Baby Bloom...

Seems like the stork is busy visiting my cousins..!!!
And here I am , a proud aunt of many small kiddos, with a li'l girl born few weeks back and two more on the way, my aunt-ism is on a roll.
Congrats to all my sisters!!
And eagerly waiting for august for a new kid in the family!!!
Yay!!!

Echo 2010:Missing Engifest Tadka!!!

And finally it's done!!
The annual newsletter of IEEE-DTU is finally done after days of poring over articles, editing them, having a good laugh over them and banging my head in frustration.
Once again working for a magazine, collecting articles, editing them and designing them, I was filled with nostalgia over my Engifest Tadka days and sorely missed the whole team..!!!
From our impromptu laughter sessions, "uncoordinated high fives", (non)funny jokes and camaraderie, the ET team was the best I have ever worked on.
Taking this bit of nostalgia with me, i once again contacted some of my ET members for their articles and needless to say i wasn't disappointed.You guys rock!
The echo team has been great too,sending articles by the deadline and being supportive. Seeing that everyone was enthused over writing this and some were over excited, the newsletter increased from its usual 8 pages to 10.
And the best thing was that the whole newsletter is done much before the deadline.I rule!!! ;)
And not without the help of the guy who got everyone in, UT, special credit goes to him!
But still, me being overtly nostalgic, I miss the ET team..!!!
Here is a teaser of ECHO.

A little something

Entrapment

A short piece I wrote for the word "entrapment".

She cowered inside her imaginary tower, trying hard to understand what was happening. She knew she was not at fault and yet she was being blamed. Her heart thudded in her chest and her head throbbed hard. She sucked in deep breaths and swallowed hard, gritting her teeth hard to avoid speaking.
She had once again disappeared inside the dark abyss of her sanctuary and she knew it will take time for her to break through the barriers. She waited for it to be over and for her tormentor to retire. The mute spectators crowded around her in mild curiosity, none able to help her through. She struggled through the dark stormy sea alone, fighting the huge waves lashing all over her, going under and then surfacing.
It had been another era, many ages ago, now she was in light, free from the depths she had been forced to plunge into.But then it returned and she swiveled right into it all over again.
She sat contemplating her revenge, helpless. She could do no more and yet she thought of what she could if she had the chance. But then she saw her nemesis struggling hard and it all washed over her. Because sometimes, despite how we feel and how much we are troubled, she could feel the tug of blood inside her. For they both shared the same.
And despite the atrocities faced by her, despite what she felt and despite what they said to her, she knew she could not do it. She was trapped in an ages old web of duty, commitment and relationships. Relations, the unseeing bond which bound all humans, which formed the rules and norms of our actions. She suffocated in silent misery because the tug was too strong.The tug of blood.

A Family get-together: A doggy affair

Yesterday was like any other Sunday, lazy, warm and fuzzy until we decided to backpack our way to a family get-together at my uncle's home. Normal enough.But then my dog, Casper started throwing a tantrum(yes, a doggy tantrum!) and we decided to take him along.
So it was a family of four with a doggy in tow and two grandparents who set off to the uncle's house. Squished in a normal sized family car, Casper decided that he wanted to hog the whole of the AC of the car and set off, improvising on his positions till he had one paw on my leg, another on my sister's arm and yet another on my mother's lap. Now he was bang in the centre of the car, right in front of the ac with his white hair flowing all around him.he loved it and blissfully ignored the bumps and jerks of the road and the fact that he could barely manage to stand in that position he had fashioned and was constantly slipping.
We reached our destination, thankful to get out of the car as our cramped legs stretched after the two hour road journey.
We then went to pay a customary visit to another aunt's place and now had another cousin in the car with us. Sans our grandparents, we found enough space to play a game of cards and this time we forced Casper to sit in the co-driver's seat which he readily accepted much to his amusement. Our game was not yet over when we reached our destination and so we decided to continue in the sweltering heat inside the car.
Lunch was a standard affair as richie managed to spoil 3 Ferraro Rochers :( before finally getting the fourth one in his mouth.Before much tragedy happened, we three girls decided to get hold of our share of chocolates and then enticed Richie with a brightly wrapped silver coloured cereal bar.he liked it because it was the biggest of the lot.
We then locked ourselves in the bedroom for another round of our game as the adults chatted in the living room. And we managed an improvised version of blackjack improving our math skills. the house served as a reminder for the fun we had when our two other cousins lived there.
Missed them a lot yesterday and our game of Tableux,playstations, twix and the summer heat.
Hope to meet the two of you soon..!!!
And yes, during the return journey too, casper tried to stand right in front of the AC but we pushed him down on the seat.
 Humans 1: Dog 0

Sohrabuddin Sheikh Encounter:Evil or a necessary?

In the early 2000's Gujrat and Rajasthan were plagued by the tyranny of a local goon Abdul Latif. He soon paved his way through the underworld of the region carving a notch for himself as one of the most dreaded criminals. Later, as is with every underworld don, he joined hands with Dawood Ibrahim and went to join him in his exploits over the underworld of the country. He had a driver, Sohrabuddin Sheikh and as is the case with all such drivers he was a multitasker, a dreaded criminal and extortionist. In May 2000, he was kept under the police watch and it was discovered that he was responsible for storing huge caches of weapons and ammunition  involved in the 1993 Mumbai blasts.With enough evidence of his connections with the underworld and terrorist groups, he, along with his wife Kausar Bi were killed in an alleged "fake encounter".
This begs the question of how necessary was this encounter and who gains from it?
The police claimed that he was conspiring to assassinate chief Minister Narender Modi and his killing was justified.
Personally, killing of a dreaded criminal, who had around 50 cases against him and had an involvement in terrorism of the country is justice to the world. He was wanted in many countries and despite the shady nature of his death, they rejoice it. But human rights activists, anti BJP people and pro congress individuals have made it into a big political mess of allegations and finger pointing.
What people all over should realise is that even if the encounter was fake and staged, it was to kill a dreaded criminal who would have helped along with many other terror hits in the country. by killing one person, the police saved millions of innocent lives. But this is now a political game with the ruling party plotting to evict and convict the chief minister and his aides involved in the encounter.
Today one of his chief aides might be arrested and for me, it is a blasphemy. Something which should not ever happen.Sohrabbudin's death was a poetic justice and in doing so the country's goodwill was in consideration, whatever the given reasons are.
People should understand the circumstances and the fact that they are a tad bit safe now. he might have been a small fish in the terrorism and underworld nexus but maybe because of his death, they are now alive.

The Indian Race

Too much of crime TV has got my brain into a muddled mess. I think of situations where Indians are arrested or bodies of Indians are found and then I start to think of the classification system of humans.
As of today, the world classifies human beings as Caucasians,Blacks,Hispanics and Asians.
For a while I was under the impression that Indians are Asians for the simple reason of us being in Asia.But then I was informed that Asians are people with Mongolian features and we don't come close and the confusion reverted back in me.
A general perception of race is done on the basis of color. The world classifies human beings as reds, whites, yellows and blacks. Many popular literature describes Indians as coffee color people or browns.
I came across another method of classification based on chemical analysis of DNA. An L haplogroup present in varying quantities in different races might prove an effective means. Indians have a large quantity of this as middle eastern people(who bear striking resemblance to us!) have low amount.So maybe a color based classification is not right.
If we trace back our origins to the Aryans, it becomes apparent that we are from the Caucasian race although we fall better into the Hispanic category.
I am still confused.