This is truly mind boggling on a number of levels. Lakshmi Tatma was born two years ago in India. Afflicted by a rare condition called ischiopagus, Lakshmi's body had actually absorbed the organs and limbs of an incomplete parasitic twin. Lakshmi left the hospital today today, after a month of recovery from a 27-hour long surgery.

As it is, conjoined twins are a rarity, with only about an estimated few hundred pairs born globally each year. In the U.S., the rate is about 1 in every 200,000 live births. Ischiopagus twins are even rarer, but get this: Lakshmi was apparently born on the day devoted to Vishnu, the four armed Hindu god regarded as the preserver as the universe. She was named for Lakshmi, goddess of good fortune and beauty, also four armed and consort of Vishnu.

What's really amazingly wonderful and heart-warming about this story, is that despite being born in a poverty-stricken part of India, where female infanticide is a serious issue, Lakshmi was nurtured and protected by her parents, who refused to sell her to a local circus (yes, they came a'knockin', and who opted for surgery even though their daughter was regarded as the reincarnation of Vishnu. Her brilliant and compassionate mother had this to say:

Can I get an AMEN!? You know what else is awesome? A Bangalore hospital did the surgery pro-bono.

After a hugely successful surgery and a month of recovery, Lakshmi was sent home today, with doctors predicting that she won't need any future surgeries. I don't know about you, but that's one of the happiest endings I've heard in a long time.