Betul, Madhya Pradesh:
They were born into a poor family in Betul in Madhya Pradesh. Their father, a farmer with barely two acres of land and their mother, abandoned them immediately in the hospital where they were born, unable to figure out how to treat their twin daughters, who were joined at the chest. The girls were named by the doctors who run the hospital in Betul located 200 kilometres from Bhopal.
For the last 11 months, the ward where they lie in a single bed in Padhar Hospital has been home for Aradhana and Stuti.
The babies have been looked after by the nurses and doctors here. Later this month, they will go through a major operation that will hopefully separate them, and allow them to really enter the world.
The money for the operation -10 lakhs - has been donated by NDTV viewers and ndtv.com users. At least three doctors from Australia who arrive in Betul on June 18, will pair with doctors from Vellore and Bangalore and local doctors will handle the surgery, likely to last several hours.
A nurse named Parmila says she cannot imagine her day without the twins. After the surgery, they will be handed over to their parents who have begun visiting girls since the past two months. They come once a week, commuting at least 50 kilometres one way to see them . "Staff members bring them everything from food to hairpins," she explains.
At the hospital, doctors express their thanks to those who donated money for these twins. Now, they have one more request -prayers that the operation is successful. Please help.