#

The doors slid silently open and revealed a purple world—at least, that’s what Priya saw. Humanity now developed under many different skies, sending evolution in multiple directions. Eyes born on a red planet see things differently from those born bathed in green light. No matter the ‘real’ colour, Priya saw purple. She stepped to the edge of the pod and looked out over her temporary home.

The sky was filled with a mixture of pink-coloured clouds. They swirled in unexpected directions on unknown wind patterns. They were transparent above, fading in a gradient to light pink and then purple as they reached the ground. The planet was large, so the land stretched far into the distance before it met the horizon. The surface rose and fell smoothly in every direction. Unusually, there were no jagged rocks, outcroppings of stone, or even pebbles littering the landscape. Pinching her fingers together, a screen appeared in her helmet. She gestured to zoom and, for a second, didn’t think her instruction had been registered. Then she moved her head and saw the ground rush past. She was zoomed in; it was just that the ground appeared identical no matter the distance. She closed the screen and slowly scanned everything she could see. Identical. Everything was the same, smooth, undulating surface. No great mounds, mountains, or vegetation to be seen.

Crouching, she examined the ground beneath the pod. Expecting soil or rock, she found a regular diamond pattern. No diamond was the same, but they were similar enough. In the centre of each was a dark circular spot. Leaning forward, she saw one of the legs of the pod had settled into a depression in the ground. Twisting to see another leg, it was also sitting in its own special spot. It didn’t take much thought to realise that the pod’s weight was bending the surface and that she should prepare for a springy experience.

Purple and springy—this was new.

A loud crack shattered the silence. Priya hadn’t realised just how quiet her surroundings were until something broke through. She looked to the empty sky, locating the expected descending pod. New planets were dangerous places, so every expedition had two explorers. Once the first confirmed their safe arrival, the second descended.

Priya watched as the pod carrying her long-time friend and colleague, Leo, made last-minute adjustments before touching down a kilometre away. The display in her helmet provided detailed telemetry on something she could do nothing about. She waved a hand, and the zoomed view returned, tracking the pod as its jets fired. She watched the legs extend and touch down on the surface. Zooming in further, she saw the ground depress to accept the spacecraft, almost like it rested on a rubber sheet. Jets fired erratically to stabilise the lander. After a few seconds, all movement ceased.

Priya cleared her vision and keyed her comm. “Explorer One to Explorer Two. Copy? Priya to Leo. Did you enjoy the bounce?”

“Explorer Two here,” replied Leo in his deep, always-amused voice. “It was a little odd. What have I landed on? The whole planet looked as flat as anything from the air.”

“You’re safe and sound.”

“Any threats?”

“None that I can see. Suit isn’t registering anything microscopic attacking it, and I can see to the horizon.”

“Sounds good. Exiting now.”

“Stand firm!” Priya snapped. “I haven’t set foot yet.”

“Understood. Doors open. Will await confirmation.” A pause. “It’s very green, isn’t it?”

Priya smiled but didn’t reply—she really needed to stop airing her thoughts with people. Looking down, she watched as her booted feet walked down the metal step and onto the planet’s surface.

She had expected to feel some give under her weight, but it was no different to stepping onto any smooth floor. She jumped a few times, landing with an expected thump each time.

Leo’s voice came through the comm. “Looks pretty safe.”

Priya guessed she was being spied on and waved at Leo. She watched him leap from the pod and land heavily, staggering a little. She laughed. “You surprised your bots, didn’t you?”

A grunt came through the com. “My knees are shot.”

“You always have to go one step further.”

“You know me, P.”

Priya’s helmet darkened slightly as some of the clouds cleared away, leaving the blue-tinted light from the nearby star to shine on her and her pod. She glanced up and saw that the break in the clouds was currently only at her location. Despite the random atmospheric air currents, she was uniquely granted good weather.

Leo’s voice came through the comm. “You copy, Priya?”

“Yes. You can stop waving. I’ll go set some probes.”

“Great. I’ll get started on the soil samples. Call in fifteen.”

“Copy.” As she headed to the pod storage locker, Priya noticed the clouds had changed again. The sky above her was a regular grid of lines. Each cloud formed a perfect line in a different shade. Elsewhere, the clouds broiled and writhed. Directly above her, the sky was neat. Organised. Structured.

