Thread by @monaeltahawy

Some joy in these intense times. Mona, babies, the Taj Mahal: In 2016, @rerutled and I visited the Taj Mahal. It is beautiful, of course. While there, a girl in a blue headscarf (to my right) asked to have her pic taken with me. Sure, I said. And then a few other women joined us.

And then, and to this day we have no idea why, the babies started coming. First one...

And then another baby was thrust into my arms. I am childfree by choice. And here I am being given two babies at once.

A third baby was on the way but I was like “Aah! I will drop them all!”

Please note the men watching, cautiously from a distance. They understood that the energy in this baby fest was intense and they wisely kept their distance.

After much merriment, we toured the rest of the site and lo and behold, at the back: another baby! This looks like I’m running for office and going around kissing babies

And finally: another baby! All pics @rerutled

I don’t speak any Indian languages and the women did not speak English so I could not ask what it was about me that made me a baby magnet. I just enjoyed it, loved our laughs and to this day wonder.

and when I went to #Lahore that same month: guess what? A baby! With the beautiful Badshahi mosque behind us.