Chp 608. TF2 Mayflower cosmetic updates

I really don't know what I was thinking. I woke up this morning, saw the new "Mayflower" update notification when I opened TF2, and I was like, "Heyyy, lemme unbox a couple of them, I might end up getting an Unusual or Strange item!"

Me. Trying my luck at unboxing rare items. What the hell was I thinking.

I buy my Strange cosmetics or weapons directly from the community market, because all my friends keep telling me the chances of unboxing a Strange or Unusual item is extremely rare, and that I will save much more if I buy them directly online. Yup, some of them are expensive, but at least the certainty of getting that item is 100%.

Anyway, like I said, it was a crazy morning. And I decided to try my luck.

As is the case with any TF2 unboxable items, the crate itself is quite cheap, it is the key that is bloody expensive. In Indian rupees, a key cost 172 bucks.

And here is a clever marketing strategy TF2 uses. If you buy 8 keys, the total amount is just not enough to avail of the free gift. You get a free gift on every purchase of Rs. 1379 or above. Buying 8 keys costs Rs. 1376, just 2 freaking bucks shy of the free gift. What a dick move by their marketing strategists :) And of course buying another key makes you overshoot that target by a large margin, so you have no other option but to buy the cheapest item possible in order to reach that target. 

In my case, I bought a bagpack expander since I require it anyway. And so with that, I was eligible for the free gift.

I took a long hard look at my shopping cart, then thought of the amount I already spent on my Life Insurance premium this month, along with my rising electricity bill because of the summer heat, and it made me really really wanted to cancel that transaction.

But then I thought of the chance of unboxing an unusual item. Yeah I can go one or two days without eating if I end up broke because of it, but it would be worth it if I unbox an Unusual item.

And so, yeah, I clicked the dreaded "Checkout" button…

I felt my wallet go lighter from the back of my bum, even though this was an online transaction.

And then I got the items…

Yeah, eight Mayflower cosmetic keys, along with a free gift and a bagpack expander. Now it was time to buy the Mayflower creates from the community market.

As we all know, TF2 always lies when it comes to community market costs. :P The "starting cost" mentioned in the game is never the same once you go to the actual community market.

In this case, TF2 said the "Mayflower cosmetic case" starts at Rs. 0.18

But once at the market, you can see it was selling at around Rs. 10 or more…

And my oh my, it was selling like hot cake. The price was fluctuating continuously as people kept buying it quickly. I too failed a couple of times because by the time I clicked on it, somebody had already bought that item before me, and then it took some time to find a seller with that exact same cost.

Eventually, I bought eight cases with a price ranging from Rs. 11 to Rs. 15.

And so it was time for the grand unveiling…

The first item I unboxed was "The Airdog" for Scout.

The next item was the "Squire's Sabaton" for again Scout…

Then came the "Courtly Cuirass" for Scout once again…

Fourth item was the "Scoped Spartan" for Sniper.

After that it was "The Surgical Survivalist" for Medic…

Next was "The Demo's Dustcatcher" for Demoman of course…

After that I got yet another "Courtly Cuirass"…

...followed by yet another "The Demo's Dustcatcher".

So all in all, out of the eight Mayflower cosmetic cases, I unboxed 4 Scout items, 2 Demoman items, 1 Medic item, and 1 Sniper item. Not to mention two of those were repetitions. And NONE of them were Unusual or Strange. I felt my heart tighten and blood pressure rise immediately. Damn… such a bummer.

Anyway, that's the LAST time I'll ever spend money on keys.

I am very disappointed, but at least they aren't so bad. For example, let's take a look at my scout… He looks kinda badass medieval with the "Courtly Cuirass" and "Squire's Sabaton", though "The Airdog" doesn't match at all. If only I had unboxed the "Herald's Helm" to complete the set…

As for my Medic, I think "The Surgical Survivalist" kinda matches pretty well with my existing "Dapper Medical Monarch" and "Berlin Brain Bowl" headgear.

And then here's my sniper wearing the "Scoped Spartan" cape. I really am not a fan of cape cosmetics because they prevent you from equipping secondary weapons like the "Razorback", "Cozy Camper" and "Darwin's Danger Shield".

Finally, my demoman. I think "The Demo's Dustcatcher" really matches well with my "K-9 Mane" and "Shin Shredders", don't you think too?