She pushed the observation aside; it was easy to be caught out by perspective and scale on a new world. Years of training forced her to ignore the strange and concentrate on establishing measurable parameters.

#

Fifteen minutes later, Priya erected a small tripod with a large sphere resting in a cradle. She tapped the controls and the sphere glowed yellow and rose to about a metre above the tripod. Satisfied, she turned and headed down the gentle rise towards her pod. As she walked, she looked out over the vast emptiness, still surprised at the absence of anything. She had stood in deserts on faraway worlds, but never before had she seen such an unblemished view. The lack of visual stimulation brought a calm to her thoughts. Even the clouds seemed quieter. Their ordered lines now stretched across most of the sky.

“How’s it going?” came Leo’s voice.

Priya quickly spotted the man in the smooth, unbroken landscape. “All good here. Just on my way back.”

“Sounds good. I’m starting the core collection. The drill is confused. It keeps mentioning organic compounds, but I’m overriding and it’s cutting now.”

Priya zoomed in on Leo as she walked. She saw the man beside a drill almost his size, its A-frame pointing to the sky while its teeth bored into the planet’s crust. A few hairs pricked up on her neck as her subconscious warned her something was amiss. She immediately halted and focused her attention on her colleague. Her concentration stopped her from registering her surroundings, which were rapidly darkening as the clouds thickened unnaturally fast, turning an opaque dark purple.

“Enhance view. Show movement,” she commanded. The view inside her helmet duplicated itself. The motion tracker was a simple filter that compared video frames. It showed black for no movement and white for any change. Leo and the drill appeared in monochromatic white slices as they moved.

He wasn’t alone.

What initially looked like static flowed from the ground on every side of Leo. Glancing back and forth between views, Priya could make out a rising mist or gas. “Leo. Immediate threat.” She saw the man straighten. “There’s something around you. Can you see it?”

“No. What do you mea…agh…” His voice cut out.

“Leo? Leo?” She watched as her only friend and colleague through time and space began wildly thrashing his arms as if he were fighting a swarm of insects. “Come in, Leo.” She saw him drop to his knees. “Respond!” He abruptly stopped moving, still kneeling upright on the ground, his head bowed forward and his arms hanging limply from his shoulders. Priya watched, her breathing rapid and shallow, as the white static on the movement display filled the view. She returned to the visual and watched in horror as Leo and the drill began tilting to one side and sinking into the ground as if the surface had suddenly become loose sand.

A warning alarm flashed for attention. Selecting it, Priya saw a damage report from the probe she had just set. She turned and watched as the probe descended out of view.

Priya set off at a run for her pod. Above her, the clouds darkened and released spots of moisture that wet the ground. In the distance, there was a deep grumble of thunder as electricity flowed through the atmosphere. She got within a hundred metres of her pod when it also began to be absorbed by the planet. Priya called on her suit to propel her with powered assistance. A few seconds later, she slammed into the hard round side of the only machine that would keep her alive beyond the suit resources. The impact was brutal enough to break a few ribs, which the nanobots immediately began repairing.

Priya saw that two of the pod’s legs were somehow absorbed beneath the unbroken planet’s surface. A look showed that the jets were still clear. Still clinging to the side, she snapped commands at her suit as the outside of her crystal helmet began running with whatever liquid was now falling in sheets from the sky.

Where had the storm come from?

She shook her head. “Emergency departure. Pod launch and hold at five hundred metres. Suit magnetise and attach.”

Both suit and pod reacted immediately. Priya was spread across the pod’s surface, arms and legs outstretched as her suit became one with the little spaceship. Then, the pod’s main engines fired up.

Multiple warning messages filled Priya’s display as the pod strained against its trapped legs. “Detach landing gear,” she shouted through gritted teeth. The pain from her position and her damaged body was intense.

Her stomach fell through the floor as the pod suddenly released its legs. Relief flowed through her as she escaped the danger. This was short-lived as the pod lurched first to one side and then abruptly halted its ascent. For a moment, she thought it had reached her requested altitude. A quick check of her display showed she was less than a hundred metres up.

Thruster heat warnings appeared.

She twisted her head as far as she could to one side. The sky broiled with swirling clouds, pouring rain, and flashes of discharging electricity. With each flash, she saw a fog surrounding her and the pod. It was uneven, and parts were thicker, almost like tentacles gripping her and her ship.

