Image via Mid-Day
The Dadri killings have made us all uneasy. But while one part of the country sits silent in communal tension, this episode in Mumbai makes us all believe that humanity and kindness still exist. A distressed pregnant Muslim woman and her husband were helped out by women devotees of a local Ganpati temple during her labour. The woman delivered the baby in the temple.
Mumbai-based Ilyaz Shaikh, 27, and his 24-year-old wife Noor Jahan were rushing to the Sion Hospital at 4.30 in the morning on Thursday after her labour pains started a few days before the due date. However, because of the narrow lanes of Vijaynagar, they could not reach, even after an hour on the road. By 5.30 AM, Noor Jahan was close to delivering the baby. The heartless taxi driver panicked as soon as he heard her scream and told them to get off, as he didn’t want the baby to be born in his vehicle.
“We were so worried. My wife was close to delivering the baby and all we could see was a Ganpati Mandir. As soon as we got down outside the temple, some women who were sitting in the verandah of the mandir, rushed to help us. We didn’t even have to ask,” Ilyaz, an embroidery worker, told Mid Day.
The women in the Ganpati temple in Wadala, who had gathered there to pray early in the morning, prepared a make-shift delivery room with saris and bedsheets borrowed from nearby homes, for Noor Jahaan, who was well into her labour by then. Within moments the temple echoed with the cries of a baby boy. Noor Jahan cut the umblical cord herself.
Image via Mid-Day
After a clean up, the couple headed to Sion Hospital, this time with less anxiety and a lot happier.
“I was tense when I was close to delivering in the middle of the road. But when I saw that there was a temple, I realised that God himself is watching over us. What could be better than giving birth before Lord Ganpati? We are going to name the baby Ganesh,” said Noor Jahan. The doctors have announced that both mother and child are healthy and will be discharged soon.
Images via Mid-Day
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