And so, that was me unboxing eight Mayflower cosmetic items. Even though I was disappointed, I saw a couple of recent YouTube videos where people did the same thing and unboxed almost the same stuff that I did. So yeah, in a way, knowing I am not alone in my misery kinda makes me feel not so sad anymore :D :P

Cheers then…

Chp 607. The Second One

I'm gonna say it out right here. Yesterday was May 2nd, and yesterday, most of us watched the 2nd episode of Game of Thrones, season 6.

This post may contain some spoilers, so do stop reading if you haven't watched the two new episodes of season 6 yet.

Two episodes into the new season of Game of Thrones, and frankly speaking, I'm still not feeling the excitement and rush. The zing. Sure we saw a couple of important characters die… S06E01 gave us the death of Prince Doran Martell, Captain Areo Hotah and Prince Trystane Martell. And S06E02 saw the death of Lord Roose Bolton, Lady Walda Bolton and King Balon Greyjoy. Those were the rulers of three different kingdoms who just died. And yet, their deaths were nowhere as much of a shocker as S01E09 was when Ned Stark was beheaded. Or the infamous "Red Wedding".

Instead, I think the only scene that shocked me in the first episode of season 6 was the revelation of Melisandre's true form, and from the second episode, it was the revival of Jon Snow. But by then, I wasn't exactly surprised. With so many rumors and conspiracy theories doing the rounds and the way that revival scene was played out, I was expecting him to come back to life anyway.

Rather than shocking me, I was actually filled with a couple of questions. Like for instance, in episode 1, how did Prince Trystane's cousins Obara and Nymeria came on board the ship to assassinate him, when they were clearly seen seeing Jamie Lannister off last season (assuming Trystane was in the ship with Jamie otherwise there was no way he could have known Myrcella had died)? In episode 2, during Bran Stark's flashback journey, I wonder how he was able to recognize his young dad and uncle Benjen Stark, including his aunt Lyanna, considering, you know, they didn't have any old photographs to let him know how they looked like as kids :P And Bran saying he recognized his aunt from her statue in the crypt was kinda lame because we all know that statue hardly resembled any proper face :P And what about Gendry, is he still rowing his boat? See, so many questions.

But of course my favorite scene from episode 2 was this, which made me laugh out so much!

(Varys looks disapprovingly at Tyrion drinking)

Tyrion (looks at Varys): "If I'd lost my cock, I'd drink all the time."

(then looks at Greyworm and apologetically said): "... meaning no offense. He makes dwarf jokes, I make eunuch jokes."

Varys: "I do NOT make dwarf jokes."

Tyrion: "You think them." (gives Varys the eye)

…..

Tyrion: Dragons do not do well in captivity.

Missandei: And how do you know this?

Tyrion: That's what I do. I drink and I know things.

….

(terrified Tyrion trying to free the dragons)

Tyrion (to the dragons): I am here… to help. Don't… eat… the help.

…..

(after removing the dragons' shackles)

Tyrion (to Varys): Next time I have an idea like that, punch me in the face.

…..

Lolz, you gotta love Tyrion. I'm sure things are going to get more exciting in the next few episodes, but until then, I must admit it had not been up to my expectations at all.

On the other hand, another TV show had just completed its second episode yesterday as well, and I totally love it so much. "Silicon Valley" season 3. And I think it is a very under-rated show. Or maybe I'm just saying that because it is something I can relate to because of my past experience in the Start-Up industry.

But the humor, the sarcasm, the witty replies and reactions, the nerd dialogues, I really must say this is one of the best TV shows in recent time.

The way the sales team "suddenly appeared" in the second episode, and how they tried to control engineering and production was utterly hilarious, and I'm sure many of us could relate to it. I experienced that in advertising (the eternal Creative Dept. versus Client Servicing Dept. war) every day, and I still experience that even today after working as a Game designer.

Hence if you haven't watched "Silicon Valley" yet, I really suggest you do. Don't assume that "Game of Thrones" is the only TV show currently worth watching :P You won't regret it (Another new show I would totally recommend is this new mini-series show called "The Night Manager". Just 6 episodes but it is bloody awesome. It's the best mini-series I've seen since "Narcos" last year).

And speaking of second, well, Spurs drew with Chelsea last night, so Arsenal still has a chance of finishing second this season! :D Meanwhile, because of that draw, Leicester City are now the new Premiere League champion this season! A big congratulation to them. I am really proud of their achievement.

