As the phone rang, I knew what it would be. There was only one reason people woke me up in the middle of the night. Another baby had been left at our doorstep.
As I got ready, I knew what everyone at the orphanage would be doing by now. There was a standard set of procedures they followed, which included calling me first. There was a time a call like this would anger me. I guess it still angered me in some ways, but nowadays it also made me glad. I sent a prayer up of thanks that the baby had been left at our doorstep and not drowned in a gutter or left in a dustbin.
As the car came alive, I messaged my friend who worked for the police. The guard on duty would have called them, but I always sent a message as well. One could never be too careful. Sometimes child-trafficking mafia who kept an eye out for such activities, turned up claiming to be parents of the kids. The presence of the police was necessary.
By the time I reached the orphanage, the office was abuzz with activity. The baby was making her presence felt very loudly. “It’s a girl,” the guard whispered as I got down from the car. “She looks like an angel. Crazy folks,” he muttered under his breath.
I smiled at him and patted his shoulder. Though the shades of judgement had faded a little in my head, I was guilty of doing what he was doing now. I once hated the people who abandoned their kids. I had hated my birth parents for abandoning me. It had not mattered that I was adopted by Maa and Papa, people who loved me. They had left me wanting nothing in life. But anger had simmered inside. Till I found Sister Joy. Sister Joy who had shown me the right path ahead in life. Sister Joy who had given my life purpose. Sister Joy who had taught me to see God is in everything. Sister Joy who showed me the grace of even suffering.
God is indeed in everything I see, I reminded myself, as I picked up the wailing baby. As I rocked her, she calmed down a bit. “All children go quiet in your arms, Raghu,” said Matron. “They sense the love.” I smiled at her. God was in Matron. God was in the chair. God was in the guard. God was in the ledger matron was handing me to document the details. God was in the baby.
“Give me five minutes, Matron,” I replied sitting down in the chair with the baby. “Let me say a prayer for her and then we shall get on with the procedures.”
Living in Grace 