Diaper dilemma

Off late, I haven't been able to take so much as two steps out the front door without ramming right into a wailing toddler, in a pram/in harassed mommy's arms/under daddy's armpit, crying bloody murder. Everywhere, EVERY-BLOODY-WHERE there is a child. Whether crying or not, the sudden baby boom scares me. Don't get me wrong, I like babies. But I cannot possibly fathom how and why there are so damned many of them at every corner you turn.

One Saturday night, the whole family with hyperative mad cousin sister in tow, decided to dine in at a new little restaurant two blocks away. So while waiting for our entrees, an adorable little baby girl waddles her way around the restaurant, wreaking havoc with her chubby arms a-flutter, sending crockery and paneer masala all over the floor. Waiters scurry after her- Mommy to the rescue- Haggard father looks orey troubled- My mood officially murdered. In order to cheer ourselves up afterward, we walk to the tiny little dessert shop down the road and sit down to attack our apple pie and tiramisu when in walks a man with a babe in arms screaming, "DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE ennaku chaaaaaaakalate ice cream veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeennum!!!!"

And dawdee cannot help but to succumb so he says, "Seri chellam, I will get it."

"Dawdeeeeeeeeeeeeee, don't leave meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

"I am going to the counter da!"

"But don't goooooooo!"
With which, he bursts out into crocodile tears and fake sniffles. Cunning little runt. In utter desperation, I run out to sit down in the nice little portico with my best friend on the phone bleating along to some stupid pop song. But aah, we know the Lord Almighty has no mercy. So while said best friend is halfway through the chorus and I am yelling about how people have no control and should learn when to stop and avoid having babies, he (God, damnit :P) sends another one my way, a twerp (albeit a very adorable twerp) decked in an outfit that would have done Govinda proud. His obviously mentally harassed parents try wrestling him into the restaurant. "Arjun, vaa da... There's so much cake inside, paaru da kanna!" But Arjun is firm in his stance. He will stand where he is, in all his two foot-two inch glory and NOT go in. There are too many people in there, too much noise and too much damage to the senses. I like this big eyed, curly-haired kid. I have half a mind to hold him up like an exhibit and plead with the rest of the world to make babies like this one. Smart and antisocial.

Next stop, local supermarket to stock up on bread and eggs and everything that provides for a good, lazy Sunday morning. I stroll down the confectionery aisle, comparing fat content of various cookies and biscuits. Five mintues into my phenomenally pathbreaking research, I hear a thud, followed by what sounds like the rustle of a hundred leaves of aluminium foil and a wail. I try not to cringe. For that is the typical baby wail. I walk three steps and find a pile of pink frills and Lays potato crisps packets with two tiny pigtails sticking out from in between "Zero Trans Fat!! No cholestrol!!" labels. I try hard to not collapse laughing. I help her up and put back three of the ten hundred thousand things she has somehow managed to displace. By this time, her mommy has managed to find her and instead of spanking her on the bottom like a good mommy should, she gives her a hug and ruffles her hair like a good mommy really would. Then it all dawns on me. God has turned on the lightbulbs in my head. THIS is why people procreate. Accidentally or intentionally, it is for this. This being able to love someone despite their dirty nappies and 3 am coughing fits. Despite the one million mistakes and the snot on clothes, the stains on the carpets and scribbles on theses.
Just to watch someone grow from being irrational and selfish to smart and ambitious. To watch them grow, one baby step at a time.

Now, I know why there are babies everywhere. And now all the pieces of the puzzle seem to fall into place.