Since Leicester City won because Spurs and Chelsea drew last night, technically, this means Leicester City had won the league at Old Trafford (where their last match was held)! Imagine that, being one of the "cheapest" squad and yet winning the title at the home of a team whose total squad value this season is 450 million pounds! Wow. If I was a ManUtd fan I would be so utterly utterly embarrassed. :P

Will get back to work now and catch y'all later. Until then, I'm gonna start using this phrase, "That's what I do. I drink and I know things" everywhere I go! Lolz. Cheers :)

Chp 606. All I want for my birthday…

So last week was my birthday. I turned 36.



When your birthday falls right in the middle of a crucial Sprint review week, well, it sucks… All the plans you have made before, simply just… poof… disappears. Or should I say, crash, boom, bang. :(

But things weren't all that bad…

My mom and niece were also in town, but as I mentioned earlier, since we were in the middle of an important sprint review where we had to showcase all the work we had done so far to our CEO and other stakeholders, I had to cancel my planned leave and birthday trip to Lavasa. I'm sure my mom and niece would have loved it :(

But I did manage to take a break from office during the day and rushed home in the afternoon to take my mom and niece out for a nice birthday lunch. Since time was of the essence, I took them to Arthur's Theme.







I also had to pay my insurance policy premium on that day as it was the last date! Lolz, talk about multi-tasking. So after I had lunch with my mom and niece, I made a brief detour on my way back to office to make my premium payment.

That was when I learnt it the hard way that one should NEVER fill up application forms or cheques on their birthday!

I was so accustomed to writing the year of my birth whenever I write the day and month of my birthday that I ended up writing 21.04.1980 everywhere instead of 21.04.2016.



I had to reapply for new forms and filled them up again (wasted another 30 minutes or so), including writing a new cheque! Aaargh.

Back in office, it was back to the grind. And then at 5 PM, our HR called all of us to the cafeteria, where we had the traditional birthday celebration. All my colleagues wished me a happy birthday, sang a birthday song while I cut the cake, after which we also had vada pav as snacks. 





And then once again, it was back to work inside. I was finally able to go home at around 11:30 in the night, where there was a nice dinner waiting for me at home. My mom and niece had already slept though, as it was very late by Mizoram's standard.

So yeah, that was basically how I spent my birthday. Nothing great or extraordinary, but still filled with a lot of pleasant memories. I always hide my birthday on Facebook and other sources, so I am really thankful to those who still wished me on my birthday. Thank you all so much once again.

Now that I'm 36, am I too old to desire a birthday present?

What is the one thing I wish I had for my birthday?

As a 36 years old gaming freak, the one thing I really wanted for my birthday, and which I had been eyeing for a really really long time, was this…



A "Catastrophic Companions" cosmetic item!

OMG, they are so adorable, and will make the perfect outfit to wear after bludgeoning somebody to death with a bat. It can be worn by all TF2 classes, and just look at how awesome they look in it! 



Those three cute kittens clinging on to the wearer! *sigh*

Unfortunately, yeah, as is a rule in any freemium games, you gotta pay for the good stuff.

The "Catastrophic Companions" cosmetic costs more than 4 grand INR. Dayymm…



Hence that is something I would loveeeee to receive as a birthday gift.

4 grand is too much for me to spend on cosmetics, that too with no "strange" properties attached to it, especially since I don't have any items worthy of a good trade.

The other day, my Mizo TF2 friend Than Moya managed to unbox a couple of cool "unusual" weapons. I've never tried unboxing my crates because keys are expensive. But after completing the recent "Tough Break" campaign, I had a lot of weapon and cosmetics cases lying in my backpack.



And so I decided, what the heck. Lemme go for it, I might unbox some unusual items too!

Since TF2 market offered a FREE ITEM for every Rs. 1379/- spent in a single purchase, I bought 6 Tough Break cosmetic keys, 2 Tough Break weapon keys and 1 backpack expander, for a total cost of Rs. 1445. That was the most I had spent on TF2 so far.









With that, I was ready to unbox -



I said a short prayer, and then with my fingers crossed, I started unboxing them one by one…

*drumroll*

And here are the items I unboxed…



















Well… it was disappointing that I didn't unbox any unusual items. But still, most of them were worth much more than the cost of the keys I bought, and I needed such cosmetics anyway, so overall I wasn't disappointed.

