Being a pediatrician, I get to see one of the most beautiful moments of life - the birth of a baby. The thrill of the moment is indescribable. And sometimes, I feel proud that mine is the first face the baby looks at.

However, this happiness is often spoilt by the reaction of some parents.

Working in a premier institute, I see literate people who actually refuse to accept that their child is a female.

The look of disappointment hits me hard every time. I feel like screaming at the mother and saying, "Look around you! The majority of the people managing the ward around you are females. You are a woman!"

"How can you be disappointed in your own child even when she has not done anything wrong?"

It was with this jaded attitude that I went to attend a delivery call the other day. It was an illiterate young woman giving birth to her first child. She had to go through a lot of pain to give birth.

As soon as the baby cried, I took the baby in order to clamp the core and weigh her. I noticed that the baby was a female.

Being used to the disappointment from all the rich and educated folks I hardly expected anything different from this poor lady.

I anticipated her reaction and had a few sharp words ready in my mind. I went near her to show her the baby and the gender (In our hospital, we have to show the baby's sex to the mother and the relatives).

I asked her "Dekho! Kya hua?" What she said next changed my mind forever. 

Without hesitating even for a moment, she said, “Lakshmi".

I felt such happiness that I wanted to hug her then and there. This was the pleasure I wanted to see on every mother’s face. This lady changed my judgmental nature.

She made me realize that there are still people who believe that a girl child is as good as a boy child.

I just hope that one day everyone realizes that every girl child is worth as much as a boy child or even more.

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