Meethe Pal

11. Switched at birth - birthday OS May'24

Q/N - This one is for two of my dearest and very special readers who never cease to amaze me with their many reviews, UshaVijay5 and Reneeshah. Wish you both many happy returns of the day, in advance! May you have a day filled with love and laughter and a wonderful year ahead! ❤

--*--

It was a rainy night. The electricity supply was intermittent, causing frequent power failures. And the newly opened hospital in Lucknow didn't have generator backup.

In that condition two families were anxiously waiting for the arrival of the new members to their family.

The maternity ward in the hospital was stunned with groaning and pain-filled crying of two women who were having labor pains.

Amidst this tense scenario, and fervent prayers of the family members they heard small wailings of the newborns and both families heaved a sigh of relief. Both, for their dearest ladies finally free from labor pain and for the arrival of the babies.

And just at that moment, a power failure occurred.

The nurses and the doctors who were inside the room that had to be shared between both pregnant ladies hurriedly tried to safeguard the newborn babies.

And during that confusion, they switched babies!

Soon, the electricity was back on, as if it was out only so this destined switching could happen.

And Arvind Singh Raizada got the news that he was now a father to a baby boy, thus failing the bet with his wife that they would have a girl while Shashi Gupta received the news that he was blessed with a baby girl, fulfilling his and his wife's dream to have their own child!

Both families stayed blissfully unaware that their kids had been switched at birth!

While both the mothers did feel as if they couldn't connect to the baby handed to them immediately but convinced themselves that this was their first experience with motherhood and thus, they had felt so...

*****

18 years later, Delhi:

It was Arnav Singh Raizada's first day in college. And he was very excited about it. The reason being his mom had convinced his dad to let him drive their brand-new Mercedes to the college!

He was the first child to Ratna and Arvind Singh Raizada and had two younger siblings who were twins, Anjali and Aakash. While Arvind tried to reason with him, Arnav's mom often relented to give him whatever he wished. And thus, at the age of 18, he only knew how to boast the best of everything, the latest iPhone, the brand-new car, and the best college in Delhi! Arvind often worried how could his son not have a single instinct of saving money, or at least thinking of it despite being a son of a shrewd businessman like him!

And not just that, unlike his other two kids, Arnav had almost no resemblance in face or habits to either him or Ratna or anyone in their family...

It was Khushi's first day in college, and she was very happy as well as nervous about it! Her Papa had given her enough pocket money that she could take a cab, but she had decided to use the metro and save some bucks. Her Maa-papa's marriage anniversary was approaching, and she wanted to gift them something special!

Khushi was the only child to a small-sweet-shop owner Shashi Gupta and his wife Garima. After praying for and waiting for 10 years of their marriage, they had been blessed with a baby, their Khushi and thus had named her so! She was their happiness! That's why, despite being from a middle-class family, they always tried to give her everything best. But their daughter only knew how to save! She rarely demanded anything and even when they offered, she would convince how it was not a 'profitable purchase' as if she were a businesswoman!