Twin delight with no dull moments

Nandita Rao loves red bangles. Smita Rao, her sister, older by 13 minutes, loves green ones.
Twin delight with no dull moments

Nandita Rao loves red bangles. Smita Rao, her sister, older by 13 minutes, loves green ones. Dhoni is Nandita's favourite cricketer, while Smita likes only sixers. Smita's favourite actress is Aishwarya Rai, Nandita says none can act like Saif Ali Khan. You will never have a dull moment conversing with the twin sisters – both 37 years old, but suffering from moderate mental retardation. You cannot leave their house in Koramangala without being photographed – their favourite pastime. “If you want, I can click another one,” Nandita says.

Their parents observed hyper activeness in the twins when they were ready to hit primary school in Delhi. Medical examinations confirmed that the twins had issues with their health and they were admitted to the Army Welfare School. “Mine was a transferable job and in 1983, my wife along with the kids decided to come back to Bangalore to join Sophias Opportunity School. Later in 1990, they were shifted to Spastic Society of Karnataka (SSK),” says their father, Wg Cdr (retd) B R Madhava Rao. At SSK, Nandita and Smita learned embroidery, screen printing, painting and stitching. “Even now the girls do some stitching. We have tried to make them as independent as possible. They can even buy bread from a nearby shop,” says Madhava Rao, a veteran Indian Air Force engineer and specialist in MiG 21 type of aircraft.

Both Nandita and Smita can operate computers and are currently employed at the Just Bakes outlet, managed by Asha School of Indian Army. “They are unable to travel by public transport. I regret not having trained them,” says Jyotsna Rao, their mother, a former teacher. They are really attached to their elder brother, who is working abroad. And according to their mother, the sisters keenly look forward to meeting him and playing with his children.

“The girls are pretty good singers and they love bhajans,” Jyotsna says, asking her daughters to sing few lines. With their ever-smiling faces, the sisters swing into action. For the next five minutes, the sisters sprung up a surprise with their ability to sing a melodious bhajan, with nothing pointing towards their illness. Vara Veena mrudupani vana ruha lochana rani...they nod their heads agreeing between themselves that the rhythm was on track.

Nandita says she is an expert at solitaire, and Smita loves listening to jazz on the radio. The sisters have a separate TV in their room but they cannot stay separated even for an hour.

“It is just not possible to separate them. Both of them are very concerned about each other. Smita is claustrophobic and doesn't use the lift. So, there are times when Nandita gives her company, climbing up even 10 floors at one go. Family support makes all the difference. What happened to my daughters is something unfortunate. We did everything we could do,” says Jyotsna. 

Jyotsna goes on to say that there was no time to worry and blame fate for what has happened, during their growing years. “I once took them to watch Hum Aapke Hain Koun movie in a theatre. But Smita got restless and that was the last time we visited a theatre,” she says.

The future is definitely something the couple have started to worry about. “We hope our son will come back to India. We have some plans in mind. It will be difficult for Nandita and Smita without us. Like every parent, we also live with the hope that they will become normal, one day. They still have no clue that one day we will have to leave,” says Madhava Rao.

The chit chat between the sisters, their father and mother continues as we step out. “They don't miss their walks inside the compound. Exact 30 minutes,” says Madhava Rao, with the precision of MiGs, which he dated once. He also thanks all the teachers who have taught his daughters, so far.

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