Harry Potter Fan Fiction (1): The Big Question of 1975

 The library was warm as usual, so warm and cozy that a person sitting inside had no hint of the cold winter rain that struck against the window panes violently. There were hardly any students there, for the ongoing Triwizard Tournament had overshadowed all the other events taking place in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardary.

He tried hard to catch a glimpse of her from the corner of his eye, but his long black hair blocked the view he’d been craving for since they shared the morning Herbology class. Being in different houses left hardly any time to spend with her and that during the meals or before retiring to their respective dormitories didn’t suffice. There was always, ALWAYS room for more.

He slightly turned his head towards her and caught the sight that could never ever fail to make his day, a view that wouldn’t be ruined even if Slytherin lost to Gryffindor in the final match and all the bludgers were aimed at him thereafter. No. He still would be mindlessly smiling to himself with a broken tooth or two, day-dreaming about the wonder that Lily Evans was to him.

Lily looked as graceful as a Phoenix as she tucked her lustrous dark red locks behind her ears, dipped her quill in the ink and continued to work on the Transfiguration assignment.

““How would you deal with a situation where Homenolepius converto makes a wooden log look only 50% human?” God, this is a mind boggler.” She snapped out of her concentration bubble. “Severus! Why aren’t you working?”

 “I, uhm..”

“Don’t let the Tournament make you lose focus of the studies. We have our O.W.Ls just a few months after all of this gets over, remember?”

“Yeah. Why don’t we cast Reverto lepium and restart?” he uttered in his deep, stern yet soft voice trying to divert the topic. “In the question, I mean.”

“Nah, that’d be too long. They expect a single step answer" she sighed "I raided all the library shelves but nothing’s there.”

“Maybe you should ask Professor Mcgonegall then.”

“No way! I don’t want her to think of me as a bird brain! Let’s try and put more thought into it, ok? Maybe we’ll recall something” concluded Lily, as she dipped her quill in the ink again and scribbled some more on the parchment.

He would have loved to help her. But there was something else on his mind. The two-week long planning and practicing would be executed today. Yes, he was going to ask Lily out to the Yule Ball.

Though he was nervous and his insides crawled as he gathered the courage to finally make the move, there was no evidence of the same on his pale, stone face. Not that he was a good actor or anything. That was just the way Severus Snape and his emotions were you know – like a seemingly normal immobile piece of gravel with millions and millions energetic atoms within that aren’t visible to the world, moving haphazardly and colliding each moment. His eyes seemed almost dead and blank unable to express anything that laid inside of him. But today, he was finally going to ask the girl of his dreams to be his date.

“Lily, listen. I …”

“There must be something in those shelves! Sorry Severus, I’ll be back in a blink of the eye” said she sliding her chair back in frustration and stormed off to the Advanced Magic section to try her luck again.

“It’s okay. Just a few more minutes” he whispered to himself taking out a little piece of paper from his robe and memorized the words off it like the ingredients in the Potions class.

“Oh well! Look what our little Snivellus got here!”

By the time Severus realized what had happened James Potter, star of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, had already snatched the little proposal off his hands. James was as quick as a snitch, no wonder he was such a good seeker!

“Don’t. You. Dare….” Snape muttered with emphasis on each word in the same deep, soft voice which now spilled anger.

“Or what?” A boy emerged from the restricted section, his dark brown curls falling off on his forehead as he walked towards Snape with his head held high. Sirius Black, Potter’s fellow bully, was as vain as him.

“A letter to your mommy, Snivee? Miss her in these times of loneliness when not just Beauxbaton or Hogwarts, even the Durmstrang dudes won’t lay an eye on her cherry pie, don’t you?”

“I said, don’t you dare…”

But before any of them could make a move, Lily came out with a copy of “Transfiguration for Experts” in her beautiful, dainty hands interrupting the face-off just in time when Potter was about to read the contents of the paper.

“What’s going on?” she enquired.

“Err, nothing at all” bumbled James “We were, uhm, just catching up with each other you know.” Sirius almost immediately put his arm around Severus’ shoulder and gave him a supposedly-friendly half-hug which made the latter even more awkward than he already was.

