The shops were closed, so I looked around for the roving 'anda-pao' seller on his bicycle, ringing his bell and driving a large black cycle loaded with fresh buns and his wire basket of eggs.
The chemist shop (closed at that early hour) had a new advertisement. A happy looking couple. He lovingly putting her hand on her shoulder. Both smiling at the camera. You felt warm looking at these two.
The product?
"Unwanted 72"
If there ever was a name that was apt it is this. The marketing geniuses at Mankind Pharmacy (another stroke of brilliance - you would think this is all satire, but it is a multi-crore rupee company) have decided to call their 'emergency contraceptive pill' the fetching name of "Unwanted 72"The happy couple smiling at the camera does not want a child. They have had sex. Happily, a remedy is just a pill away. Pop one of them and that "Unwanted" one is gone. Story over. Happiness reigns.
Or does it?
"Unwanted 72" has a competitor in the emergency contraceptive market. The market leader - advertised heavily on Meru Cabs and other sites all over the city is the sleekly named "i-pill" from Cipla.Sounding like the latest addition to the Apple computer family, the 'i-pill' seems to indicate something very neat, very crisp, very savy, very now.
The cover shows a stylised figure - with the pill serving as the head - and hands thrown up. Freedom!
The pill itself has a pleasing pink colour and is decorated with a little butterfly.
Just what the baby needs to fly away.
I am so glad that emergency contraception was not available in early 1941. As the son of a father borne out of wedlock - whose mother put him up for adoption - I know that the world would be a far, far poorer place without Ray Eicher.
Sadly our society has consigned the miracle of life to be flushed out whenever we so desire. Having worked with parents who have tried to self-abort their children, we see the totally rotten side of life. But we also see that they are responding to a larger set of cues that are screamed at them from kith and kin and every other hoarding it seems: "look out for yourself" "be free" "don't let a pregnancy get in the way of your dreams" "enjoy sex without a thought of what it means other than getting your bit of the action" etc. etc.
Unwanted. But precious.
Dear Andi,
ReplyDeleteNeeta and I have a deep love and respect for your Mum and Dad. I agree with you the world would be far, far poorer place with Ray Eicher.
Vijay
Hi Andi,
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed a strange way that life and the world is turning out and it seems to revel in the fact of introducing more and more ways of destroying human values. I've lived on the other side of the fence so to speak; counseling and studying single parents who are forced into a situation due to abuse. On one rare occasion i've worked with a young couple who gave up their daughter because they were too scared to own up in front of their parents - the caste forbid it all - and the irony; well educated and well settled in the best companies you can imagine. Where do we go? I believe we have to go back to the family; but the family is fast becoming caught in the material world. Is the pill the solution or will it add up to larger woes? Is it going against the very institution of a family? Are we destroying the sanctity of it all or are we giving new options for a 'care free life' where responsibilities are at a touch of a medication?
Andi, keep up your work!
Jim De
Thanks Jim!
ReplyDeleteIts a telling comment that our society defines 'good families' mainly by educational achievements, monthly incomes or the size and quality of a residence. The actual parenting and love that a 'good family' is supposed to have usually doesn't factor into the equation.
Situations of abuse are sensitive and complex. However, the basic fact is that no matter what the abuse has been, healing is possible. We want to help and move our dear sisters and brothers who have suffered abuse to wholeness and life. Taking out a tiny pre-born life from a mother's womb is hardly a positive step towards wholeness.
One of the great challenge is to support the single-parent family - and this takes place largely outside the counselling room. We need to step in and provide the larger family support that these new families need - and which they often do not get from their birth/caste/community families due to the situation they find themselves in. The local worshipping group of Jesus-followers - a.k.a. church - should be stepping into this role as a matter of routine rather than exception - since there is so much brokenness around us. As we walk forward together - we bring our own splintered shards of our lives to the foot of the cross - and minister to each other in word and deed. Christ looking after his soon-to-be-bereft mother from the cross, and placing her in the care of his young disciple John is an example of the new families that we must be living out in our churches.
Adoption, fostering, supporting single parents, melding and renewing families need to be the core of our shared experience rather than the outliers. Having an adopted father and sister, and a goodly number of foster brothers it can say that our lives have only been enriched - and that the hard work of creating new families is worth now and eternally.
Blessings to you Jim! We look forward to meeting you the next time you swing through Mumbai-town.