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Below are the 5 most recent journal entries recorded in
AJ Bakshi's InsaneJournal:
| Thursday, July 16th, 2009 | |
| 12:16 am | 004 If Amy finds this before I talk to her about this, I'm so incredibly dead. I'm Yeah. I'm twenty years old, and getting married. I did not get paired in the lottery, I did possibly the most insane thing in my life to date and asked a girl that I'd met once at the deli if she'd marry me. I'm still not sure what exactly possessed me to do so, but I think it will work out. She's amazing. And somehow she didn't pepperspray me when I proposed, so that's got to be a good sign, right? The way I see it is this: She puts up with me until I redeploy in January. We both get financial support from the government in the meantime, then I'm out of her hair and she can go on with her life. Best of all possible outcomes...I think. Besides, I think it would be good for Amy to have someone who's not Mother or myself in her life. So I called the court, and they've scheduled a time for us next week. She's not telling her parents, and I doubt my mother would care...but I still haven't worked up the courage to tell Amy. She's going to kill me. She's going to kill me so hard they're never going to find all the little bits. |
| Saturday, June 27th, 2009 | |
| 10:32 pm | 003 I think my sister secretly hates me. She keeps threatening to make me learn this dance. Teenage girls are cruel and evil beings. In other news, I might be about to do something very stupid. Wish me luck? |
| Sunday, June 14th, 2009 | |
| 7:28 pm | 002 ميړه په عمل څيروه ، غټ او ووړئي مه څيروه Look at a man's deeds, not whether he is tall or short. Reading the news out of Socorro today really makes me sick. Moving on. Amy's doing well, really excelling in physical therapy. She's going to be going more now that school's almost over. She's going to be a senior next year, which great for her. We never even hoped that she could get this far. I might cut back my hours at the deli so I can spend more time with her before I'm redeployed in January. It's strange to think that when I was Amy's age, I was being recruited. Now, I'm not even 21 yet, but both of us stand a chance of getting paired. I think if there were a way for me to at least get Amy back to Kashmir, I'd totally do it. Me, I just have to hold out until I get re-deployed, then I'm safe for another tour. But now I've got the house alone to myself for the evening (Amy's studying for finals), and I think I have just the plan: Indiana Jones marathon. Anybody game? |
| Saturday, June 6th, 2009 | |
| 11:56 pm | Today's Pashto Proverb: دوست په تنګسه کښۍ څرګندېږي، نه په خورنه کښۍ Or, in English- The friend appears in hard times, not at big dinners. I've yet to find a proverb that discusses hard times and big dinners, but I'm working on it. The deli is...boring as usual, but at least Mr. Kim fired the ass who kept spitting in the salads. It means I'm working more hours until we hire someone new, but as long as I'm off when I have to pick Amy up from therapy, it's all good. We could use the extra money, Amy's got an appointment for senior photos later this month, I'm expecting to have to shell out for that. Got an email from my old squad leader, complaining about the new interpreter. He wanted me back, which I guess is sort of a compliment? But, I promised Amy I'd stay home for a year, and that's not a promise I'm going to break. And food service builds character...or something. Korean is going well, we've got some magazines at the deli that I read during break. I can now discuss fashion...which I'm not sure is a bonus. Japanese is harder, mostly because I don't have the auditory input I need. Maybe I'll start watching TV shows online or something. Anyway, it's my night to cook, and to convince Amy that I'm not going to do her Spanish homework for her. |
| Tuesday, May 26th, 2009 | |
| 8:39 pm | Application Application OOC Name: Nori Age: 21 Timezone: To be determined Contact information: Nori D 123 IC Name: Arjun Jaidev "AJ" Bakshi Age & DOB: 20; May 28th, 1989 Occupation: Army Linguistics Specialist (on yearlong leave), working at a deli Residence: Linden Square Apartments Immediate family: Jayashri Bakshi; 39 (mother) Amardeep "Amy" Bakshi; 16 (sister) Skills/talents: AJ’s a natural with languages, fluently speaking Koshur, Urdu, English, Pashto, Hindi, Punjabi, Arabic and Farsi. He can read a half dozen other languages, including French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. He has a natural eye for recurring patterns, making him excellent at recognizing and decoding code languages. He’s fairly good with computers, but distrusts them on the basis they are rendering people like him obsolete. Personality/quirks/habits: AJ’s fairly quiet, usually staying silent in a conversation until forcibly dragged into it. He has a surprisingly soft voice that he seldom raises. The first impression he gives is that of a shy and insecure young man. However, he is quite confident in his abilities, and is quite capable of taking charge of a situation. He constantly chews gum, and has an…unpleasant habit of swallowing it quickly when called upon to speak. Even though he can affect a variety of accents (especially in English), he prefers to speak with a distinct Indian accent. Once almost ambidextrous, AJ now favors his left arm, seldom using it unless absolutely necessary. He prefers to wear shirts that come down at least to the elbow. Likes/dislikes: AJ enjoys intelligent conversation, mint flavored chewing gum, tea, homemade Indian food, foreign