“Actually I came looking for you” he continued as the existence of anybody else in the entire universe evaporated from his conscience the moment James Potter lost himself in Lily’s beautiful eyes “You know the Yule Ball is around the corner. And Lily Evans, I could not think of anyone more perfect than you to accompany me”

What is he doing! Snape’s heart skipped a beat. He stood there frozen, unable to respond. The blood in his veins boiled and rushed faster than the new Nimbus 1900. What was he supposed to do now!

“So, can I have the honor of being your date to the dance?”

You filth! Snape’s heart replenished the hatred he’d always chosen to ignore as the poor fellow looked at Lily. She seemed bewildered, but in a way that was pleasant to Potter. No, don’t say yes. He could feel the centaurs galloping inside him and his heart throbbed against his chest as if it was about to break through the sternum. His deep black eyes were fixed on her, analyzing every twitch on her face. I’ve waited for this for so long, Lily! Don’t! A drop of sweat ran down his temple. Each minute seemed like a century to him as all the courage he’d gathered was slowly slipping through his fingers.

And to his despair, Lily smirked.

“Yes Potter, why not.”

Her words ringed painfully in his ears and Severus’ heart shattered into a million pieces, each one piercing his chest harder than ever. Unlike how it normally used to be, the sparkle in her bright green eyes was no longer delighting to him.

“Super!” exclaimed the arrogant boy, “I’ll head off to the dorm now. Gotta put on my dancing shoes and practice for our big date!”  He gave her a wink and signed out of the library as Sirius gave him a pat on the back celebrating this conquest.

The two boys were out of sight but Lily was still smiling with a little blush on her beautiful clear skin.

“Phew! 2 weeks since the announcement and I get asked out now, that too by James Potter! That rude little brat” she gave a sarcastic chuckle as she slid back into the chair. “Anyways, it's better than going alone! Good lord, Patience surely is virtue.”

But Snape hated the excitement in her voice. You wouldn’t have gone alone. His mind spoke as the tears almost made their way out his eyes. But they could not break the barrier his anti-social instincts had created and thus, like his many other feelings, remained unknown to Lily as she resumed her assignment.

That night as he walked Lily to the Gryffindor dorm listening to her speak of all the plans she had for the Ball, Severus Snape wondered if she would ever know how passionately this wallflower loved her, to death and beyond….

*This is a fan fiction post. All the characters are trade-marked to the Harry Potter franchise.

10 Definite Perks of being a PAHADI

My News Feed is often bombarded with posts that define the stereotypes of particular ethnic groups via some really amusing observations. But never once did I come across a post that defines a Pahadi person, or people from Uttarakhand to be more specific (we’re too modest, you know). So here is our own list of a few conventional conceptions of a Pahadi!

No matter where they are born or where they may live, here are some very usual traits found in people of our community :D

1. “Ooijaa!” is our homologue for OMG.

You’ve heard it, you’ve said it. From a 5-year old kid to the 85-year-old Aama, this catchphrase comes out as an involuntary reflex in a variety of situations.

2. ... And Baal Mithai for chocolate

Yes, as kids we all have been tricked at least once that it actually is a distant cousin of the Swiss Chocolate – The Pahadi Baal Mithai!

3. Most of us have almost itched our self to death at least once because of this weed: 

It’s called Girardinia diversifolia (Shishon in local language). Statistics say that 83% of the people who visit a typical hilly village in Uttarakhand have been victimized by this weed which makes you wanna scrape your skin off.
(Ps: There is no statistic as such, I just used a Barney trick)

4. We have childhood memories of running around in a “Guguti ki mala” on Makar Sakranti.

For others, it is just another holiday. Well it is almost the same for us too (:P) except for this neckpiece our moms and aunts would make for us when we were kids. Besides this traditional sweet, our edible toy had toffees and chocolates too, YAY!

5. .. And Aaloo ke Gutkhe with Hari Chutney on Holi.

Well, this one prevails even when you’re older. I wrote it only to get in sync with the previous point :P .. Yummy, nevertheless.

