For the past eight years, the eight year old born-conjoined-twins Veena and Vani are living inside a hospital. Their separation by surgery, say the doctors, is very risky and dangerous. They have to grow up still to decide themselves, whether to opt for surgery or not.

Now the doctors in the hospital are of the opinion that hospital is not the best place for children to grow up. with this rationale, they have asked the Andhra Pradesh government to shift out the conjoined twins out of Hyderabad's Niloufer Hospital. "The children are growing up cut off from society. They only mingle with doctors, nurses and hospital staff. They only see disease and death. This is not healthy for their  psychological development," says Dr K Ramesh Reddy, a pediatric surgeon in Hyderabad's Niloufer Hospital.

It is with this concern that doctors at  wrote to the children's parents who work as farm labour in Warangal. But, the parents of the children are not ready to take them back. "Since we live in a rural area, everyone will peer at them and it will be difficult to control that. Besides, we work as labour, so it is not possible for someone to be with them all the while," says Murali, father of Veena and Vani.
The parents want the children home only after surgery and separation. But doctors say that is risky. The other option could be for Veena and Vani to be sent to a government-run home.

When asked if the twins want go to school, they both said yes; while Veena says she wants to be a doctor, her twin Vani desires to be an engineer. Veena and Vani are enthusiastic 8-year-olds, ever ready to smile. They need to go to school and need a normal social environment for their healthy psychological and emotional development. The question is, can the world ever give them what they want?