Sunitha - Who Is She?

personality

gentle

From a young age, Sunitha's gentleness was obvious. While other children fought with their siblings, Sunitha never did. Instead, she would scold them, tell them that hitting and yelling would solve nothing. Her parents often had to stifle laughter as their four-year-old daughter scolded her siblings. It didn't end there, though, oh no. If one of them got hurt, she took to caring for them instantly. Unless there was blood, in which case, she usually cried out for Mother. At the age of eleven, Sunitha found a kitten, abandoned, starving, barely able to move. It hissed at her, but Sunitha was determined to help the poor tiny thing. Finally, after what felt like forever, Sunitha carried the kitten home, cradled in her arms that were now covered in scratches and blood. Sunitha nursed the kitten back to health and it grew to love her. Her parents allowed her to keep the kitten on one condition: they would not be asked to help care for it. The kitten was named Shmi. Older now, Sunitha is still the same, gentle person. She doesn't believe in killing anyone--or anything, for that matter--out of spite, hate, malice. Honestly, she would prefer if there was no killing, period. Honestly, she can't fathom killing an insect, and doesn't care much for picking flowers, either.


understanding
While some people could do without Sunitha's gentleness, nearly everyone adores how understanding she is. She always listens and never judges. As far as she's concerned, everyone deserves her respect and kindness until they show her otherwise. Even when she disagrees with someone else's views, she still tries her hardest to understand how they see things, why they have that particular view. And, in most cases, she will not force her views onto others. That's just unfair, telling others their views are wrong just because she doesn't agree with them. Of course, there are some cases, such as killing off an entire species of aliens, where she will stand rigidly against those who oppose her views. Everyone deserves life.
determined
Sunitha's gentle nature sometimes works against her, but when she really believes in something, she stands strong. Sunitha knows when she wants something, and she knows how to fight for it. Of course, fight in the figurative sense-- she doesn't really do the whole violence thing. Perhaps a more suited term would be that Sunitha goes out and gets exactly what she wants when she knows she really wants it. Most of causes she fights for are social in nature, but there are occasionally some other things. One thing she was really determined to do was go to school. It was a privilege that, as the youngest child, and a female, she almost didn't get. After sending three other children through school, her parents were unsure as to whether they would be able to help their daughter with her schooling. Luckily for her, she got into a university with a full scholarship. It was her determination as a teenager that got her the full scholarship, and it would be her determination that would help her convince others that the aliens shouldn't all be killed.

history

india
2343, May. 97 degrees Fahrenheit. Sunitha Kartar Singh was born in the blistering heat of summer. Her mother had already had three other children, all boys. Though Sunitha's birth was simple, no complications, she was still the largest baby of the four. When she was pulled from the womb, she cried for only a few minutes. Once she was washed off and in the arms of her mother, the crying stopped. With her tiny fist, she rubbed her eyes and slept against her mother's bosom.

Sunitha was privileged as a child. Despite the many, many years of social restructuring and reformation, females in India still had lower literacy rates, though by very little, than males. Sunitha's parents where fairly well-off, though, and Sunitha was able to learn to read and write and even go to school. Determined to be a strong, self-sufficient person when she grew up, Sunitha worked hard at school, always striving to do better. She graduated from high school at the top of her class. With her outstanding marks, extra-curricular, and gentle personality, she got into every university she applied to. Only one gave her a full scholarship, though. That one was her top school, her dream school. She was going to be a nurse practitioner.

university
The United States was so very different from India. In all honestly, Sunitha wasn't sure if she even really liked it there. University was amazing, though, no doubt about that. She had made so many new friends and had learned so much, and it had only been a few years. Not to mention, she'd met a boy. The first boy she'd ever been interested in. He was so handsome with his striking blue eyes and messy light brown hair. She had only seen a handful of Americans before, but none of them were like him. He was tall, very tall, and lean. Then again, just about everyone seemed tall to a girl only five foot four. The point was that she fell hard and fast for this guy. He was her first everything. She thought it would last forever. Well, until she found him with another lady, that is.

