Dream and Destiny:The Saga of Love, Faith and Betrayal. *Editing*

Chapter One

Days rolled, Mr.Agarwal's business began to entrench, and the profits began to pile up. Along with the business, their son Ankit Agarwal too grew up. They never failed to shower him with all their love. Mrs.Agarwal never knew that she had given birth to a baby girl along with the baby boy. Mr.Agarwal decided to let the secret die with him, but there was another person who knew about the birth and existence of the baby girl in blue blanket; the staff nurse.

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Some days after, when they visited the same hospital for their baby boy's check up. The nurse happened to stumble on Mr.Agarwal and asked about the baby girl. Mr.Agarwal was silent again. His silence was ominous. He had to do something before his wife get to know about this. The nurse read his silence and when she was about to speak something, Mr.Agarwal played the game, he threatened to break her family. The poor nurse, terrified, kept mum.

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'But she's your child after all, you're her father. You've to take care of her' the nurse managed to say, Mr.Agarwal was seeing red, but there was a thoughtful smirk on his face. He pulled out of a piece of paper and scribbled on it 'sanyukta agarwal, mother Teresa orphanage' he looked at it, striked off the agarwal after her name, on it and handed it to the nurse. The nurse was staggered. Million thoughts whirled her mind. Before she could speak something he threw a bundle of 50 thousand notes on her face,

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'Now on, you're her guardian. See that all her needs were met. And remember, one word out about me, your family will be destroyed' he said before he left. Then on, the nurse never spoke a word about it, but every month, she used to visit the orphanage with those bundle of 50 thousand notes Mr.Agarwal used to send her for his daughter's sake, without little sanyukta's knowledge, and used to see that all her needs were met.

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When sanyukta was 4, she used to ask the people who ever visited the orphanage, to bring her, her parents the next time they came, people would smile at her, nod and then leave, and then they revisit, but her parents never came. Whenever few people visit the orphanage wish to adopt her, she'd run to the back of the orphanage and would cry till she passed out and her adopters gave up on her, adopting other kids.

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Till 10, little and lonely sanyukta, would curl up in a corner of the worn-out orphanage's sleeping hall, draw vague pictures on floor with chalk, would write 'mom and dad' on them and would sleep on them envisaging her parents holding her. She never knew the world beyond the compound walls of that orphanage, she wore the shabbier clothes and went to the school in the orphanage where only one teacher was available for the 6 subjects, and played with the wrecked toys people would donate to the orphanage. There were days when she choked on the cheap food of the orphanage. The kids in orphanage had great food only once in a while, that too only when local bigwigs or few local politicians make their kids birthdays celebrate there. Whereas, her brother! Ankit Agarwal, son of Mr.Agarwal, lived his life to fullest, he never wore an outfit he wore once, and he never played with a broken toy. He went to international school, got the best education. That was his life. Full of luxuries. For being born as a boy. This was her life. Full of miseries. For being born as a girl.

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On her 5th birthday, she woke up to see the orphanage decorated impeccably beautiful with ribbons and balloons. She was all excited, thinking that the decoration was for her birthday. But her excitement drained when she learnt that there are birth days of a couple of kids whose parents were local big shots, to be celebrated there. Little Sanyukta was deeply saddened.

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However at ten in the morning Sanyukta watched a Maruti Zen pulling up in to the compound of the orphanage. In the car were Mrs.Agarwal and her son Ankit Agarwal. Mr.Agarwal was nowhere to be seen.

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Ankit Agarwal celebrated his birthday with those kids; he never knew that the poor little girl in scruffy frock standing at a corner was his sister. Neither did her mother know that the girl was her very own daughter. But for Sanyukta, it was different. She felt a vague comfort when Mrs.Agarwal was around. Unlike the other days she hadn't cried when Anju Agarwal tried to talk to her. The birthday celebration was completed finally and as usual the orphanage's chief mother had clicked a picture at the end before they left in which Sanyukta stood to the left of Mrs.Agarwal holding her hand, hiding her disheveled face behind her pallu. Sanyukta ran up to the car when Mrs. Agarwal was leaving and hugged her tight. Mrs. Agarwal kindly hugged her back and left, while little Sanyukta stood there, watching them leave and prayed silently for them to come back and take her along with them. But that never happened.