Not without my husband!

“Humein Pati chahiye” (I want my husband) wailed Rajni Devi, wife of abducted cop Abhay Prasad Yadav “Get me back my husband or give us some poison” she begged as her scared, terrified children wept with her...

Rajni Devi's husband a Sub-Inspector along with 3 other Policemen,Sub-Inspector Rupesh Kumar, Assistant Sub-Inspector Lucas Tete,and Havildar Ehtesham Khan, had been abducted by the Naxalites in Bihar. They were demanding the release of some of their comrades in custody.

Later as the Maoists declared they had killed Policeman Abhay Yadav, I shuddered to think about his frail wife, Rajni Devi, sitting outside the CM's house with her children, almost faint with horror, pleading for negotiations with her husband's captors.


What followed was like an unbelievable movie plot... Even though the Maoists declared they had killed Rajni Devi's husband Abhay Yadav, the body of one of the other abducted Policeman surfaced along with a note in Hindi.

His name was Lucas Tete and he had been posted in that area just days before being taken hostage.

As the pictures of the unfortunatete cop were splashed across the media, I kept thinking of poor Rajni begging for her husband's life...

Where was he? Was he dead or alive?
What would happen to his poor wife?

And then... a miracle happened …... it seems Rajani's heartbreaking cries rang through millions of television sets across the country and reached the ears of her husband's captors who had a miraculous change of heart/strategy and decided to release her husband and the other two policemen.

On the 5th, a man claiming to be a spokesperson of the Maoists got in touch with her and assured her of her husband's release. He said they were touched by her cries for her husband and had
decided to set him free!!

Today the policemen were indeed released and I sat glued to the T.V... just to see Rajani's joy on seeing her husband.

I saw her fall at her husband's feet.
Wash them and... drink the water that she had used!! (God! I don't know what to say about that!!)

And I wondered, if her husband would ever, EVER realize, that his it was his wife's tears and prayers that brought him back from the jaws of death ... LITERALLY!!!

Couldn't help remembering the story of Savitri who got back her dead husband's soul from the clutches of Yamraj (the Hindu God of death).

Sub-Inspector Abhay Prasad Yadav is one helluva lucky man..... he has a wife like Rajni Devi.

Notes from a mommy's diary

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics,a child's sex education should start when he or she is ready to ask questions about their bodies and while explaining it is important to use proper names for all body parts.

In India,this can be a little tricky...

Here's what happened when a friend tried that with her five year old boy-

We were at the playground and my friend and her kid were playing with a group of kids his age, when suddenly he pushed a girl to the ground. My friend hurriedly intervened,"Don't push beta" she cajoled "she is a girl." The little boy pondered for a moment before piping up "Yesss ,she is a girl, she has a Vagiiiiinaaaaaa!!!"

The girl's mother, (we'll call her Mrs Singh) frothed at the mouth and almost had a fit. My friend's son was quickly hushed up.

Later he was warned about talking about certain body parts in public,which confused him for sure. I mean isn't the entire point of the exercise meant to explain that there is nothing dirty about our bodies?

Any way, that little girl is no longer allowed to play with my friend's kid. Absolutely no prizes for guessing why.

So....when my boy turned four, to be on the safe side, I stuck to baby names for body parts.

In simple language, he made 'susu' with his 'nunu' and he was warned that if he er explored around the area too much,his nunu would fall off. And that, was that.

Now last week something really funny happened-

My four old boy saw me in a swimsuit for the first time. "Mamma?" he asked tilting his head thoughtfully "where is your nunu?"

Stumped by this query, I had two choices-

a)Take this opportunity (defined by the American Academy of Pediatrics as a 'Teaching Moment') and explain the difference between girls and boys.

b)chicken out

I of course chose the latter

"Baby" I cooed "I don't have a nunu."
"Where IS it?" he demanded worriedly

I tried again, "Sweetie, I'm a girl and girls don't have
nunus," I said, hoping that that was the end of the topic.
"But MAMA!!" he persisted "How will you make susu?"

I hid a smile, "Well baby,girls don't need that to make susu"
"NO" he wailed, clearly upset "we have to buy you a new one."

Now to prevent a complete meltdown I soothed him,
"Don't worry,we don't have to buy one, Mama will borrow Dada's"
(at this, Dada chuckled loudly)

My son was silent as he mulled over it,then suddenly brightened
as he came up with a priceless solution "Mama, i got an idea,we
will cut off Dada's nunu and then you can stick it on with gloopy glue!"

My kid looked pleased, his Dad stopped chuckling and I simply fell down laughing.