But I won't be making such a purchase again in a long time…

More than unusual items, right now, my greatest desire is the catastrophic companions cosmetic set. Because like I mentioned before, them kitties are so adorable. And another reason is that, I'm still pretty much an amateur in TF2, clocking just 500 hours of gameplay. I don't deserve to wear an unusual hat or wield an unusual weapon yet, especially since people with such items are automatically considered to be pros and expected to carry the team forward… something that I can definitely not do (yet).

So until then, cheers, and always feel free to contact me if you want to buy me the catastrophic companion cosmetic as a belated birthday gift! :D

Cheers!

Chp 605. Home chef pop-up: CKP cuisine

So last Sunday, I took part in a home chef pop-up event organized by "The Secret Chulha Pop-Ups" at Prem's, Koregaon Park.

These "home chef" pop-ups are extremely unique and infrequent events where a particular cuisine belonging to a particular community are prepared and served to invited guests. Limited seating of course, so one must book in advance. This is the kind of food you'll normally not find at any restaurant. 

The first pop-up I attended here in Pune was of course my friend and renowned Assamese chef Gitika Saikia's event (which I blogged about here: Assamese food in Pune). It was there that I was introduced to the good people of "The Secret Chulha Pop-Ups", Richa and Sandy Singh.

Back then one of the things we discussed about was that, as somebody from the North East, it didn't make much sense for us to attend a North East food fest because (a) it was not a new experience for us, and (b) the cost at such events was usually high, considering we could make similar dishes at home anyway. But for somebody not from the North East, it was definitely worth attending such events.

As for me, frankly speaking, I was more interested in non North East related cuisines.

And so on December 20th last year, I was invited by Richa, founder and owner of "The Secret Chulha Pop-Ups" to attend the next pop-up. That pop-up was based on Parsi food by Villoo Anklesaria, and it was held at Euriska, just 10 minutes walking distance from my apartment. Unfortunately, I was already in Mizoram then, for my vacation.



I was really looking forward to such a Parsi cuisine, but there was nothing I could do about it.

The next pop-up after that was a Sri Lankan cuisine held on March 3rd this year. I was back in Pune by then, and I really wanted to go for that event too. Except, one very big impeding factor - I couldn't get any of my friends to go with me. Being an introvert, it's really difficult for me to go to such events alone.



Sigh, such a mouth-watering menu above… 

And so, with a heavy heart, I had to decline.

Last week, when Richa sent me an invitation for the next pop-up, I was adamant on going. But again, my friends weren't interested. And so I told myself, "You can do it Kima. You can do it alone. Just go in there, stand next to a group of strangers you've never met before, and just laugh whenever they're laughing and you'll slowly blend in". 

Richa also assured me that she would make me sit next to her friends.

The seating arrangement, unlike the earlier pop-up I had attended, was "community seating", meaning, people weren't going to be segregated into different tables and groups. Instead, it was going to be one large continuous table with everybody seated together. That made it even more terrifying for me.

But the menu looked awesome, and thus began a war between my stomach and my head. In the end, my stomach won.



This time, it was a Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu cuisine, also known as CKP cuisine, prepared by Anuja & Parikshit Vivekar. According to their description -

"CKP is a sub-caste in Maharashtra and the origin of the CKP community lies in the Indus Valley from Kashmir to Sindh. It is believed that in the 12th century the families migrated and settled mostly along the Konkan Coast. CKP food habits have an influence of Kashmiri cuisine which can be seen from the use of poppy seeds (khus-khus) in the traditional cooking. Having settled along the Konkan coast, fish, coconut, kokum, tamarind are an integral part of the CKP cuisine. CKP cuisine is known for its flavorful food and a very distinct taste and aroma."

Yummm, it was too good not to miss.

And so I arrived at Prem's around 9 PM. Unfortunately, Richa's friends weren't there. Fortunately, she introduced me to Dean Lobo, who also came alone. Dean was a journalist at Times of India, and we immediately hit off well. We sat together in the large community dining table and got ready to feast.

As we sat down, we all got our personalized invitation kit, which included a detailed description of every food that was about to be served…



See, that's what I love about going to such events outside my "comfort zone" - I get to learn so many new things. As I read the origin and history of the CKP community provided in the envelope above, I learnt that they were Brahmins. And yet, the CKP menu was rich in non-veg. Dean explained to me that since the community settled in the coastal region, sea food became one of their main staple diet, along with meat, poultry and eggs.



