It was at the bus stop off Grafton Bridge that I was waiting for my carrier. I was on my way to work and a hundred different things were buzzing through my mind that needed to be addressed within that day.

Just then I spotted a lady who looked quite evidently pregnant, and was carrying four bags on her. Yes, there were four bags of different sizes – a backpack, a small messenger bag slung across her shoulders and two supermarket bags on each arm.

My initial reaction was: “Poor woman! Why does she need to carry so many bags? Does she have nobody to lend her a helping hand, especially in this condition?”

A few seconds later, my thoughts changed to: “Yeah, that’s superwoman!” She can carry the burden of the world on her strong shoulders as efficiently as she provides for the universe. A thought that warmed me to my bones; more so as I was thinking about the Herculean (what’s the feminine version called?) chores I had to tackle that day.

Soon our bus arrived and we formed a file waiting for the door to open. Interestingly, I spotted that all of us in the queue were women – of Chinese origin, of Indian origin, of South American origin (perhaps) and the lady leading the line was the aforementioned pregnant woman of European origin. It was, as if, a silent show of respect to the person whose need to board the bus was far more important than the rest. It would not only give her refuge from the sweltering sun, but also help her drop those heavy bags.

This is a basic instinct – to subconsciously make way for the person who is carrying the future in her womb. But many a time, this privilege is snatched off the same woman. Be it a miscarriage, an unplanned pregnancy, or a stressed-out body that cannot conceive: the woman is denied an opportunity to bear the heir, so to say.

Her sacrifice becomes even more powerful when she chooses to terminate her pregnancy for a larger good; mainly because it is untimed, unplanned and as a result, inconvenient. It may be because she is unsure if her relationship will last in the long run or because her partner doesn’t feel financially stable enough to take on the responsibility of another human.

Fair enough. It is a very practical decision to take and a definite display of utmost responsibility. But spare the heir-bearer some thought. She is the one carrying the foetus and thanks to the ultra-sonography, she has already heard the little heart beating inside her heart. Her sacrifice is bigger than any responsibility in the whole wide world.

It should not be forgotten that if she has the power to give birth to the future, she also has the right to decide who constitutes her future. Of course, it is decided by what constitutes her present. Big powers do come with big responsibilities. And when you know how best to balance the two, you are superwoman!