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Baby Born On PATH Train Already Has Nickname: Fast
By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 17, 2012
Modified Jan 17, 2012
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By
John Del Signore
Published Jan 17, 2012
Modified Jan 17, 2012
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The baby whose emergence from the womb aboard a PATH train yesterday made the train miraculously run express already has a nickname: "Jhatpat," the Hindi word for "Fast." The boy's blissed-out parents, Rabita Sarkar and her husband Aditya Saurabh, have not settled on a formal name yet, but Sarker tells the Daily News, "He decided to come and that was it. Nothing could stop him. Nothing could keep him inside for longer." She says they decided to take the PATH to their Manhattan doctor because they were worried about getting stuck in rush hour traffic in the Lincoln tunnel. (A distinct possibility!) They also thought this was just a practice run!
"We always thought the first baby takes time to come," Sarker tells the Post. "I thought we had the luxury of time." Sarker wasn't due for another two weeks, and believing her pains to be false labor, they took the PATH into the city, where they planned to hail a cab to St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital. But once the train reached Manhattan, Jhatpat just couldn't wait any longer. Sarker's husband confirmed that the baby was coming out, and she recalls that an elderly woman asked her, "‘Where are you headed to?’ I said. ‘33rd, then to the hospital at 59th,’ ” Sarker said. “Then she told me, ‘You can’t wait.' "
Sarker and Saurabh say everyone on the train was very helpful, and she quickly delivered at 9:49 a.m. Informed of the situation, the train’s conductor announced that a woman had given birth and that the train would be skipping stops and going express to 33rd Street. "God bless the little one!" the conductor exclaimed, according to the Post. A Port Authority spokesman tells us that Port Authority police officers met the train at 33rd and the baby was already being held by Saurabh. Cops wrapped the child in a blanket and EMTs escorted the family to St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital, where local media flocked for the best "Bart's People" story of the day:
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John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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