To Adopt Or Not

Rajesh and Kritika were classmates in junior college. They were laboratory partners. They used to do their science practical together. While working together in the lab, they struck up a thick friendship. Each could not do without the other. They were always together. They liked each other's company so much that while they were in college, they would stay with each other all the time. However once they graduated, they did not keep in touch with each other. This was hard to believe for their friends because while in college they were actually in love, so much so that they were talking about marriage.

Rajesh, the son of a doctor, went on to study in medical school, while Kritika, the daughter of a businessperson, was married off to another wealthy businessman, Krishnakanth, who was richer than her father. In spite of staying in the same city, they hardly met. In fact, they did not know that they were staying in the same city. Rajesh joined a prestigious hospital and began his internship there, while Kritika became the mother of a daughter after marriage. Kritika gave birth to a child in the same hospital where Rajesh was doing his internship. When Kritika was being discharged post the birth, she happened to meet Rajesh.

They were happy to see each other and decided to meet more often. Each took the other's cellphone number so that they could keep in touch. Rajesh finished his internship and joined another prestigious hospital to do a job as a visiting doctor. He used to also take care of his father's dispensary. Rajesh got married to Ragini, a girl from a poor family. Although, Ragini was educated, she was not skilled enough to find a job outside. Therefore, Rajesh decided that she would look after the house while he would do the earning for the house.

Unknown to Ragini and Krishnakanth, Rajesh and Kritika were still in love, even after all these years of leaving college. Even after three years of marriage, when Rajesh and Ragini could not have any child, they visited a gynecologist. Ragini appeared to have blocked fallopian tubes while Rajesh was sterile. This meant, both of them could not have any children. However, if they committed to someone else, there were chances for them to have children. They tried with treatments like IUI and IVF; however they were not successful. That was when they decided to adopt a child. While they were contemplating this, Rajesh received a call from Kritika one day.

Kritika called him up and asked him for help. Her husband Krishnakanth was not traceable. Her visits to the nearest police station proved futile. Rajesh promised to help her. With his father's contacts, Rajesh found out that Krishnakanth was no longer alive. He went and gave this news to Kritika. The latter was devastated. She started worrying about their daughter and her future. Krishnakanth had suffered losses in business and some moneylenders were hounding him for the last couple of years. He did not speak to anybody about this because he could not trust anyone. He did not speak about this to his secretary, Gracy also. She too was aggrieved at her boss's sudden demise.

After the death of her husband, Kritika became alone in her household. Her in-laws were not supporting her. She was staying on because her husband Krishnakanth was supportive of her. Now that he was no longer there, her dependence on Rajesh increased as he was the only person she trusted. It appeared that her husband Krishnakanth had committed suicide as he was depressed after the losses in business. Kritika decided that she could not single-handedly look after her daughter. She began asking Rajesh to help her put her in a boarding school. She was five years of age now and was big enough to understand things. She wanted to stay with her mother and help her.

While all this was going on, Rajesh and Ragini decided to adopt Kritika's daughter. However, Ragini did not know that Kritika and Rajesh were college lovers. Kritika had fallen on bad days as the moneylenders who were harassing her deceased husband had now started harassing her. She knew nothing about her husband's business and therefore was at a loss to understand how to manage things. She decided to sell off his office and clear off the debts. However, then she thought how she would survive if she sold off the office. This was when she decided to take the business into her own hands.

However, she decided to keep her daughter in a boarding school, as she wanted support to bring her up, which was not coming from Rajesh. Rajesh and Ragini were busy in their own lives. Finally, one day, Ragini called up Kritika and asked to speak to her daughter. She made friends with her daughter. Rajesh also did likewise. They started visiting Kritika's house to meet her daughter. This continued for six months. Finally Kritika had to take a decision whether to keep her daughter in a boarding school or keep her with herself. Kamini, her daughter, was beginning to grow stubborn day by day.

She thought, the best way to teach her a lesson would be to keep her in a boarding school. Rajesh and Ragini did not like this idea and they suggested that they would like to adopt Kamini. Rajesh was hesitant initially. However, when he saw that Kritika was going to admit her to a boarding school, they decided to adopt her. They went through the procedure. Finally after one year of their befriending Kamini, they became her proud adopted parents. Rajesh was initially hesitant because he did not want Ragini to know his and Kritika's college love story. However Kritika promised Rajesh that she would not tell anything about their past to Ragini.

Rajesh was initially having a doubt. However after Kritika promised him about keeping quiet, he decided to take the responsibility of Kamini. He brought her to their house and she began staying as Rajesh and Ragini's daughter. Rajesh's doubt about whether to adopt or not was clear.