This article first appeared on HuffPost India.
In an incident straight out of a Bollywood script, a distressed Muslim woman in labor and her husband had to deliver their baby at a Hindu temple dedicated to the elephant-headed god Ganesh.
Mumbai-based Ilyaz Shaikh, 27, and his 24-year-old wife Noor Jahan were on their way to the Sion Hospital at dawn on Thursday, when Noor Jahan went into labor. According to a report in the Mid Day, the taxi driver asked them to get out when he heard Noor Jahan screaming in pain, as he did not want her to have the baby in his vehicle.
“We were so worried. My wife was close to delivering the baby and all we could see was a Ganpati mandir. As soon as we got down outside the temple, some women, who were sitting in the verandah of the mandir, rushed to help us. We didn’t even have to ask,” Ilyaz, an embroidery worker, told Mid Day. Ganpati is another name used for the Hindu god, Ganesh.
The women in the Ganpati temple in Wadala who had gathered there to pray early in the morning, prepared a make-shift delivery room with saris and bedsheets borrowed from nearby homes, for Noor Jahan who was in the throws of labor by then.
After all the tension and suspense, Noor Jahan delivered a healthy baby boy. Reportedly, she even cut the umbilical chord herself. "After that, I was called in to see the face of my son," Ilyaz added.
“I was tense when I was close to delivering in the middle of the road. But when I saw that there was a temple, I realied that God himself is watching over us. What could be better than giving birth in front of Lord Ganpati," Noor Jahaan told Mid Day.
The couple, happy that their son was born safe and sound, decided to name him Ganesh.
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