The Twins

A young woman labourer assisted in building roads. She was lying behind a bush, in a pool of blood, numb with pain. She had just given birth to twin daughters. The only person attending to her was an old woman who was also part of the road building team. The old woman put one of the wailing babies to the breast of the young mother. The other baby slept peacefully by her mother’s side. The woman was weak and miserably poor.

The God of death hovered around her and soon her painful life drew to an end. The old woman looked at the newly born girls and beseeched the Lord, “Oh God! What is the crime committed by these poor souls! Who will look after them? Have mercy on them!”

Out of compulsion, the old woman looked after the babies for the night. She had to forego her own dinner to buy some milk for them. She fed it to them, drop by drop. The next day the road contractor came. He was told that one of the woman labourers had died leaving behind two little babies. The contractor went to the house of the old woman to see the girls. He noticed that they both had a mole on the left cheek and looked very, very similar. He handed out some money to the old woman and mumbled something under his breath. He rushed out of the room, for he could not bear the stench of the damp walls mixing with the smell of urine and stale milk.

Twenty years later, the young son of the contractor brought home a beautiful girl. He told his father that he wanted to marry her. The contractor asked the girl to bring her family. The next day, the girl brought her parents and sister. The contractor was much impressed by the sisters. The wedding was fixed. The girl’s father asked to talk to the contractor alone. He said, “Sir, I want to tell you that Anubha is my daughter in every sense except the biological one. A very old woman died in a dirty cottage. These two girls were crying by her side. They were probably just a few days old. My wife and I were passing by. We tried our best to find out about their family but to no avail. Finally we brought them up as our own.”

Then it came back to him! He looked at the girls closely and saw the black moles on their left cheeks. He knew who they were! But, he chose to keep quiet. The secret that had been guarded by the couple from their own ‘daughters’ should remain a secret.

Had the young mother not died, these girls would surely have become labourers too.
Had the mother not died, the old woman would not have come forward to care for them.
And had the old woman not died…..

God alone knows what is good for each one of us.
When one door closes,
Another one opens.
When God answers your Prayer,
He confirms that He loves you.
When God denies you your wishes,
He confirms that you made the wrong choice.
When God keeps you waiting,
He confirms that He is waiting for the right time to give you the right thing.