Both my parents are from Kerala,
and I have been spoken to in Malayalam since Day 1 of my existence.
I speak this language with fluency; but I am no linguist or philologist. This is not an
academic exercise but rather a layman's recollection of a few humourous
incidences involving some Malayalam words and phrases.
Word 1 : 'Sugaprasavam'.
Labour wasn't a pleasant experience for me. I was screaming in the hospital room as each wave of contraction crushed my insides. I wasn't prepared for this kind of pain; intense, prolonged and agonizing.
Dressed in hospital gown that
exposed more than it covered, I wobbled, waddled and wailed. The misery seemed
to be unending. The ordeal lasted 28 hours; I hadn't slept and hadn't let
anyone else sleep.
My worried and tormented mom asked me to pray. The pain had turned me spiteful and asked her why was God punishing me for. She shuddered at my blasphemy and asked me to pray. Only God could bring ease.
"Am I going to die?"
I asked the midwife. "I cannot do this anymore. Can I have an
epidural?"
Libiya, my midwife apologized,
"You have progressed so much. It is not possible to give you an epidural
now"
A few hours later, I pushed out
my baby girl and my body lapsed in exhaustion. "Alhamdullilah!
Alhamdullilah!", my mother and mother-in-law exclaimed.
Praise be to Allah!
It wasn't over yet. I felt
another contraction squeezing my insides.
"Is there one more baby
inside?" I got up and looked nervously at the doctor.
She smiled and replied
"The placenta has to come out."
I cried and clasped my fists as the doctor sutured the tear and the episiotomy
incision.
My baby was wrapped in a white
cloth, covered with bits of blood and lots of creamy white fluid and placed
over me. I saw a tiny head with black hair covered in goo. She opened her eyes
and I looked at a pair of tiny eyes just like mine. She sneezed and I noticed
that her nose was just like mine.
"Feed the baby", the
midwife instructed. She brought the baby to my breast and the latter latched on to me.
I had imagined this to be a magical moment. It was indeed marvellous. But I had
not foreseen the spasms and the soreness. As the baby sucked hungrily and
intensely, my uterus quivered and danced to the flood of oxytocin released.
With every spasm, clumps and lumps of afterbirth flowed out.
Childbirth is barbaric, so raw,
so full of blood and bodily fluids. It is harrowing and excruciatingly
painful.
After I was shifted to the
room, I heard my excited mother-in-law speak to someone on phone.
"Sugaprasavam aayinno" she beamed.
"Sugapravasamo? Etho?", I flummoxed.
Everyone in the room erupted in
laughter.
PS : Sugaprasavam means normal delivery in Malayalam.
Sugam means something pleasurable. It could also mean well or fine.
Prasavam stands for labour.
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