Despite the immense power of the thrusters, refined and improved over hundreds of years of human engineering, she felt and saw herself being dragged back to the surface. Ten seconds later, the pod finally exceeded the safety limits and the engines shut off. Priya closed her eyes, expecting to drop like a stone. Instead, she descended steadily until the pod touched back down.

Without the landing legs, the pod immediately rolled onto its back before sinking into the surface again. Priya deactivated her magnetic suit and leapt away from the craft. She stood only a few metres away and watched in despair as her means of contacting and returning to the mothership disappeared.

Only as the pod vanished beneath the surface did she realise her suit lights had come on. Aside from the flashes of lightning, the white beams from her suit were the only illumination on a suddenly dark world.

Seeing all options disappear, Priya fell back on her training and sat on the ground with her legs crossed. She blocked out the pain that wracked her body, closed her eyes, and began attempting to calm her mind. As she rejected thoughts of escape and rescue, she became aware that the sound of the rain started to ease. The raging torrent of thoughts flowing over the rocks of possibility gradually settled until she could visualise a vast, still lake. Around her, the pressure eased, and all sound faded away. Curiosity got the better of her, and she opened her eyes.

Once again, she sat in a vast, open landscape under an unbroken sky.

Then she saw the mist.

The same mist she had seen surrounding Leo rose around her. She decided against fight or flight and chose nothingness.

She relaxed and awaited her fate.

The mist grew thicker, and the same strands she had seen in the air began pressing against her. Probing. Feeling.

Abruptly, everything was grey. She felt momentary pressure on every part of her body; then it was inside.

Still calm, Priya watched as the mist filled her suit.

Then, it filled her.

#

Priya sat in grey nothingness.

“We welcome you,” She didn’t hear a voice. The words appeared in her mind.

“We have waited…waited…now you’re here.”

Thinking was difficult. It was like trying to run in a dream. “I…I don’t understand.”

“You will. We will. You are home. Bring the others.”

“Others?” She watched…no…she reached out through the mist. She flew up, racing at unimaginable speed through the atmosphere. A white spot grew rapidly as she hurtled towards the metallic shape of her former home.

“We shall greet them all. They shall become us.”

Priya reached forward, and grey fog flowed around the helpless ship—a ship filled with the hope of humanity.

She hugged the ship and pulled her family close.

“We are many.”

“We are one.”

“We are Priya.”

What does your typical workday look like?

I am a final year general surgery resident, working at a government hospital .

My daily routine has changed far from what I was doing in my first year.

I wake up at 8.30 AM. Brush my teeth, wash my face and do morning chores and run to wards.

Take rounds. These include previous day operated cases, admissions from yesterday night and cases that are going to be operated today. Since I am a final year resident now, most of the operations I can do by myself without any assistance. These include appendectomies, hernia repair, fasciotomy, hydroceles, amputations , circumcisions, disarticualtions, debridements, biopsies etc.

After taking rounds and deciding which cases should be taken today, I inform the consultants about the case I’m about to take. If they give permission, we shift the patients to the OT.

Generally, I take one of my juniors to the OT, to teach them. After all, they are going to take my place after 6 months. We ask the anaestheisist when to shift the patient.

Each operation is unique and takes variable amount of time. Foe eg, a hernia surgery will take 45 mins – 1 hrs, while fasciotomy will take 30–40 mins. Similar appendix will take 35–45 mins. Amputations will hardly take 15 mins. Any grafting will take 1.5 hrs.

I would love to share gross bloddy surgery photos, but my answer gets collapsed everytime I do so, so let it be!

Operations finish by 1.30–2.30 PM. After having lunch, I go to OPD at, 3.00. Since it is a govt hospital, u will see a swarm of pts, starting from simple dog bites to breast cancer.

OPD finishes by 4.30 , but seeing pts finishes by 5.00.

Somehow standing, I order my junior to finish all the discharges and send list for new admisions. Per day avg is around 13 admissions.

After having tea and a small evening nap, I go for evening rounds at 8.00 PM.

Looking after all the today’s operated case, I instruct them what to and not to do. Instruct the nurses what to do at night and take a quick round in casualty. There, one of my other junior will be posted and he informs me if there are any complicated cases.

