Shhh! Silence Please!

Shhh! don’t talk. Don’t even open your mouth while reading this. I can hear your breath. Baby has just gone to sleep. After a long time and much rocking she has finally closed her eyes to sleep.

There... I hear some clinging again. Ching, ching ching... click, and the door open. In came mom.

“I told you not to make any noise,” I scold her in a whisper.

“What did I do?” she asks me in a surprise.

“I told you not to make any noise. I’m putting her to sleep.”

“I did not make any noise."

“I can hear you walk loudly.”

“It was my anklet,” she explained.

“Then walk slowly on tip toe.”

“Ok, now you stop grumbling and give her to me. I will put her to sleep.”

With great delicacy I handed over Madhuram, my baby, to her. Just as I am stretching, bang! And in comes my father enquiring, “What’s the baby doing?” The baby gives a start and we calm it down.

“What did you do?” we ask my surprised father.

“What?” He asked still surprised.

“Why did you bang the door?”

“I did not bang the door. I closed it as usual,” he retorted

“But that woke up the baby. She was just going to doze off.”

“I just came to see the baby,” he justified.

“Only if she sleeps can we also do other work and take rest ourselves.”

“Fine, I will leave now. You carry on with her.”

“OK, but this time close the door really softly,” we command.

“OK,” he whispered and left obediently closing the door softly.

My mom again went on to make Madhuram sleep. Patting and rocking as she hummed to her. Her eyes were drowsy but she was not willing to go to sleep as yet.

Just then, tring tring... tring tring... the phone rings. The baby finds another reason not to go to sleep. Thankfully, dad picks the phone and handles it.

Again my mother concentrates to make the baby sleep. But alas, the clock rings this time. A musical is followed by the dongs. “We must disconnect the music first thing after the baby sleeps,” we both contemplate. Thankfully Madhuram seemed to have enjoyed the music, so the clock has not bothered her much.

But again after some time the door bell rings. We both are now irritated to the core. The baby’s eyes are now wide open, with no want of sleep. My father answers the door, but unfortunately, it is someone who wants to talk only and only to my mother. Dad softly opens the door of our room and signs my mother to come out. Annoyed, my mother again delicately hands over the baby to me and proceeds to send off the person at the door.

Again I am left alone with the baby. I rock her and sing to her to sleep. Her eyes are drowsy again. Thank God. Just then I feel my nose itchy. I twitch and rub my nose, but no good. It continues to itch and irritate.

Just then my mom comes in. Now I feel like sneezing. I brief her of the situation and ask her to immediately take the baby from me. “Go out and sneeze,” she commands. Again I hand her the baby.

As I rush outside, my itch increases. And as hold the handle to open the door, the itch has reached its peak and is ready to come out as a sneeze. In a hurry to reduce the noise pollution, I run out of the door but forget to leave the door softly.

Bang! Aaachhuuu! The door closes just as I sneeze too. A big sneeze it was! I feel relieved and the itch too has gone. A big smile is on my face. But this soon vanishes as I realize that I just banged the door. I feel hopeless. The image of my beaming baby runs past my eyes.

With a heavy heart I softly open the door of my room. I see my mom sitting gloomily with the equally irritated baby in her lap. She did not scold me. It just could not be helped.

We again got on with the task of making the baby sleep. I hope this time we will have no further disturbance. Please pray for us!