Books, they are magic

Every Sunday morning me and my mother have a detailed phone call.

After discussing about food, weather and family gossips, my mother asks me a very important question.

"why don't you want to have children?"

"Because mom I am single.", I said.

"That's not important, why don't you want to have children?"

"why did you want to have children?", I said.

"Because children makes us happy."

"Do I make you happy?", I said.

"Not Much! you will make me happy when you have children.

"Nice one! I am not falling for that."

"Do you realize how many of us are already in this world, the best thing we can do for the planet is not to have children, I am a climate activist."

I am not, I drink tea in a paper cup, own plenty of unnecessary clothing, I am far from being a climate activist.

I don't know what to say when people asks me why don't you want to have children. I don't know. 

A couple of months ago my cousin invite me to her home for the Ganpati festival, they have a three year old daughter named Divya. I saw that my cousin was trying to feed Divya an orange but she was not interested. She was throwing around her toys, and as she saw me she jumped on her scooter, and applied the breaks right next to my feet.

She looked up at me and said,

"Would you like to read me a story, mama"

"Yeah, I can do that, I can read you a story."

She brings a picture book story of Gruffalo. 

I sit next to her, and pick up an orange from the fruit basket.

Now Gruffalo is a picture story book which has four rhyming lines in each passage, and each passage ends with the word Gruffalo.

So I begin,

"The world is dry,

   It is so shallow,

  what should I do,

  thought the poor bald Gruffalo"

Every time Divya opened her mouth to say Gruffalo, I would very intelligently place an orange slice in her mouth. She would chew on the slice and look at me and say

"Next P.. page please",

It took me six pages and twelve referral to feed an entire orange to Divya.

I was a babysitter, I had fed a child and told her a story.

And while I was throwing the orange skin into the garbage, I started feeling the tanginess of orange in my mouth.

I started feeling that I have eaten that orange, and I am full. Even though Divya was the one who had eaten the entire thing. 

Why I am not hungry and I am full, that when I realized. I realized why people have children.

I don't think I am still ready to be a parent, or I don't know if I ever will be. 

But now, when somebody asks me "why don't you want to have children", I know what to say.

"Who me😱"

And when a friend or a family member comes to me and says "We are expecting a child".

I feels the same excitement and happiness, and I can understand what it feels like.

Its because of the book, Gruffalo.

Gruffalo the picture book