both Anil and Shweta looked up at her. There she was, a chubby baby, 6 months of age, with a mouth like a rosebud and huge dark eyes on her round face. Oh, didn't she just look gorgeous with those sweeping eyelashes and curly mop of hair? Shweta's eyes welled with tears. She held out her hands to the child, and as if on cue, as if they had known each other all along the child jumped into Shweta's arms. Shweta could not stop herself from hugging the child tight and burying her face into the little bundle. All those years of waiting and agonizing just melted away and here she was, holding her very own baby. Anil looked on impassively and reached out awkwardly to touch her.
After completing some more formalities, the family of 3 - father, mother and child left to go home. It was a strange feeling - one of being complete and a real family at last. They arrived home to a rousing welcome. Grandpa and Grandma had decorated the house and welcomed home little Tanya with a traditional "aarti". There was a lot of celebration that day, and nobody could bring themselves to get on with any work. Everyone wanted to spend time with Tanya. She had finally arrived home.
No comments:
Post a Comment