6. Talking of food, a day at our house is incomplete without at least one of the meals being “Daal-Bhaat” (Pulses and Rice)

It’s been so long and I still don’t get it, itna BHAAT kyun pasand hai humare logo ko!! We can compete with our Southern Counter-parts when it comes to rice consumption, seriously.

EAT THE BHAAT! It's our only staple diet, kids!!!

7. Unlike most of the world, we are very well aware of the differences between a Garwhali and a Kumaoni.

Yes, we belong to the same lovely state yet we are different in our own lovely ways. It’s like we are two different strains of the same bacteria (ok that wasn't a nice metaphor). But anyways, people just don’t get it at times!

8. We’ve have seen our mothers and aunts in their own pair of that graceful huge nath (nose-ring) and/or the Picchor.

Now this is something I absolutely LOVE! Seeing the married women of the house in this traditional attire (even in Metros like Delhi) you can easily spot a Pahadi shaadi, naam-karan or any other function 50m from the venue. Don't they look just beautiful?

9. When it comes to functions, it is almost criminal to not mention our weddings where the “CHAAOMEEN” stalls are the first to run out of food.

I don’t know if it is because of their love for spice or the state’s close proximity to China, but at our weddings the Chowmein stalls are no less than a fish market. Everyone loves to binge on noodles, age/caste/sex no bar!

10. And last but not the least: Doesn’t matter which part of the country (or world they live), every Pahadi is without an exception aware of “Tak Taka Tak Kamla” And “Bedu Pako”

This is what makes us groove and jive. If Uttarakhand was a country of its own, one of these would be our National Anthem and the other our National Song, no arguments on that!

This Great Indian Tale of Alimentation will make you #Vote4Children

Picture Source: ibnlive.in.com

The last time I was home, I fought a battle every morning – a battle between those few extra minutes of sleep and the loud, shrill noises of hammers, drills and other cacophonous machines early in the morning. Some renovation work barely 20m away from my place had been stealing that precious morning peace. Irritated, I would get up, turn to the window, curse the unnamed and then go back to bed. This had become kind of a routine. But then some days, I would actually LOOK.

Through the cloud of thick brick dust you could see two girls playing in the heaps of sand until they were shouted upon by a lady-worker. For some reason unknown, they caught my eye.

So walking past the site, I observed them closely one fine morning. Covered in an old donated over-sized frock, the younger one was hanging playfully on the “Karya Pragati pe hai” (Construction in Progress) sign while the other was making sure she doesn’t fall.

“Biscuit khaaoge?” I asked with an involuntary smile.

The little one looked at her exhausted counterpart as if seeking her approval. She was short, petite with an observable pot-belly beneath her clothes. The hay-like growth on her head was haphazardly combed. She came over to me hesitantly, grabbed both packets and ran to hide behind the elder one.

“Ye tumhari behen hai?”     

                                                                             

Itching her dry, dull brown flaky skin, the latter nodded and turned her sunken eyes to the biscuits. She had hair that was sparse, dirty brown and bones prominent enough to study Anatomy on. She looked ill, weak and tired.

The poor health among children like these requires no expert diagnosis. For a country boasting of possessing limitless potential owing to its 40% population being children, the present scenario is a disgrace.

It is estimated that 1.83 million Indian children die every year before the age of 5, most of them related to malnutrition. Some of the following unfortunate figures released by the National Family Health Survey (2005-06) reflect the sad set-up of our Health-care:

• ·         Out of children under the age of 5, 42.5% are underweight and 48% stunted due to chronic under-nutrition
• ·         79% are Anemic
• ·         5.7% suffer from eye signs of Vitamin A Deficiency – the most common cause of preventable blindness.

The statistics themselves tell the tale of the disaster we are heading to.

Despite the various development programs and schemes launched by the Government, we still have a long way to go before we reach the targets under the first United Nations Millennium Development Goals. Malnourishment jeopardizes children’s health, development and survival slowing down the overall national progress. It is an ominous threat to our present and future which needs to be taken care of with optimal attention.