films, and knitting (but only manly projects, you know). He dislikes anything cinnamon flavored, anyone but his mother or sister using his given name, bananas, and snow. History: Jayashri Bakshi was just nineteen, and finishing her first year at university when she found herself pregnant. The child’s father was her married physics teacher, and Jayashri found herself young and alone. She dropped out of school, moved back in with her parents in Srinagar, in Kashmir. And on May 28th, 1989, Arjun Jaidev Bakshi was born. Determined to complete her education, she left Arjun with her parents and re-enrolled in university. She dropped out after a semester and disappeared from Arjun’s life for almost three years. During that time, Arjun’s grandfather died. Jayashri showed up again when AJ was four, pregnant again. Her daughter Amardeep was born in 1993. Yashoda gave her daughter an ultimatum, shape up or stay out of the children’s lives. Jayashri left, and Arjun and Amardeep were raised by Yashoda. Left mostly to his own devices, Arjun had plenty of time to cultivate his natural ear for languages. He taught himself to read, and spent hours in the city’s libraries. As tensions began to rise in the disputed Kashmir region, Srinagar became a gathering place for insurgence leaders from neighboring Pakistan and Afghanistan, exposing Arjun to a variety of different languages. Arjun’s gawky appearance, shyness and lack of interest in any sort of sports made him the favorite for schoolyard bullying. He focused on his studies and was satisfied with having his younger sister Amardeep as his best friend. In 2001, everything changed. Yashoda had a stroke, and Arjun and Amardeep were left with no choice but to contact their mother. Jayashri had eventually found some stability, working as a lab tech at an American company. She had just applied for a transfer to New York, and rather than give up the promotion, took Arjun and Amardeep with her. Although New York City was nothing like Srinagar, Arjun settled into his new life fairly easily, relishing in the challenges of adapting to his new culture and decoding the languages of his classmates. He renamed himself AJ, and Amardeep started calling herself Amy. AJ continued studying, and skipped several grades. For the first time, he was actually challenged by school work, and he actually started making friends. Specifically a girl named Lorelei Smith. She was every bit as smart as AJ, interested in linguistics, and interested in AJ. They started dating his senior year. He graduated highschool at sixteen and he and Lorelei were accepted to Columbia. He was excited, Amy was thrilled, and Jayashri worried about the money. Despite money worries, he enrolled and was set to start in the fall of 2005. Then Amy was hit by a car. Amy was in a coma, and initial opinions were doubtful she’d survive. Worried beyond all belief, AJ withdrew from Columbia and started looking for a job to help pay Amy’s medical bills. When she finally awoke, AJ was overjoyed. But her legs were crushed beyond hope of repair. When not working at a deli, he spent all his free time with Amy, reading to her in the hospital or helping her catch up with her schoolwork. Suddenly more worried about money than his mother, he explored all options, including the Army’s interpreter program. His experience with Middle-Eastern languages made him an ideal candidate, and thanks to the Army’s new policy of looking the other way after obtaining parental permission, he was accepted and enlisted. He didn’t expect to complete the basic training in record time, or to graduate the top in his class- but he was most surprised by the rapidity of his deployment. Four months after enlisting, he was manning a communications station in Afghanistan. It was mostly boring work, endless hours monitoring and translating intercepted messages, but it left him plenty of time to keep in touch with Amy and Lorelei. When he turned 18, the Army sent him into the field to interpret for platoons. He didn’t mind much, but it did mean he wasn’t as able to communicate with his sister and his girlfriend. He didn’t mind that much either, as Amy was adjusting well and Lorelei was busy with university. He made plans to propose to her on his next leave home. As a member of the military on active duty, AJ was exempt from the lottery when it was announced. Lorelei wasn’t, and the first AJ heard about it was when he arrived back in New York for Christmas in 2007 with a ring and a proposal. A tearful Lorelei turned him away at the door, she’d been paired the week before. Heartbroken, AJ returned to Afghanistan and spent the next two years throwing himself enthusiastically into his work to forget about her, forgoing vacations and visits home. A bit too enthusiastically, as it turned out. In January 2009, the platoon he was attached to came under fire, and AJ’s upper left arm was shredded by shrapnel while attempting to cover a wounded soldier. He was recovering and preparing to go back into the field when the news reached him- a surgeon had finally decided to take Amy’s case. The decision was easy. He applied for a yearlong deferment, and moved to Seattle with Amy, where the surgeon was able to finally reconstruct her legs. Jayashri declined to move, and the siblings moved in to The Linden Square Apartments. Amy enrolled in school and physical therapy, and AJ got a job in deli. He started learning Japanese and Korean in his spare time, spending his days off in the gigantic Seattle library. But last week was Amy’s 16th birthday… PB: Dev Patel  Anything else: L3m0n JuIcE |
