Ankur Pathak (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 27, 2014)

Indian-American author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, known for acclaimed novels like Mistress of Spices and Palace of Illusions, has alleged that the TV show Mera Naseeb, which is currently airing on Zindagi, plagiarises her book, Sister Of My Heart. Mera Naseeb was first aired on the Pakistani channel Hum TV on April 1, 2011 and the writer of the show Samira Fazal, even won an award for the screenplay.

When it started airing in India this week, the similarities between Divakaruni's 1999 book and the show were pointed to the author by a friend of her's.

Sister Of My Heart is the story of two Indian cousins. Born on the same day, they live together as sisters in a joint family with three mother figures. The book traces the siblings' struggles with outdated Indian customs, arranged marriages, separation, pregnancy and abortion. Divakaruni had followed it up with a sequel,The Vine of Desire, in 2002.

Divakaruni took to social media to lash out at the channel. "The story of my novel Sister of My Heart was stolen by Pakistani writer Samira Fazal & made into the TV movie Mera Naseeb which is now showing on Zindagi TV in India without my permission. I am extremely upset at this copyright infringement," she posted on her Facebook page on Friday morning.

The author has asked the channel to stop airing the show and is planning legal action against Fazal.

While the officials of Hum TV in Pakistan couldn't be reached for comment, Shailaja Kejriwal, Programming Head of Zindagi told Mirror, "I am not aware of this. All the shows that we air are acquired from Pakistan where they are pro duced."