The gentleman I sat next to on the flight out of Singapore had a paper brought to him from one of the Singapore girls. This is before we took off. About 6:45pm local time. It was an Indian Paper - The Times of India - it was the 14th November - National Children's Day is India. The leading headline and article was about adoption. Specifically, how outrageous it was that the Delhi court was taking so long to process adoption orders. How everyone was frustrated, Indian authorities, lawyers, orphanages, waiting parents. The journalist asked the TIz Hazari Court judge appointed to make these orders to make a comment on her constant and almost inexplicable adjournments. She had no comment.
I arrived in Delhi anxious about the blood tests. As soon as I could on Saturday morning I rang the doctor who had taken Ankita's blood a couple of days before, to ask how things were coming along - all negative ( which is good!) and all sent off to the High Commission. Brett - the High Commission official assigned our case- is confident that with these blood tests all should come together in time...he has been fantastic by all accounts.
Ankita is very excited. We are go going to pick her up on Monday morning and bring her back here to stay a few days before we leave. She knows her own mind, lets say. We approach the ' hand over' with a certain amused nervousness. No that's not true. We approach the hand over with down right fear. There. That's a bit more like it. You never know. I do so want to get Ankita and bring her home but the nerves and fear of getting an almost four year old child that you really have no idea about is a little weird. That's okay. It's just that when I look at the concept objectively in isolation from my life I am not too sure that is exactly what I would place in it. But then, the gods aren't doing it for any other reason than their own amusement, so, I can live with that. We sent out for a baby and we got delivered a small, robust child. One who knows her mind, as I think I have said...
Shayne tells me that in the car on the way to the doctors Ankita had a tantrum that was not in any way funny. Now she can laugh, she says, but not then.Not fully at all. They were is the car and they got stuck in traffic and Ankita got a little hungry. "Kanah" (food). Shayne explained that she had no food but they would be there soon and they would get all manner of food when they did. "KANAH". Yes darling as I have said....look, driver - do you think you could explain in Hindi so she can...the driver very dutifully and kindly explained to Ankita... KANAH!!! And it was off, or on, or happening. From constantly repeating the word food to pining in a low guttural cry, then moving right through to the full open throated howl, they moved slowly through the traffic toward their destination.
Neelu had an idea. She began to sing a little song - as she does - about how there would be food when they arrived. How the food would be yummy and Ankita can eat....as much as she liiiiikes. All the foooooood there iiiiiiiiis.And she would be haaaaaapy. And Ankita begins to relax and look at her sister and take notice and even smile a little. And there was a knowing look between them and the car crawled on towards the doctors in Shanti Nikaten, where the nurse would whisk Ankita away and two of them would hold her down and stick a big needle in her arm without explanation and draw blood, all the while, the guttural cry returning to her lungs and throat so she could voice her protest.
Ankita calmed down outside with Mamma and Neelu and she managed to get Neelu's bag of chips and feed mamma and Neelu and herself. She ate some sweets, "toffee" as she calls them. Then when Shayne asked if she would like her own chips opened..."no". Apparently she would save them for later. Shayne now has a good supply of car food.
