Hyderabad: Abandoned at birth and raised in a hospital, conjoined twins Veena and Vani from Hyderabad have defied the odds and are now taking their class 12th examinations.
While the Telangana’s Board of Intermediate Examination has made arrangements for them, the twins said that they don’t want any special privileges, and want to excel through their own handwork and merit. They have also refused to avail of the extra time privilege given to them.
Aruna, an invigilator at the twins’ examination centre, said that they had finished their exam five minutes before time. When asked how they manage to write and complete their exam on time, Vani said, “We write very fast.”
Vani and Veena said that they aspire to become chartered accountants. “Our ambition is to become chartered accountants. So after 12th, will join a foundation course to become chartered accountants,” Vani said.
Asked if they help each other during exams, Vani said, “We are competitive and don’t talk to each other during exams.”
Despite the challenges they face, Veena and Vani are cheerful, and optimistic about their future.
NDTV has been reporting on the twins since they were infants, abandoned by their parents. Doctors had been unable to separate the twins as they shared critical blood vessels.
The twins were born to a couple who had trouble making ends meet in Telangana’s Warangal district on October 15, 2003. Labourers surviving on daily wages, they had to abandon the girls. Even when asked recently to take the girls home, they had declined, saying they had no means of taking care of the twins.
