12 August 2020 - The day my baby came home!

Before I reveal the details of the D Day, let me take you on a little mythological tour into the land of the Hindu gods, into the times of Lord Krishna - the eighth incarnation (avatar) of the Hindu god Vishnu. 

There's an interesting story on how Lord Krishna was born. The narrative and stories of Lord Krishna’s life are referred to as Krishna Leela. 

According to the tale, Krishna was born in the Yadava clan of Mathura to Queen Devaki and her husband, King Vasudeva.  

Devaki had a brother, Kansa, a tyrant, who had usurped the throne of Mathura from his father, the benevolent King Ugrasen. Kansa agreed to let Devaki get married to Yadava prince Vasudeva in the hopes of taking over the Yadava clan too.  

When Devaki was getting married, Kansa was told by fortune tellers that the eight child of Devaki would bring his end. Paranoid Kansa decided to kill Devaki but was stopped by Vasudev on the plea to hand each of their child to Kansa as soon as it was born. Kansa imprisoned Devaki and Vasudeva, and made sure that none of Devaki’s children survived. As soon as a child was born to Devaki, Kansa would smash the child’s head against the walls of the prison. 

However, on the night of Krishna’s birth, as soon as Krishna was born, a bright light filled the prison and Vasudeva was woken up by a divine voice that guided him to take Krishna across the Yamuna and leave him with his dear friend Nanda Gopal who's wife Yashoda had also given birth to a baby girl that night. Vasudeva secretly carried baby Krishna across the Yamuna river, and exchanged the babies. He headed back to the prison with the exchanged baby girl, who gave a loud cry as soon as she lay next to Devaki. The guards informed Kansa that Devaki’s eight child was finally born. 

Devaki begged Kansa not to kill the baby, she pleaded that the prophecy must have been wrong as her son was meant to bring the end of Kansa but to no avail. When Kansa tried to kill the exchanged baby, it transformed into Goddess Durga and warned him that his death had arrived in his kingdom, and would come back to punish Kansa for his sins. That Kansa would find no peace and keep thinking about his end, she said that she could kill him then and there, but Kansa’s end had to be timely, and then the goddess vanished. Relieved that all the offsprings had been killed/taken care of, Kansa finally released Devaki and Vasudev.  

Days later, news of Nanda Gopal and Yashoda’s son’s birth reached the kingdom, people were gushing about the unique twinkle in the child’s eyes, about how he was always happy and how his mere presence spread joy and cheer all around. Krishna grew up unaware of his destiny, far away from all the chaos of Mathura, in Gokul, with Nanda Baba and his wife Yashoda, as his foster parents.

Coincidently, the day Ayaan came home was Krishna Janamashtmi - anniversary of Lord Krishna's birth. I remember my father in law telling me that Ayaan was our Krishna. Similar to how Devaki had to go through tough times, I will have to bear the brunt too. And like Krishna grew up with many parents and care givers, Ayaan also will receive love from a lot of people, who will emerge as his care givers from time to time. 

His words stuck with me. Ayaan is really like my Krishna - he can slay girls with his killer smile, he loves his milk, and is beloved among his many NICU nurses, aunts, uncles, and nannies. He doesn't need us - his parents, rather many people have come forward from time to time, to help raise him from the skinny premie into the healthy baby he is today.