The need of the hour is to build a system that'll fortify our little angels for they hold the vision to a prosperous India that we have been dreaming of since August 15th, 1947.

This post is a part of the #Vote4Children Blog-a-thon on Youth Ki Awaaz. Find out more at: http://www.youthkiawaaz.com/vote4children

Who's up for some Blame-Game?

I could bet the universe that at some point in your life you have experienced this. You can’t deny, for there is ABSOLUTELY NO WAY that a normal functional human being living this circus of life has escaped such feelings. Of course may be not in a way as deep, or even shallow for some, as described but we all have had our share of negativities. There must have been those ineluctable moments when the hopes and dreams you held very tightly and certainly most dearly to your heart crashed right in front of your eyes. And the worst of all was to do nothing but look at those shattered pieces that lie on the ground mocking you.

Let’s see, ever thought of how tormenting it is for a writer who had a mind-blowing, career-changing idea in his imagination to sit down but not come across one freaking palatable sentence; or to a musician when his guitar would just refuse to strike the perfect note even after months of practice leaving his composition incomplete for god-knows-how-long. Can you imagine the level of ineptitude a successful soccer player has to live with carrying the burden of being the reason for his team’s defeat in a crucial game; or the sorrow of a 50-year-old virgin having lived a long, unloved life?

Well, I can’t say much about these people but I, being an ex +2 student of science, sure can, without A PENNY OF DOUBT, assure you that it is highly agonising to give endless competitive exams and not attain desired results!! *sigh*

Anyways so my point is that, naturally, we have all had our fair share of loss, failure, desperation, desolation, hopelessness and unfulfilled desires...

Dark times, they say.

Don’t they make you feel absolutely worthless? Those gloomy days which seem no good, followed by those empty nights of loneliness and despair?  The agonising hours spent whining over the past and those unbearable moments of frustration and low-self esteem? Did you ever have that unexplainable stubborn void in your life which no matter what you do, refuses to get filled; the times when the failure is just too much to handle or the violent feeling of underachievement which grips your conscience to a point intolerable and doesn’t let go? Don’t you frequently lose confidence in yourself?

                                                                                       

If you can even slightly empathize with these feelings, welcome to the club of people with absolutely normal psychiatric health!

But that's inexcusable, right? Who is to unmask the culprit of the emotional inconvenience we face?

Maybe we can pin point those child prodigies that our world has witnessed over the years – pure geniuses who have contributed to various fields and made a difference at an age when ordinary mortals like you and I were still playing in the sandbox getting our clothes dirty. The list of such astonishing kids is as long as the Nile – Beethoven who composed his first symphony at 5 despite being slightly deaf; Akrit Jaswal who performed his first surgery at the age of 7; Gregory Smith who was nominated for a Nobel Prize at the age of 12. Hell, ourSachin Tendulkar made his sensational Cricket debut at the age of 16! I mean, it literally compels an average being to wonder what he is even living for. So it’s probably them who make you to feel like a useless nomad searching for an aim.

And of course, how can the high expectations from our families and the society skip the accusations. (“.. Aur 5 bajke 16 minte pe abba ne kaha - Mera Beta Engineer banega. Farhaan Qureshi, B.Tech engineer!”)

Even though all this might be true I’m still pretty convinced that, especially for us girls, it is also a result of those ridiculously romantic movies which convey the message that your lifetime is an absolute nuisance without that one tall, handsome, perfect, glittering guy who’ll always sweep you off your feet, solve each and every hurdle you face and be by your side forever and EVER AND EVERRRRR *sarcastic-Awwww* (Yes Twilight, I’m talking to you).

Aargh, damn them all right? Why can’t they just let you live in peace?

But hey, don’t you think that somewhere voluntary over-activity of the entity sitting comfortably inside your head, occupying all of the 1300cc of your cranial capacity is responsible for your emotional tides? Aren’t you too harsh on yourself; because you KEEP THINKING, thinking that you are not good enough and will never be? Well then, let me have the honor to pour some light over a well-known but not very well understood and accepted fact - all of the hurt we experience in life is the result of our own mind. 

