Daughter - A blessing or a...??

 And my little angel has completed one full year on this earth! What a year it was! I am still amazed how did the year whiz by at such a fast pace. Daughters, I tell you, grow up super fast and before you can blink an eye it’s time for her to spread her wings and fly away to a different nest. The thought itself gives me a shudder and I can now relate to how my parents must have felt when their little daughter also flew away from their protected nest to make her own nest in a different country as soon as she grew up. Sigh! But, that’s the way of life. A daughter is a blessing from above and spreads happiness, love and care wherever she goes. I, as a parent, feel extremely blessed to have this little angel in my life and can’t thank God enough for this wonderful bundle of joy!

So then, why do so many people in our country still consider having a daughter as some sort of a ‘taboo’ and get disheartened by the birth of a girl child, in this day and age? Why do we still need to advertise ‘save the girl child’ campaigns and propagate them? Why should there arise a situation where we need to ban the sex determination during pregnancy? Why does the birth of a baby boy announced with pomp and celebrations while the birth of a baby girl is kept hushed behind closed doors? Why does a boy child always get a preference for everything over the girl child, sometimes from their own mother? So many questions but no valid answers. In this age, where girls are at par with men in every possible way imaginable, why are they still being shunned by the society and at times by their kith and kin’s? And it’s all the more astounding when you come across a woman with this kind of a mindset, especially a mother. After all, she having been gone through the transition of turning into a woman from a girl, should at the very least be neutral if not a feminist. A woman rejecting a girl child is absolutely abhorable and unjust. How could one do that to her own child, being a woman herself, is completely beyond my understanding and no common sense makes any sense to me. 

If all this gender preference is just because you want a bread earner for your family, a daughter can easily be the one to do so. Or if it is that you want someone to support and take care of you during your old age, a daughter will do it with more love and concern than a son. She can do everything a son can do and more. A daughter is a hope and promise for a better tomorrow. A daughter is a treasure of happiness and love. You will hold your daughter’s hand only for a while but she will hold yours forever. A daughter is one of the best gifts of this world. So please, if you are bestowed with this precious gift of life then learn to cherish it forever and don’t let it perish for anything in this world, ever! 

Well, it's their loss who don't value this gift of life and all i can do is vent out my emotions with the help of this medium. Alas! Below are some of the lines from the poem that I wrote for my daughter’s birthday slideshow and posting it here mainly so that it doesn’t get lost with passing time and I can easily find it whenever I want and show it to my daughter when she grows up!

You came into our lives like a blessing from above,

And filled our hearts with happiness abound.. 
With your angelic smile, 
You made our days worthwhile..

The twinkle in your beautiful brown eyes,

Is enough to light up the most gloomy days..

The sound of your laughter is such,

Music to my ears much..                                                                                 

When u placed your little hand in mine,

There was no denying my heart was yours till the end of time..

When I hold u in my arms,

I never will let come to you any harm..

You bring such delight with heart so warm and smile so bright,

That every day is like a sparking light..

With your tiny hands and feet you crawl around,
I pray u grow through your childhood safe and sound..

You are our angel so innocent and pure,

I’ll never let u go of that I’m sure..

Time flies with u with great pleasure,

and you indeed are our life’s best treasure

Precious and priceless, so lovable too;

The world’s sweetest miracle, my baby, it’s you!