I was like, "wow". I mean I'm sure we all had our fair share of Brahmin or Tam-Bram friend who was brought up in a strict vegetarian environment but secretly liked to eat chicken with you when their folks weren't around :) But I came to learn that night that there was an entire Brahmin community that prepared awesome non-veg dishes!

Just as the food was about to be served, Richa's friend Susan joined us. She was late and her husband couldn't make it, but she entertained us well with her deep knowledge about food and different cuisines. She had organized Parsi food events as well, and was really interested in Northeastern delicacies. I told both Dean and Susan about giskaa.com where I used to order NE pickles and meat from.



The course started.

First up was the "Kheemyache Pattice" for starters.



It's basically a mutton kheema cutlet, and it was deee-li-cious. It tasted like no other kheema cutlet I had before. This one was special and very different, and believe me, I had eaten a lot of kheema, not just because my name is kheema Kima.



After that came the first main course - the "Sodey Bharli Vaangi". As a layman, I would describe it as "brinjal stuffed prawns". However, it's not as simple as that, and such simplistic description would do no justice to the complicated and tremendous care taken to prepare the dish.



There was a warning disclaimer given for this dish - 

"A word of caution - Sodey like all other varieties of dried fish have a punch or a sharp smell/taste which is not necessarily suitable for all palates, so give it a shot but don't be disappointed if you don't like it this time, eventually you might come to like it."

Hah, you're telling me, a Northeasterner to tread with caution? Me, who had braved Nghathu, Nghapih, Ngari, Akhuni, Bekang? I was definitely not afraid to try it out :D 

I gobbled up an entire stuffed brinjal in one shot, and it was PERFECT!

Below is a photo of the same dish we had that night [source: Cloves Catering]





Next came the "Kaalya Masalyacha Kombdicha Rassa". The chicken dish. The description said, "This chicken dish is a CKP specialty, and it is made using a plethora of whole spices which are roasted at low flame with a tiny drop of oil, cooled and grounded. Tell us if you can identify the whole list of spices inside".



I, the amateur foodie, took a bite from the scrumptious chicken dish, ran my tongue around the meat inside my mouth, looked up thoughtfully with eyebrows raised and confidently said, "Coconut. I can recognize the subtle hint of coconut in this dish". The chef came up to us and smiled, "Sorry, there was no coconut used in this dish" :D ouch! :)

But coconut or no coconut, it was awesome. 

After this came my favorite dish of the night - the "Maasyacha Kaalvan". It was the fish curry made from red chilly powder and tamarind. Very spicy for most, just spicy enough for me. And as suggested, it was best eaten with rice.



The fourth main course was the "Kolambichi Khichadi". It was a masoor dal khichdi cooked with prawns, ghee and coconut milk! Yummmm. 

I love dal khichdi, especially non-veg ones. For a Mizo, "chicken dal khichdi" is the closest to our Mizo traditional dish called "arsa buhchiar". Back in Mumbai, I used to order chicken dal khichdi from Sheetal Restaurant regularly, but here in Pune, I haven't come across a single restaurant that serves non-veg dal khichdi. So imagine my joy when prawns dal khichdi was served that night! And of course the unique CKP ingredient added in it made it even tastier.



Sadly, my stomach was already stuffed from all the chicken and fish served earlier, so I could only eat one serving. Soon, it was time to end the feast and we were served "Ninaav", which was a sweet made from chana dal, whole wheat and condiments.



I found the sweet to be a little too rich in jaggery, hence it was difficult to swallow, especially after having eaten so much. I would probably rate it below average. However, I'm not much of a sweets guy, so the host shouldn't feel bad that I wasn't impressed by the sweet. That's just me. Overall, it was a fantastic dinner! I would give 5/5 ratings to all the other dishes.

Now looking at all the photos I took with my phone above, you must be wondering, geez, you're one of those people who always take a photo of the food they're going to eat? You're absolutely right! :D …and it felt good being in the company of others like me that night :)







:D

Also, while I interacted with Dean and Susan on my left, the group that was sitting on my right, a couple of really sweet old people, probably in their 70's, politely asked me if I was a chef! Maybe they assumed I was a chef because I was busy taking photos of all the food I was eating, or they overheard me talking about Northeastern food, or maybe it was because I was fat. Nonetheless, it was flattering to be mistaken as a chef. I smiled back politely and said I was actually a mobile games developer. I guess there was nothing much we had in common to talk about from there :D

As we left, it was time for Richa and the organizers to have their fill. Here is a photo I took of them just before leaving. A standing applause to Richa and the awesome CKP team of Anuja & Parikshit Vivekar for preparing such a wonderful and terrific cuisine. Salut!