This little rascal has the tendency to oscillate between our Fantasies and the Truth creating turmoil of unwanted thoughts and emotions within us. Nothing but merely the illusions created by our own self cause all the sufferings.It is okay to feel dejected and trapped at times when our expectations don’t hi-five realities. But that doesn’t justify sitting down with these issues and analysing them over and over again. Just know that the world has been through much worse than what you may face in your entire life time. One unfavourable incident or decision never has and never will mean that your life is over. Negativity doesn’t kill people, Wars and diseases do.

So whatever may be the reason, no one can help you cope with your misery but yourself. If a person doesn't know how to keep himself happy, then nobody else can. Neither Beethoven, nor Rancho and definitely not Edward Cullen! If you are searching for that one person who is going to change your life, just take a look in the mirror. For better or worse, is your choice.

Remember forever that you are as precious and unique as a beautiful shining star in the night sky; never 

think any less of yourself.

Everything may be done in one's strength and beyond to climb their very own Stairway to Heaven, it is still difficult to escape those disappointing vibes until we get what we want, after all how can a person be satisfied unless he has reached his ultimate destination? Satisfaction limits our potential. It is a devil for the ambitious, but contentment isn’t. The latter is about finding happiness in what all we already have while constantly working towards achieving more and more!

The key is to simply keeping watering the magic beans of your dreams with your blood and sweat without paying heed to the outcomes, and in no time will you be the Jack of your very own beanstalk.

I recently came across a lovely article which gave the mathematical explanation of why our birth itself is a wonderful occurrence – Going way back in history if we calculate the probability of the first couple of your family meeting each other, getting married and having the exact ovum and sperm to fertilise which would give rise to your subsequent ancestor – that too GENERATION AFTER GENERATION ACCURATELY, right down to your parents – the odds of you existing at all are merely 1 in 10 ^2,685,000 (which is basically zero!)

Mathematically speaking, it is a miracle that you are actually reading this blog.

So the next time you dare feel low don’t ever hesitate to go out, treat yourself with an ice-cream, celebrate and act like the miracle that you are, after all it has been numerically proven. Come on now, give me that 1 in 10 ^2,685,000 smile! :D

TO THE YOUNGER ONES!

“Ghar kab aa rhi hai?” she asked over the phone with an unusual tone of excitement and impatience in her voice as we came to conclude our weekly catching up.

What was she looking forward to?

It’s not like this wasn’t a part of her routine questionnaire – “Hiiiiii. Kaisi hai? Pata hai .... *blah blah blah* ...*gossip gossip* ...  *little giggling* ...Aur ghar kab aa rahi hai? Okay, le mummy se baat kar.” and then the phone would go to our idyllic mother.

How does it really matter? What’s so different this time?

I shouldn’t be surprised.

“Aa jaaenge, what’s the rush?” I replied in my habitual manner, without expressing the curiosity dwelling inside of me.

“Uhmm, nothing.” she said and without mentioning another word of this awkwardness we continued with our mundane conversation.

She is my 14-year old sister. We exist with an age gap of about 5 years and 6 months. Pick up any criteria of comparing two human beings and you’ll find that we are poles apart. Even after not having the same taste (be it food or music), having different issues to deal with everyday and virtually no common ideologies – in short being absolutely different – something makes us click. 

The Younger Ones.
Who are they?

They are the ones who take control of your stuff without even bothering to ask.

The ones who have “beautified” your skin with all their scratch and bite marks when you were kids, whose share of scolding you are awarded with in an event of a mutual hoo-hah you’ve caused.

The ones with whom you have had a horrible fight one night and then wake up the next day like nothing happened.

Those with whom you share a five-rupee chocolate.
They're the ones who eat up their portion of that chocolate, then look at you with the innocence of a puppy in their eyes so that you end up giving them yours too.

Who are these little devils? What makes them so very special?

They are the light of our homes. The Pampered Ones.

While my mother was waiting for the stork, I couldn't help but be all hyper-excited for my new friend to come. After all, what greater joy is there for a kid than to have a permanent friend who lives with them!

