30 years on,woman returns to orphanage that gave her new life

Nicklas accompanied his wife Linda for the first time to the orphanage in Pune from where she was adopted 30 years ago.

I feel I love them more and more,” says 46-year-old Nicklas Berg who held his adopted son Yogesh and daughter Trupti at Shreevatsa,an adoption centre run by the Society of Friends of Sassoon General Hospital (SOFOSH). Nicklas accompanied his wife Linda for the first time to the orphanage in Pune from where she was adopted 30 years ago. On Wednesday they,adopted two children (both siblings).

Linda was known as Megha when she was brought here way back in the 70s. Born in 1975,Megha was adopted when she was a year old by Tommy and Eva Rosvall from Sweden,says Dipika Maharaj Singh,vice-chairperson of SOFOSH. This is the 10th such case where a child from Shreevatsa who has been adopted has returned to the home to adopt other kids. “Perhaps this is their way of remembering their roots and the fact that they had spent time at their first home,” says Madhuri Abhyankar,director of SOFOSH.

There were a total of 85 adoptions in 2011,of which five children were adopted by couples from abroad,24 by Non-Resident Indians and 56 by locals in the country. Among the Indian adoptions,29 girls were adopted vis-a-vis 27 boys while four girls were adopted by couples from abroad,says Sangeeta Pawar,adoption coordinator at the centre.

It may have taken more than 30 years for Linda to visit the orphanage where she was kept for a year before being adopted by the Swedish couple,but she says,“It just felt so natural and easy to come here and adopt our children”. Linda works as a purchase assistant at a private firm in Malmo,Sweden. “I met Nicklas 12 years ago. We lived as a couple for nine years before tying the knot three years ago,” she said.

When the adoption agency in Sweden sent photographs of four-year-old Yogesh and one-and-a-half-year-old Trupti to the couple,they immediately agreed for the adoption. “It was love at first sight,” smiles Nicklas. He then flew down with Linda and stayed for a month with the children. “We will rename them Simon and Sindra,” says Linda,who now plans to take time off to be with her children.