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Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2001 03:24:34 -0000
To: agathiyar@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Fwd: Boy or girl? Let me foretell baby’s sex
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--- In Indian-Malaysian@y..., Indian Msian
Sunday, December 16, 2001
Boy or girl? Let me foretell baby's sex
By GEORGE K. CHACKO
ON the one hand, it is very easy to foretell the sex of a baby – it
will be a boy or a girl (excluding multiple births).
On the other hand, it is very difficult to foretell the sex of the
baby.
The enabling technology of sonograms has made it possible to tell
(not foretell) the sex of the baby, provided the baby is willing to
cooperate with the machine and tilt himself or herself to allow the
world to take a peek at one's very private domain.
Growing up in India, I heard of the village carpenter who would
foretell the baby's sex with astonishing accuracy.
He would write the sex of the baby on a piece of paper and put it up
somewhere on the central wooden beam running across the house. When
the baby is born, he would be summoned, and voila! He would pull out
the piece of paper with the correct sex!
Unbeknown to the family, he would write not one forecast, but two,
and secretly put the second piece out of sight of the family. This
time, he forgot, and his fantastic foretelling came to an ignoble
end.
Fast-forward from the ancient Indian fable to the modern life in
Metropolitan Washington DC.
In 1957, I knew (don't ask me how) that we would have first a boy and
then a girl, and announced to my Chinese bride Yo Yee the unalterable
order of things to come. So on our honeymoon, I got to choose the
boy's name and Yo picked the girl's name – only one each.
I did not foretell that we would have only two children. But 44 years
later, we have one son and one daughter.
I wanted a name that would be unmistakably recognised as Indian:
Rajah. But during the first decade of India's independence, no one
could use the title Rajah except those who earned the right by birth.
Therefore, people would fudge and call their kids Rajen, Rajan or
Rajani.
Very thoughtfully, the Indian legislature decided not to recognise
the title just in time for me to choose in 1957 Rajah as my unborn
son's name.
My bride had a tougher time. She wanted a name reflecting the union
of India and China, but what kind of a name is Indo-China for a girl?
We expanded our geographical horizons and recognised the continent of
which both India and China are integral parts: Asia, which is (the
land of the) dawn. Adding an "h" to make it feminine, my wife chose
the name Ashia.
I had no idea of my God-given prescience until in 1962, C.M.
Matthews, a close friend from Calcutta, visited me in New York. He
said: "Do you remember what you said in 1952?"
Although I had not even a clue in 1952 that I would ever be leaving
India, I had said that I would get married in five years. Actual
date: Aug 10, 1957.
"Yes, but you also said `I will have my first son before 1960'," added
Matthews.
That I forgot. But Rajah was quite obliging to arrive on Nov 2, 1959,
in the nick of time to fulfil my foretelling.
Fast-forward to 2001.
Ashia had been married for 11 years. In America, you are never
supposed to ask your children when they are getting married, and
certainly not when they are going to have a baby. So Yo was surmising
that maybe Ashia did not want children.
"Ashia is expecting!" Yo wrote joyously in her e-mail to me dated
Sept 16. I told Yo that ever since I got the e-mail, I had the sense
that it would be a girl. She said she felt so too. About a month
later, Ashia had her sonogram: It's a girl!
I had flown home in November to spend Thanksgiving with the family.
Rajah and Karen had something to tell us: they are expecting!
On Dec 11, Yo phoned me early in the morning in Malaysia. She said
that Karen had a sonogram. Guess what? She said. I replied: "Boy."
She said she had also foretold it correctly.
Karen told Yo: "You guys should go into the business (of foretelling
the sex of the baby)!
There are 94 chances in a 100 against both Yo and I correctly
foretelling the sex of Ashia and Greg's baby, and Rajah and Karen's
baby. Karen was not even considering my 100% accuracy in foretelling
seven years ahead not only the sex of the babies but also their
correct birth order.
On Dec 12, Rajah e-mailed: "We had a 3-D ultrasound of baby
yesterday. You can see him waving to you!"
Hi, little boy, can you read this? Can you hear us talking about you?
Never mind, we will keep a laminated copy for you with your name
highlighted.
o Dr George K. Chacko, an Indian who is now an American citizen, is
chairman of the Centre of Excellence in Management of Technology and
Professor of Management of Technology at Multimedia University,
Cyberjaya. Married to Nanjing-born author Yo Yee, he provides a
window for the West in the East, and vice-versa. E-mail:
george.chacko@m...)
---------------------------------
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Check out Yahoo! Shopping and Yahoo! Auctionsfor all of your holiday
gifts!
--- End forwarded message ---