When a younger sibling is born, they bring with them unaccountable joy and happiness.
I remember covering the 200-meters from my school-bus stop to home like Usain Bolt upon receiving the news of my sister’s arrival!

We are ECSTATIC! Ecstatic because now we have a companion who will always be available, a friend to rely upon with eyes closed and hands tied. Even though they are not able to recognize us at this moment, someday we are going to be their most reliable secret-keepers.

The Younger Ones, WHO are they?

They are your very first experience of a responsibility.

They make you the “third parent”. From looking after them when mom is away, making their projects and helping them with assignments to covering up their blunders and getting those outing-permissions for them, you've probably done it all.

They are the ones who drive you nuts! Fighting like cats and dogs, grabbing hair, throwing punches and slaps and casting off stuff at each other like cannon balls! Sometimes it seems like the end of the world!

And then minutes later without saying a word, BAM! Back to normal, laughing and teasing each other again (this is going to cause another fight, it's a vicious cycle you know!)

But seriously, 

The Younger ones, after all who are they?

They are your indoor-games and late-night cooking companions. They are the ones you share your childhood memories with. They are the ones who know your best qualities and most embarrassing habits. They are the ones you tickle and pinch just like that. They are the ones who borrow your shoes and then don’t return it, ever! They are the ones you plan your parents’ wedding anniversaries with.

These are the poor souls on whom you can boss around as well as the wicked ones who silently laugh in the background when your parents are “having a word” with you. 
They are the ones who come to you for advice that vary from a funky new hairstyle to a new Facebook profile picture, colour of a dress to a venue for a date, a pizza topping to career options....

They are our mortal enemies and our best friends.

Yes there are times when we get angry and shout at them; we irritate them with our constant teasing.

We may not always let them have their way; we may disappoint or upset them too. We let them down zillions of times. We even make them cry! 
But in no world does it mean that our love for them is any less than it was the day they came into our lives.

They are and will always count among the greatest blessings in our lives.

To the Younger ones!

And as for my sister, well, she was just probably missing me too much.... Something she is waaaayyy too stubborn to admit... Gosh, kids !

Understanding Cell-Mediated Immunity (it's simple and fun!)

Immunology is one of the most interesting and important branches of Pathology, yet it makes us go crazy with the various complications involved. My first many classes of immunology went by as if they were teaching it in Chinese. I thought that I was the stupid one but soon realized that, well I’m not the alone. But, hey! If studied with interest, Immunology can be absolutely amazing!

So to help others like me and even the non-medics who may be interested in this fascinating science to get through the basic concepts of immunology, I tried to put one of the aspects – The T-lymphocyte Immune Response - in a simpler, yet hopefully understandable version.

Our body is like the Gotham city. A regular city with normal people like you and me (read: cells) living in absolute harmony, going about their daily chores in sync without causing any inconvenience to each other.

Now the problem arises when Joker comes up with a super-evil plan and intends to create havoc. Whoa, but wait! Why worry when we have BATMAN!

The Joker is metaphorically the foreign substances (i.e. microbes) that cause infections in the body. On the other hand, Batman is our Immune cells.

However fantastic may he be but batman, or any other superhero for that matter, can in no world beat the heroic abilities of our Immune System. Our Gotham city has many Batmans with a variety of superpowers.

In this section, we’ll discuss the Adaptive Cell-mediated Immune Response of our body. This type of immunity is specific for intracellular microbes. For the purpose of understanding this phenomenon, we’ll have our own superhero – T-man (a T- lymphocyte or T-cell)!

As we know every superhero requires a side kick. Similarly to fight crime (read: infections) , our superhero has sidekicks too. These sidekicks catch the culprits and bring them to T-man. These cells are known as Antigen Presenting Cells (APCs).

Consider an incident.

Many terrorists of the same organisation, i.e. the disease causing microbes, enter the city. Now some of them were caught at the border itself by the one of the sidekick APCs -  Langerhans Cell or a Naive Dendritic Cell. Upon sighting the microbe, the sidekick is activated – i.e. it becomes an Active Dendritic cell after trapping the microbe. 

