Rock-A-Bye Baby [✓]

Shot 6

That evening, Omkara returned earlier. This was the second day in a row he was coming back home early. He walked straight to the room that now belonged to Shanaya. He knocked softly, not wanting to startle Miss. Sharma. When there was no response, he opened the door gently. Shanaya was alone, fast asleep, surrounded by pillows, and a blue baby elephant soft toy that she was hugging. Omkara frowned slightly, noting that the nanny, who was supposed to be around his niece 24X7, was nowhere to be seen. But the moment he laid his eyes on the sleeping child, a smile automatically made his way to his lips.

Omkara walked towards the bed, and like he’d done the previous day, he knelt down on the floor next to her. Discarding his coat, he unbuttoned his sleeves and folded them up to his elbow, after loosening his tie. He placed his forearms on the edge of the bed, rested his chin on them, and looking at her, he drew a long breath with a fond smile. If he wasn’t busy running a business worth millions, he would have loved to do nothing else but sit and watch this child sleeping. It brought peace to his heart, as he watched Shanaya in deep sleep, slightly snoring while hugging her soft toy.

Gauri opened the door as she came back from the kitchen to the dimly lit room, and was startled to see Omkara sitting on the floor, watching Shanaya sleeping. He glanced up at her, nodded, and then sat up straight, sobering up. Gauri gave him a small smile, not commenting on the goofy grin he had on his face while watching Shanaya sleep before she entered the room. As she walked towards the bed, she saw him frown suddenly and heard him say in a harsh whisper, “Where did you go, leaving her alone?” Quite contrary to his usually commanding and rude tone, this one seemed to be laced with worry and concern.

Gauri smiled, as she said, “Shanaya would wake up in the next half an hour to one hour, and the first thing she usually does at around this time is asking for milk. I went to the kitchen to bring her feeding bottle.” She waved the bottle filled with milk in her hands to show it to him. “You came home early, to spend time with Shanaya,” she said, not really posing a question about it. Omkara nodded wordlessly, and resumed his previous position, as he watched her sleeping.

Gauri sat on the floor, at least three feet away from where he was seated. Watching him, with that serene look on his face, made her smile. “You know, Mr. Oberoi, there is one common emotion that I’ve noticed in all homes where I’ve babysat children,” she said softly as a conversation starter when the silence in the room was getting stretched too far. She had almost thought he wasn’t interested in saying anything when after a few seconds, she heard him ask, “And, that is?” She looked at Shanaya and said, “The gratifying, calming, and heart-warming look on the face of the elders when they watch the baby sleep. That one thing never changes. Every single elder has that common expression of awe on their face when they watch the child sleep, as they are lost in their own little world of dreams without any cares and worries!”

Omkara smiled, looking at her with a nod, agreeing with every word she uttered. She continued, “There are instances I’ve witnessed where the parent or the guardian is so exhausted or stressed or sleep-deprived, and would just wait for the baby to sleep. But the moment their child’s eyelids would drop, they would stay and watch. And I would observe them – how they went from stressed and exhausted, to feeling more relaxed and worry-free, just as they watched their baby sleep. There’s just something so therapeutic about watching babies sleeping peacefully.”

Gauri heard Omkara heave a sigh and watch Shanaya with a content smile. She could see peace all over his face. She thought he preferred silence, so she stopped talking, and watched Shanaya like he did. She heard him whisper, “How many children have you nannied?” She smiled, excited about the memories of babysitting, as she said, “I’ve babysat various age groups. About four teenagers; those are the trickier age groups since it requires you to handle them in a different way. The best age group was that of three to ten years. I’ve handled nearly ten children of that age group; some homes had two to three children of a similar age. They can tirelessly throw absolutely random repetitive questions at you all day, even after you’ve answered them. For instance, if I was helping them bake a cake, from the moment I’ve added butter and sugar into the mixing bowl till the baked cake comes out of the oven, they would keep asking me with every breath they took, ‘When will the cake be ready’, and silence in reply is not acceptable. You need to keep a keen eye on them since they almost fly across the room in a blink of an eye. But in spite of being the most mischievous ones, they can be the sweetest.”