I'll end this post with a few other photos from the "The Secret Chulha Pop-Ups" Facebook page. We were the 9:30 PM batch, but the ones below were from an earlier batch before us at 7:30 PM. Just look at them enjoying the food with so much satisfaction.







Definitely, I would love to participate in such an event again, trying out new cuisines and delicacies.

Let me know if you are interested in participating in the next event in Pune as well, and I'll let Richa know. Cheers for now then.

Chp 604. Farewell Shahnaz

From the messages that I have received since morning, the body of my friend Shahnaz Kimi will finally reach Aizawl today from Vienna. Her funeral service will be held at 1:15 PM at her family's house at Chawlhhmun later today.

I still can't believe she's gone. Two weeks ago, I received the shocking news that she had passed away in her sleep. News weren't very clear back then on how exactly she passed away, but one thing was confirmed though, that she was no longer with us.

I met Shahnaz online when I first started blogging back in 2004. Look through any of my blog posts and you will see many of her comments. She was present everywhere in the online world as well, from izawl.com to zoram.com and zawlbuk.net. We spent a lot of time playing frivolous word games with other community members. Then came the era of misual.com and she became one of our most active members.

She was a regular at the comment section of misual.com whenever the post topic was about Mizoram, culture, photography, travel and racial discrimination.

To be honest, some members didn't gel well with her. That was because, being a "half Mizo", she experienced what most Mizos had not gone through in Mizoram – discrimination right at home. To some people, she was a gentle reminder that even though we may face racial abuses and discriminations outside Mizoram from other Indians, back home, a lot of us are no different. She was the counter to an accusation, the other side of a coin, the devil's advocate. And she was my friend.

The admins of misual.com loved her. When Lal Jo's dad passed away, she was one of the first persons to call him up to convey her condolences. When my father passed away, she was again one of the first persons to contact me. Such was her thoughtfulness and care for the dearly departed. It pains me to know I won't be at her home today to bid her one final goodbye.

I still remember how we used to argue about her choice of blogging platform. Back then she was blogging at LiveJournal, while most of us Mizo bloggers were on blogger.com or WordPress. I tried my best to convince her about how user-friendly blogger.com was compared to LiveJournal, but she was adamant and continued to stick with LJ. She called herself "old-school" and didn't want "change" :) She did create a blogger.com account later so she could comment at various Mizo blogs, but her blogging platform continued to be at LiveJournal (her last blog entry being May 2009).

She was popular at flickr too, as she was an avid photographer. She loved travelling, and she's one of the strongest and steadfast women I've ever known. She didn't mind traveling to some new place at some corner of the world, even if she was alone. She had toured Mizoram a couple of times too, putting to shame people like me who had not even "discovered" most of Mizoram. Being adventurous was in her blood.

Unfortunately, that is the same blood that many Mizos tend not to recognize as one of our own.

But in the short years that I've known Shahnaz online, I will say with utter conviction that I've never met another person who cared more about Mizoram and the Mizo people, yet at the same time trying to "fit in". Yup, sometimes she did bring up controversial topics for discussion, but the sad thing is, some of us ended up attacking her "identity" rather than addressing the issue at hand. But in spite of all that, she continued to love her home and her people… do you really think we are worthy of such love?

As her LiveJournal blog is aptly entitled "My Land And My People", today I mourn the passing of a dear friend who cared so much about us.

I may not have known her for a long time like her St.Pauls classmates or close friends do, but the few years that I got to know her online filled me with complete respect for her. I did meet her once in person, and that was a very memorable day. It was the day the good people from lawrkhawm.com invited the two of us for tea at Synod office, Mission veng. After that, we spent the rest of the day together and she was extremely lively and funny. We laughed so much that day.

Those smiles are now nothing but a memory. But one thing I will continue to do is to live by the principles of Shahnaz and keep fighting for the rights of the oppressed and minorities. To stand up against racial discrimination and abuses, regardless of whom the victim is. To seek justice for those persecuted in the name of religion or race. To be the voice of the voiceless and the support for the downtrodden. And doing so will I know Shahnaz is smiling down on me from above.

Rest in Peace my dear friend. I know you will be missed so much by your family and close friends. My blog will also miss your insightful and genial comments. And most of all, Mizoram is going to miss its daughter who cared so much about the people. Fare thee well.