An active DC takes the microbe to the nearest police station – a Lymph node.

 Just like a criminal is stripped off of his disguise and beaten up in a Police station, the trapped microbe is processed and converted into small peptide antigens. These peptide antigens can be handcuffed and presented to our superhero, i.e the T-cell. The handcuffs are made up of what is known as the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC molecule).

Now unfortunately our superhero is blind but he has a special weapon. It’s a magic wand, with 4 beads on it, which he binds to the suspect to recognise it. The magic wand is a T-cell receptor (TCR). The beads are the four proteins bound with the TCR that help in signal transduction.

These four proteins are –

·         CD28 molecule

·         CD3 molecule

·         CD4 / CD8 molecule

·         ⱬ proteins

The "Magic Wand" of a CD4 T-cell : TCR complex

With the help of his magic wand our Superhero recognizes the culprit. But there’s a catch! The culprit can be recognized only if he is accompanied by T-man’s sidekick and is handcuffed, i.e. an Antigen can be recognized only if it is bound to an antigen presenting cell and is displayed by an MHC molecule (no Batman without Robin, eh!)

As soon as the culprit is identified the beads on the wand start their magic! They send signals to T-man’s brain to activate his various superpowers.

The first signal is transmitted by CD28 molecule.  

The T-cells in our body have specificity for different antigens. When the antigen is recognised, the CD28 molecule binds to B7 protein (CD80 or CD82 molecule) of the Antigen Presenting Cell and that particular lymphocyte which is specific for the antigens starts rapid multiplication. This phenomenon is known as Clonal Selection, i.e. out of a pool of many lymphocytes, the one with highest affinity to the antigen is selected for multiplication.

The second signal is transmitted by the CD3 proteins present in close proximity with the TCR. 

It transmits signals to the nucleus increasing the activity of various transcriptional factors.

The first transcriptional factor causes release of a cytokine known as Interluekin-2 (IL-2).

The second transcriptional factor caused increased activity of the Interleukin 2 receptors (ILRs) present on the T-cells surface. 

IL-2 interacts with ILR and it leads to the rapid multiplication of the selected T-cell. This phenomenon is called Clonal Expansion, i.e. expansion of the selected clones to combat infections.

Meanwhile the microbe also activates The APC to produce molecules called co-stimulators which send further signals to ensure that the immune response is not induced by any harmless substances.

So by now we are familiar with the following superpowers of T-man –

• Clonal Selection
• Clonal Expansion
• Ability to restrict the immune response to true culprits(harmful substances)

Upon countering an infection, the T-lymphocyte differentiates into Effector T-cell and memory T-cell.

Now that we have an entire army of T-men, we can fight the remaining terrorists! 

These cells are released in the circulation to fight rest of the microbes that entered along with the one caught by Dendritic Cell.

Now, to look further into the superpowers, we need to know that our Effector T-men army has two contingents – The helpers and the killers.

A T-lymphocyte exists in two forms  :   a) CD4+ lymphocyte (Helper T-cell)

                                                                b) CD8+ lymphocyte (Cytotoxic T-cell)

In normal individuals, they exist in a ratio of - CD4 : CD8 = 2 : 1

A helper T-cell recognises antigens expressed by MHC class II molecule whereas a Cytotoxic T-cell recognises antigens expressed by MHC class I molecule.

The CD4 form fights criminals in the following ways –

v  Calls in his microbe killing  friends - the macrophages (macrophage activation)

v  Inflammatory response

v  Stimulation of his superhero brother , B-man , or a B-lymphocyte ( We will discuss his “adventures” in another section)

The CD8 form is crueller, he is a slayer! The cytotoxic T-cell causes killing of the infected cell.

Summary of T-man's Adventures!

When the culprits are defeated, our very modest superhero T-cell kills himself (Neki kar aur dariya me daal, right?). The effector T-cell undergoes apoptosis after the immune response has achieved its aim.

The memory T-cell stays in the circulation, in case the terrorists return with more men.

And voila, the microbe is taken care of. T-man saves the day!