Joy and fear as India becomes the most populous country in the world

Though exhausted, young mother Manu Bala happily lulls her newborn son to sleep in an old hospital in India, helping her country soon become the most populous on the planet.

Tears of joy and relief run down the young woman’s cheeks, moved by the contact with her little girl, who takes refuge wrapped in a mantilla against her chest.

67,000 babies were born in India on Monday. On the same day, the UN announced that more than one in six human beings live on the Indian territory, which would eclipse China this week with the largest population on the planet.

“I am very happy that my daughter was born at the time when India surpasses China. It’s special to be a mother that dayManu Bala, a 22-year-old housewife, told AFP from her hospital bed, adding that she wishes “give him a good life” and that his “baby study hard and become what she wants”.

The newborn does not yet have a name. Rohit, Bala’s husband, is also delighted with his new fatherhood, while thinking about the next few weeks: the family will hold a baptism ceremony eleven days after the birth and with the help of a Hindu priest, who will consult the letters astral, they will find a name that augurs well for the little girl.

At the public hospital in Dehra, a Himalayan city in northern India, Rohit and his mother anxiously awaited the birth, outside a packed maternity ward.

Writhing in pain, Bala, surrounded by nurses in green and white scrubs, and with her feet in stirrups, gave birth to her first daughter.

“push harderthe doctor told her in the delivery room. And with sweat pouring down her forehead and her face contorted by her gestures, the young Bala grabbed the edges of the bed before pushing one last time, as she heard a round of applause from the medical staff. .

Relief spreads across her pale face as she holds her baby to her chest and musters her last reserve of energy to thank the doctor and nurses.

“One child is enough”

Rohit is relieved that the delivery went smoothly.

However, this official is concerned about the future that awaits his daughter. “There are many problems that we have to face due to the increase in population”, explains the 30-year-old to AFP.

“Even to see a doctor here, we had to stand in line for a long time. India faces enormous difficulties in providing electricity, food and housing for its growing population”, he assures.

Many Indian cities face water shortages, air and water pollution, and overcrowded slums.

Millions of young people enter the job market each year and struggle to find opportunities in an economy that does not have the capacity to offer employment for all.

“There is already a lot of unemployment in the country. It will be increasingly difficult to find work. Rohit says alarmed. “I think currently one baby is enough”.