Clearly, the possibilities presented by modern medicine have not breached their sanitised white precincts, for Kamal and Jawahar Gupta refuse to even consider separating the twins, the risks or chances notwithstanding. Even their decision to avoid surgery is not a calculated medical option; they simply do not want to disturb the divine forces.

But the Guptas are not alone in their belief. Since Monday night, a stream of people has been making a beeline for the nursing home, aching for a glimpse of what they too believe is an incarnation of god. Bearing offerings like fruit -- some even placing coins on the baby's bed -- they have turned the twins into an oddity twice over.

Says the proud father: ``Some of them are not satisfiedwith looking at the baby's face. They also want to see the feet or hands as they believe this will bring them luck.''

At the entrance to the small room, a nurse has been deputed to hustle visitors into an orderly queue and keep it moving. That way, more people -- including men, women and children -- can look at the child and pay obeisance. Though the cackle of voices does not cease, the baby appears oblivious to the commotion.

Born with two heads, one torso, two spinalcords and one pair of arms and legs respectively, the baby gurgles away in a separate cot where the darshan takes place.

Dr K D Patil, who runs the nursing home, says if the twins are separated, one will have to be sacrificed. But there are complications here as well since the baby has only one pair of arms and legs, he told Express Newsline. Moreover, he explains, the chances of survival would be bleak as some of the external and internal organs are not normal. ``Therefore, surgery will be of mere academic interest,'' he says.

For themoment, the twins are doing well but it is difficult to determine the sex of the child since the baby has both male and female secondary sex characteristics. Only detailed investigations like a CT scan would reveal other complications, the doctor says, adding that there have been offers for a free CT scan and an ambulance service.

Though the rush of visitors -- some motivated by sheer curiosity -- has thinned since Monday, people are still arriving in large numbers from as far away as Chembur and Malad. Dr Patil says this could pose a risk to the twins, who could contract an infection.

Though he says the baby is ready for discharge, Kamal will have to be kept under observation for a week as she has undergone a Caeserian section operation. In any case, Jawahar, a channa shop vendor at Bhayander, insists that both baby and mother will go home together. ``Why deprive people of a glance at the devi ka avataar?'' And no, he says emphatically, these twins will not be separated at birth.