This is my 4th post regarding Minal Panchal and Virginia Tech massacre. This is 1st time ever that I'm thinking n writing so much about anything. I donno why, but for the 1st two weeks I've been thinking only about this. I was virtually hunting for anything Virginia Tech. And just as human memory work - slowly n steadily, I am getting it out of my mind; just similar to newspapers - where it keeps shifting from front page, to only 'international' page, to a tiny column there and finally out. Maybe one day I'll also stop bothering much about this. But one thing is for sure - I'm never gonna forget this name - Minal Panchal. Just as I haven't forgotten the name - Rupin Katyal. Who's this? Ever since I came across this Virginia Tech news, Rupin's name's been doing the rounds in my thoughts.

I wondered how many in India still remembers this name. I took a poll last week and this is the result so far. I'd like all of you to take part in this poll. Please don't do a Web / Google search to find the answer. Attempt the poll honestly and lemme know how many of U know this name. After a certain time, I'll post his identity here. Keep a watch.

Update : Answer
Rupin Katyal. He was the victim of a tragedy much grave than the VT. It shook the pride of a nation and forced it to bend its knees in front of terrorism. He was the only person who was killed on board the hijacked IA flight - IC814.

IC814 was hijacked on the eve of Christmas on Friday, December 24, 1999, shortly after the aircraft entered Indian airspace at about 5:30 p.m IST. After landing at Amritsar, the hijackers asked for the plane to be refueled. Indian Government did not agree. In retaliation, the hijackers stabbed Rupin Katyal to death. He was just 25 years old then and was newly wed. His bride Rachna was also on board with him, who had to go through another worse experience, as per rumors on some media.

After refueling, the plane took of for Dubai, where some 25 passengers were released along with the body of Rupin Katyal.

A little update for last post. I just found out that I'd actually saved the profile page of Minal Panchal on my local HDD. Check her profile's snapshot below -

Minal Panchal's Orkut profile has finally been deleted by site moderators. Some days back, it was reduced to a two line profile with her friend list, testimonial, community - everything flushed. Scrapbook was also flushed, but it had got a fresh 300 scraps by then. I wish I had taken a snapshot of it. Final traces of Minal's profile is buried now. :(

Anyways, lemme take U on a tour here. Minal's scrapbook has received well over 35,000 scraps in the past few days, and here are some of the best comments from well wishers expressing regret and sorrow to Minal, as well as to her family.

Patrick wrote:
Goodbye MINAL PANCHAL
Though I never knew you at all
You had the grace to hold yourself
While those around you crawled
They crawled out of the woodwork
And they whispered into your brain
They set you on the treadmill
And they made you change your name

And it seems to me you lived your life
Like a candle in the wind
Never knowing who to cling to
When the rain set in
And I would have liked to have known you
But I was just a kid
Your candle burned out long before
Your legend ever did

GOD BLESS ALL
Kaarthik wrote:
You Be With God...
U and I may not be knowing each other...
But my heart pains when I heard of my Indian Sister lost her life in the US...
My heart pained a lot when I heard that a good talent was killed for no valid reason...
I assume, it might be that God needed a skilled Architect to build a new Heaven...
And you are the one chosen by him... All the best of luck for your new venture!!!

There were also a few text art images, ranging from roses to candles, all made in honor to Minal.
There have also been several forums established in her memory. In the Minal Panchal: God bless her forum Savio writes:
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord.
And may perpetual light shine upon them.
May the souls of the faithfully departed through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen
My prayers are with you gurl, May ur soul rest in peace!!!

Other forums have been created, such as Minal Panchal -a brave girl where users are also expressing their condolences for her family.

Last but not least, here are some of her last scraps on Orkut (Hat Tip: an anonymous user and Anjali for compiling these on the original Minal Panchal forum.)

Cho's father, Cho Seong-tae, told the landlord he was leaving for America to seek a better life. So in 1992, the 8-year-old boy found himself in northern Virginia, where his family ran a dry-cleaning business and lived in a two-story townhouse. While Cho attended Westfield High School in Chantilly, Va was gaining a reputation as a loner.

Minal Panchal was studying in Mumbai, India, focused on becoming an architect like her late father. Books lined the walls of her room, and she was popular with neighbors.

"The children in the building would go to Minal's house for help with school homework like math,"

said neighbor Jayshree Ajmane. Panchal

"liked swimming and loved reading. But what she was crazy about was architecture and buildings,"

said her friend Chetna Parekh.

She earned a bachelor's degree from Mumbai's Rizvi College of Architecture, and school director Akhter Chauhan said she was eager for more _ but felt she needed to study in the United States to learn the most advanced techniques. She determined that Virginia Tech was best for advanced building science. Chauhan wasn't surprised that she was accepted.

"She would have walked into any university,"

he said.

It was just any other day for me. Came to office, did my day to day work, gossiped, coffee breaks n all. And then I was GTalking with SS at the eve. She sent me a link to an Orkut Profile which was of some gal named Minal Panchal. "Who's she...??"(I hadn't read newspaper yesterday). My 1st thought was 'consolation prize...!!' (I feel so So SO sorry for that now). Why else was she sending me a Gal's profile then? My 2nd thought was "is she trying to show me 'the highest scrap count in a profile'", as it was 16k+ then. I smirked - Aparna has more than that... So, what was this about? She reacted - "udonno tht? OMG. an Indian prof and this girl died. see toi". That's all it's about...! people die everyday, what's so special here? I searched ToI online and reached this article which is now blank for some reason. Anyways, u can read the news here. Some other related links are mentioned at the end.
Anyways, the thing that startled me was that her profile was getting at least 10 scraps every 10 sec. C it yourself - here (if u have an orkut account). or below.
This is a video of Minal Panchal's Orkut scrapbook, while hitting the refresh button, over a short period of time. This video is testimony that she is being and will be missed. My heart goes out to her and Dr. Loganathan and all the other VT hokies that perished in this crazy shootout. May god give the VT folks the strength to handle this calamity...

Nothing has moved me so much in a long time. There was this gal I never knew, her orkut profile open on my desktop and I could feel blood rushing through my veins like never before. After writing something in her scrapbook, I was visiting her friends' profiles and I came across this DNA reporter Megha who has scrapped most of her friends asking for any pic or relevant info of Minal. That, kind of, enraged me. These reporters....!! They'll do anything to get a news scoop. They don't care about what the other people might be going through. That's what I conveyed in her scrapbook. And within minutes - she wrote back to me telling me to mind my language or shut up. (She has deleted all those scraps now). Momentarily I felt as if I am a part of all these.