Thanks to the leapfrogging progress we have made in 'genetic research', babies can be designed today. A couple can decide on whether their child should look more like the 'handsome father' or the 'gorgeous mother' (sense the sarcasm guys and gals. take a reality check. No you do not look like George Clooney and give Jessica Alba sleepless nights. Only your mother thinks you do. Today is Mother's day right??? LOVE YA MAA. You ROCK !!!). Manipulate some genes here, some alleles there, change a code here and attach another nucleobase there (I was a Bio topper at school, I KNOW WHAT AM TALKING ABOUT :D) and presto, you have the perfect baby.
And what if we go one step further? What if their are CDs to make your own babies. Imagine if a window like Bit-torrent opens up on your PC, just put in what you want, chuck out what you don't, have sex (I hope that is NEVER taken away by technology) take the personality zip file, embed and voila the perfect baby comes out.
Imagining it? Good. Now stop. Read further to know what I imagined. :D
maybe will start a mini-series on this too :D
********
"That is not how we used to do it" said Grandma Jo, short for Jyotika.
Jessica sighed and looked towards Karan for some support.
Karan looked up from his newspaper and faced the two women. He had the bewildered look on his face that most men do, when they have to mediate between their wife and mothers. God help me, he thought as the first of his words started pouring out of his mouth.
"Yes mom, I know that wasn't the way you used to do it but well times have changed. It is 2073 for god's sakes. It is the technological leap of..."
"Technology-Snuffology... The best way to make babies is by good old fashioned sex and not your modern hocus-pocus."
Jessica turned a color of scarlet, by the sudden attack of shyness or because of her simmering anger, we would never know. She knew Karan had already lost the battle, now it was up to her to make her mother-in-law see the obvious point.
"Mom" she said, "Remember how you always wanted Karan to be a little more fair?".
Jyotika nodded dumbly.
"This thing does just that. We are not making the baby but just designing it. See here this is the CD which have the programs for physical appearance eye color, hair color, skin tone etc etc. While this CD has all the behavioral traits which we we can have in our baby." Jessica said while dropping a multi colored CD box in Jyotika's lap. 'Over 10,000 personalities to choose from' screamed the banner on the box.
Jyotika's eyes bulged out in amazement as she read all that that could've been done with only two CDs and the head gear (sold with the pack).
"You mean to say," her eyes welled up," this baby can have Karan's father's eyes?"
A triumphant smile came across Jessica's face while a calmness descended over Karan's mind.
"Yes Mom." Jessica replied back. "Here look I'll show you what more we can do with it."
12 year old Rishi, the elder son of Jessica and Karan smiled sweetly back at his family, as he smacked the cat with his bat but like always no one noticed him.
-----
The silence of the night enveloped the whole household. The computer screen was the only thing which shed some light in the room. 'Downloading Behavior' kept flashing across the screen. In one of the corner of the screen a window showed 'Baby Personality- Complete 78%'.
With the same sweet smile plastered across his face Rishi hit the pause button and ejected the CD. He opened another case whose cover was adorned by the menacing face of Heath Ledger in war paint. 'JOKER DISSECTED- An analysis of Heath Ledger's Joker from The Dark Knight motion picture' was written across the case.
Rishi inserted the CD and clicked resume.
-----
After his death in January 2008, millions across the world, across twitter, across facebook wished for Heath Ledger to be alive again. In 2073 their wish came true, almost. Instead of Heath Ledger, his character of the terrifying, mesmerizing Joker came into the world in flesh and bones.
Jessica Sanghvi gave birth to a boy in the winter of 2073.
8 years later, in 2081 his older brother died of puncture wounds. The boy had killed for the first time. With a pencil.
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