Call it a night by 10.30. Have dinner by 11.00 PM.

But wait.

Abhi picture baaki hai.

See my first line.

3rd yr resident.

That means final exam round the clock.

So, study session starts from 11.00 PM till, 5.30 AM or sometimes even 6 . 00 am. I barely sleep for 3–4 hrs a day, and am completely healthy. I never cry if I don’t get 8 hrs sleep. If you don’t hustle in your prime, you won’t be able to secure a luxury future.

And I’m completely in love with my job. Not a single moment passes without praising GOD the wonderful profession he made me choose.

After I passed MBBS, I had only one thing in mind. Either I’ll be a surgeon, or remain MBBS. There will be no Plan B.

I chose surgery.

Or maybe, Surgery chose me.

Edit- Oh, I also take care of a dog. He is a mudhol hound. His owners abandoned him because he has neurogenic bladder . Bkld poora din bahar ghoomega. Baarish start hoga tab hi ayega room me.

Because I remember.

The first time the rain felt alive, it was the night I met him.

The sky had split open like something had torn it from the inside out. I ducked beneath an awning, heart hammering from the sudden storm. My shoes were soaked through. The cold had crept into my bones. I watched my breath rise in sharp white puffs.

And then—he was there.

He emerged from the rain as if it had created him, as if the storm had shaped itself into a man long enough for me to see.

Not rushing. Not running for cover. Walking through the storm like it was nothing, like it belonged to him.

I remember staring, my breath hitching in my throat. The rain should have soaked him. It should have left his clothes clinging to his skin, his hair dripping in uneven strands. But it didn’t.

The water flowed over him like sentient fingers, tracing paths but never holding on.

I felt something then—a shift in the air, a static weight pressing against my ribs, a certainty that I shouldn’t be seeing this.

“You should come stand under here,” I said, raising my voice over the wind. “You’ll get sick.”

He stopped in the middle of the street and tilted his head back, eyes fluttering shut.

“No,” he murmured, lips parting. “It’s been waiting for me.”

A tremor ran through me. Not from cold.

I should have known then; I should have left.

But I didn’t.

I loved him before I understood what he was. Before I realized the sky never stayed clear when we were together. Before I noticed how he was always strongest, always most alive when the rain was falling. Before I knew, our best moments only happened when the clouds broke. The dizzy, reckless nights running through empty streets. The kisses with water streaming down our faces. The soft confessions murmured into the hush of a storm.

Never in the sunlight.

Never when the air was still.

Only when the rain claimed him.

I should have asked questions. But I was in love, and love makes fools of us all.

The first time I woke up without him, the city was drowning.

The windows shuddered in their frames. Thunder cracked the sky open like a wound. I sat up in bed, breath shallow, something wrong, wrong, wrong.

And then I saw him.

Outside.

Standing barefoot in the street, face lifted to the sky, his silhouette blurred by the sheets of rain.

For a moment, I just watched.

The wind howled through the alleyways, rattling signs, throwing debris into the streets. But he didn’t flinch. The water streamed down his skin, and for the first time, I noticed—he wasn’t wet. Not really. Not the way I was.

My stomach twisted. I swung the door open, stepping onto the sidewalk. The rain hit me like a wall, drenching me instantly.

“Come inside!” I shouted over the wind. “What are you doing?”

He didn’t move. He didn’t even look at me at first.

And then—he did.

I ran to him. I don’t know what I was expecting. An explanation? A reason? But when I reached for his arm—I didn’t feel skin.

I felt water.

Slick, cold, and shifting under my fingertips.

I gasped, jerking my hand back. My pulse roared in my ears.

For a moment, his outline wavered. His body shattered, turning into a clear, shifting form that fought to stay intact.

“What’s happening to you?” I whispered.

His gaze met mine, and my stomach dropped. Because he wasn’t afraid.

“I can’t stay,” he said in a gentle tone.

“Then take me with you.”

He smiled, sad and knowing. “Not yet.”

And then—

He was gone.

Not walked away. Not disappeared into the fog. Gone.

Like he had never been real at all.

I told myself I imagined it. That grief plays tricks on us, that love can feel like something supernatural when it ends too soon.

I almost believed it.

Until tonight.

I stood in this exact spot again, with the rain pouring. And there he was, like he never left.

My breath stutters.

