|
My
Twin and I
The
Unique Bond Of Twins
My
Twin and I
By Sunita
Verghese
On the early morning of 7th August 1964, my identical twin sister and I
were introduced to this world. We
were born in a German hospital in one of Nigeria's cities called
Abeokuta. Both our parents are Indians
by birth but were working as teachers in Nigeria.
Having twins, came as a huge surprise to my parents as they did not know
of our double existence, till my
Mom had undergone an X-ray examination, a few weeks prior to our birth. The
doctors had mentioned that we
were identical twins, sharing a single placenta.
Being all alone in Nigeria, with just having each other to depend on, my
parents devoted their time and
energy in bringing us up as two healthy babies. My Mom had a sixty
year old nanny to take care of us, when
she and my Dad were off to work. "Mamma" took care of us very
well. She would tie my twin sister in the back
of her waist and carry me in the front. Once when my parents returned
from work, Mamma told them that both
of us had convulsions at the same time so she had applied red chilly
powder on our eyes to bring the
fever down!!!
As we grew up, my parents insisted that we wore identical clothes,
combed our hair alike and always did everything together. Perhaps, they
did not want us to be different, since we began our life sharing
everything. As
children, growing up as identical twins, in Nigeria, was even extra
special, as we were considered by the locals as good luck charms!!
Everywhere we went, our parents were showered with gifts or money, so
that we would bring them good luck
and prosperity.
My Dad was very particular in dressing us up identically. Once my Dad
saw one of my buttons off on my sweater, he immediately tore off the
button in my sister's sweater. Another time, when my sister began
wearing eyeglasses, my Dad insisted that I wear a pair of non-prescribed
spectacles too, so that we would look
alike!!
Both my parents brought us up with so much love and pride. They
celebrated our birthdays with such huge
parties. Even till today, after 37years of our birth, my Dad and Mom
would insist to bake our birthday cake, decorate it themselves and
celebrate it, with or without us being by their side!!
When we both had completed our Masters in Nigeria, our parents brought
us to India to get us married. My twin
and I got married within two weeks apart. We went for our
honeymoon together with our husbands to Goa.
Both of our husbands had jobs in Bombay, India then. It gave my parents
the assurance that we always would
be together even though we had married into two different families. Our
twin bond become stronger as we were staying away from each other. We
never missed a day without speaking or meeting each other. Once,
during our
stay in Bombay, both of us fell sick at the same time. Our husbands were
taken by surprise, seeing us in the same state, realising then, that
their wives will always share this special bond that can never be
broken.
Today, both of us have two children each, a boy and a girl, not twins!
But we still share a lot of common
similarities and continue to amaze our relatives and friends with our
twin telepathy and bond. The other day, we
even bought our husbands exactly the same card for Valentines Day
although we were in two different cities.
Identical twins all over the world will agree with me when I say
"Twins Are Magical and Mystical In Every
Way"!!!
The
Unique Bond Of Twins
By
Sabeena Varkey
It
was only a month before my mom's delivery date that her doctor detected
another fetal heart
beat. Immediately, our excited parents rushed out shopping for another
set of baby stuff. They were
getting ready for the arrival of their first born, a pair of twins!
Over the years it seemed that a bond grew evident between us, sisters.
It's origin, which began with the
sharing of a common placenta right in the confined space of our mother's
womb .According to an old African
folktale, I was sent out first, to "checkout" the outside
world before my twin sister followed.
Ever since I remember, we both have shared a very unique and
extra-special bond. This bond became more
evident when we were separated by marriage later in life. We were both
alike and our dad went to great
lengths to amplify this by dressing us up exactly alike. Once I clearly
remember him pulling out a button
off my sweater at the airport because my twin lost one of hers!
We both had each other all the time. We played together for hours and
did not miss any other friends. We had
our share of usual fights and always defended each other once any
outsider intervened. We always made up
pretty quickly. We both complimented each other.
Together we made an inseparable team. We always talked together
especially while narrating an event to a
friend or family. During our Masters program, we went to two different
departments in the same university.
This was the initial separation. Our friends always mistook us for each
other. We had fun exchanging
various incidents later in the day. The bond we shared became more pronounced
when we got married and begun to lead separate lives. Our husbands were
intrigued at the way we read each others minds. The so-called
"telepathy" effect between identical twins became more evident. We
would know exactly when each other rang the doorbell or called on the
phone. At various meetings, we ended up wearing similar clothes unknowingly.
We
have even fallen sick at the same time. Our common friends receive their
birthday cards from us on the
same day. We also do end up calling them on the same day. When we call
our parents from different locations,
we narrate similar events and share the same thoughts with them. Friends
always notice that we sound the
same on the phone.
There are innumerable small incidents that signify this bond we share.
Till this date, we both keep in touch nearly
everyday and we usually sense how each other feels before even
listening.
This special bond is yet to be attributed to any scientific basis but
left as another mystery of nature. We are both
fortunate to continue to experience this bond, unique only to identical
twins!!!
|