He was her first heartbreak, but it was good for her, really. Sunitha focused herself on her path, determined to be the best goddamned nurse the school had ever seen. There were other guys who tried to get her attention, but they all failed. Sunitha was much to busy with her education to get distracted like that again. Besides, she couldn't risk losing her scholarship for some guy or other. Six years passed, and at the age of twenty-four, Sunitha graduated, a nurse practitioner, at the top of her class.

kirkland
Sunitha had found a job right after graduation. She worked at a small family medical center in a town called Kirkland in the state of Washington. It was so much different than any place she had been yet. It was cold, grey, and rainy almost all the time. It was rather unpleasant, but Sunitha loved her job. She got to help people young and old. This was truly where she belonged.

A year or so went by. Sunitha was living in a one-bedroom apartment alone. She had friends, and often had them visit her, but she sometimes felt a little lonely. She had achieved her career goals and was very well off, but there was more to life than this. Sometimes her mind would wander back to that time when she thought she was in love back in university. Sometimes she wished she could see him again. Other times she was glad she was rid of him. But it wouldn't be long before her life changed forever.
the attack
It was just a few months later, Sunitha was only twenty-five years old. She had been chatting with her parents who still lived in India. That was the last time she would ever see their faces. The earth felt like it was shaking more violently than any earthquake. The call was disconnected. Sunitha was cut off from her family, from the world. The apartment building was collapsing. Screams reached her ears from everywhere, but she could barely hear them over the ringing. Panic struck her as she hurried to take cover under something--anything.

The building was in pieces around her. Sunitha thanked the gods that she was still alive. Her bed had been strong enough to keep her safe from the falling chunks of building. Cautiously, Sunitha crawled out from her safe spot and rushed away from the rubble. If she wasn't safe, she wouldn't be able to help others. That had been engrained into her memory since her first year of university. She called out, asking if anyone else had survived. A hand seemed to be reaching out to her, but when she got there, no one was attached to it. Sunitha let out a scream, dropping the arm to the ground. Around her, the world was in ruins. She didn't know what to do. How could she help anyone if she didn't know what to do.

Her head moved around, taking in the sight of the devastation. What had caused so much death, so much destruction? Then she saw it. It was like nothing she had ever seen before in her life. It wasn't human. It wasn't an animal, either. Alien. The word popped into her head. At first, she couldn't believe it was real. She didn't even know if it was looking at her, but it felt like it was watching her. There were several others off in the distance, destroying lives, homes, everything. This one, though, stood and stared at her. Or maybe it had its back to her, Sunitha really couldn't tell, but she thought it was looking at her, studying her. Without warning, it began to move. Sunitha took a step back, fear filling her heart. The alien turned and walked away. She was mostly unharmed. Or maybe it had all been a dream.

Sunitha was one of the few to get out. She remembered an Alliance ship picking her up. She didn't remember where she even was. It must have been days, maybe even weeks, that she had been out there, wandering, hiding from attacks. She was sure the only reason they actually took her with them, though, was because she told them she was trained as a nurse practitioner. She could help the injured. It wasn't long before she was taken to Wisteria Colony on Cometra.

cometra
Being a refugee was different than living. It was like there were always people who looked at her with pity in their eyes. It made her feel uncomfortable at times. Then again, there were several people who looked at her as though she were one of the aliens and others who wouldn't make eye contact. Just because she didn't believe that the aliens should be hated and slaughtered. They deserved life, just as everyone else did. Besides, if that one had let her go, maybe they weren't even "bad." Sunitha felt like an outcast in the colony, but she never let it get her too down. Her determination to make others see that not all aliens could be bad kept her strong.

The worst part, though, was Devlin. He hated the aliens almost as much as she didn't. He was a thorn in her side and they were always butting heads. Maybe, if he wasn't always around, spouting filth about extermination, she would have gotten through to some people by now. If there was anything that could weaken her resolve, it was Devlin, but she would never share that secret. She wouldn't let him win.