“You came back,” I whispered.

A beat of silence. His eyes glisten. Not with tears, but with streetlight reflections, rippling like water.

“Did I ever leave?”

A gust of wind stirs the downpour. And for a second—his body flickers.

It ripples like a reflection in disturbed water. There, then broken, then something less than whole.

Then he reforms. Whole again.

I step back. Because I understand now. I understand what he is.

“I remember you,” I whisper, my voice almost drowned out by the storm. “But I don’t know if it’s because I want to. Or because the rain makes me.”

He moves closer. The space between us vanishes.

“Does it matter?” he murmurs.

He lifts his hand—touches my cheek. And oh—the touch is real. Warm, solid, human.

But for how long?

I exhale. The rain slides over my skin like a mouth, like a promise, like something I can never take back.

I look at him one last time.

And then—

The storm takes us.

When the rain finally begins to slow, the city is empty.

The pavement glistens, black and slick. The streetlights flicker, humming in the silence.

And somewhere, in the rain, two figures remain. They stand exactly where they always have.

Or maybe just one.

Or maybe none at all.

The rain does not say.

The rain only remembers.

Have you ever heard of the Owen gun? It’s an Australian gun initially designed by a teenager in a shed. Eventually some real gun smiths got their hands on it and tinkered with it.

The J10C is sort of like that. The J10C came about in the PRC’s austerity period. Where military spending and research was cut in order to grow other sectors of the economy. During the Deng era it funding to it was cut to bare bones.

When the USSR collapsed and Russia agreed to sell the SU-27 to China it was further pushed back into priorities. Why build when you can buy? Xue Chishou and Song Wencong lead designer and engineer had other jobs as well as working on the J10C that’s how threadbare the budget for the J10C was. Due to being overshadowed by the Su-27 it was always a bit of an unloved child.

Here’s Xue riding a bicycle to work

The J10C was saved by Jiang Zemin, as he took a personal interest in it, he realised that China had to make something of its own instead of reliance on foreign weapons (a path India has taken).

Meanwhile planes like the Rafale had no expenses spared, I bet the designers and engineers didn’t have side jobs to make ends meet…

Shaker Flank Steak

The vegetables cook down to a rich sauce to be served with the meat.

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

• 3 pound flank steak*
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped fine
• 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1/2 cup ketchup

Instructions

1. Cut or score both sides of steak diagonally and dust with flour. Sauté in heated butter until well browned on both sides.
2. Season with salt and pepper, then add vegetables; last of all, add lemon juice and ketchup. Cover tightly and simmer gently for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

 

Notes

* You may use round steak instead of flank steak.

What are the key issues that need to be addressed in Sino-American trade talks?

It is simple. China cannot be treated like a small fry anymore. You have to understand China cannot be disrespected. And slurred upon or accused without proofs or facts. And you need to give Chinese their win and know what you want clearly. For example if you say to China as you should that Taiwan is a province of China and The US will not interfere with Taiwan without the consent of China and say China should help the US grow it’s infrastructure and manufacturing base by getting 100 thousand assembly plant and create 10 million jobs into the US. China might agree.

But China needs clear affirmative actions. Like declare officially and signed a binding agreement. Double talk won’t do. Nor Trump saying one thing and Congress doing another won’t cut it. Trump must fire any official that slander China. To that effect asked Rubio to publicly apologize for his baseless demonising of China or sack him immediately!

Tell the world that USA too won’t accept it if China arm Hawaii or Guam, So the USA should cut all contacts with Taiwan fully and unconditionally. You will be surprised Taiwan will peacefully coexis with China in a week. Then the US can saved a trillion dollars trying to do shit in East Asia. That will not work. Next create a G2 with China with common interest and helped to build a better world. Do it while you guys still have some cloud. Don’t delay the window is closing.

Do you want to live until you are 100 years old?

I used to, but now I’m rethinking it.

My parents are 95 and 91, so statistically I have a good chance of making it to 100. I’m planning my life on the assumption that this will happen.

But my parents have health issues. My father is deaf and has trouble walking. He is no longer able to look after his affairs. My mother has dementia. All their lives they have taken care of their health, and slowly developed issues anyway.

I don’t think I want to live if I don’t have a good quality of life.

Why Operation Spiderweb Won’t Work Against China?