Sketchstory No. 26 - 'Room No. 26' by Dr. Ratna Raman

I am in Room 26, propped up in a bed, after protracted labour and then childbirth. I had twins, and both of them, born naturally and full term, are in the hospital nursery, having been diagnosed with prenatal jaundice. So until their bilirubin count comes down, they will be monitored by the neonatologist while I lie here in bed, breathing deeply and being visited by my gynaecologist who has said that I must draw in my bag like uterus and encourage it to tighten itself into a fist sized ball. That, she has promised me, is going to be my best step towards weight loss and good health and a happy uterus. So here I am sitting up in bed, and the hospital bed makes it easy, since I can always ring the bell and the nurses will come in and roll up the bed for me, when I have to feed the babies, or when I have breakfast, or lunch or tea or dinner.

It is now three days since the babies were born, and today is also the 26th of the month. Oddly, twenty six years is also how old I am. I have been allowed visitors at a fixed time, in the evenings, so while nobody has been able to see the babies, they have stopped by to chat with me and have come with small gifts for my little ones. The conversation has been great, and I have also caught up with a lot of friends. This picture that you see, is a portrait that Fatima made for me. Fatima is an old friend, and she lives in Calcutta. She is also a gifted gynaecologist and is able to chase her passion for painting and sketching and she alternates between oils canvases, and coal on paper.

She was in Delhi for an art exhibition and it so happened that I went in to hospital the day that she arrived. So she rushed in to visit me on the last evening of her stay in Delhi, and was very contrite that she hadn’t picked up anything for me. I know what I will do, Fatima had grinned, her face wreathing into a wide smile, I am going to make a sketch for you, one that you can frame and put on your console in the bedroom. Who knows, I may become a famous artist and this sketch might be worth millions. I laughed, but what greater pleasure can there be, after having two babies and being confined to a hospital room, to have a dear friend come in and do a sketch for you? Beats selfies hands down any time, I would think!!!! 

So this is what I look like dear viewer/ reader. I am plump right now, overweight with all the pregnancy fat that still has to be melted down into baby food, and my hair, curly and tangled probably needs a deep scalp oil massage and shampoo. Maybe I should get it chopped short, because with two babies to manage, where will I have time to oil my mane and untangle it every day? The nurse has come to tell me that the babies are crying lustily and that I should come by and feed them. So she rolls down the bed and helps me get out of it and sit in the wheel chair. Then I am wheeled down the corridor to the nursery, where one after the other the twins are brought out to me, sometimes with cotton bandaged eyes to be fed. 

They have great appetites and their mouths work furiously, while I hold them in turn. On the left hand, both of them have an identity tag, that makes me feel so powerful. Baby of Madhurima it says. Baby of Madhurima. That is all that they are known by. They have no names, yet. I’m still thinking through to what I shall call them So as they feed, I examine their little hands and feet and think that they belong so completely to me…and I am in no hurry to name them, to identify them, or to separate their identities from me. It is a new emotion, you know. These little kicking beings inhabited my body until recently and shared a secret space within me. It was very special. When they were born, and they moved out of my uterus, which is still throbbing with their memories, I suddenly realised that I couldn’t hold them close in the way that I had all these months. Heck, I haven’t even held them together even once after they were born, and it is not easy to do so at any point without a little help. I realise it is going to be more and more difficult as they will grow bigger every week for some time now!!!!!!

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