Laaija was born, about 2 weeks early, on Dec 11, 2008 around 2:00 pm at the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, Imphal, Manipur (INDIA). She weigh just about 2.9KG at birth and was known as the baby that cried the most. I was still in Mumbai and missed the whole event as the best possible way to reach Manipur was the next day.
The next day, I saw her tiny face, tiny hands, tiny fingers, tiny legs, tiny feet and everything seem so delicate that I was afraid I might do something wrong when I held her close for the first time.
It is illegal to do any sort of sex-determination in India, you cannot even ask your doctor about the same. However, ever since Shanta conceived, I had told her that I wanted a girl though I was prepared for a boy too. I even went ahead to pick a bunch of names for a girl.
Laaija somehow sounded nice. The Manipuri meaning translates to “Water”, more aptly the clear water offered to the deities during religious ceremonies. I’m not religious but I liked the name a lot. I was also concerned that it should not be a hard-core Indian name like mine (Brajeshwar) which makes it difficult to non-Indians.
In todays’ connected world, where most kids are raised as third-culture kids, I wanted a more easier name which can crossover across borders.
