Tarak Rana

[Tarak Rana]

The Basics

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Name: Tarak Rana
Nicknames: Terry
Age: 34
Orientation: Heterosexual
Desired Rank/Job: Occupational Counselor
Powers: Invisibility
Play By: Kunal Nayyar

The Details

Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Brown
Any Piercings? None
Any Tattoos? None
Any Scars? Nothing notable
General Appearance: At 5'9" Tarak is squarely average in height. His weight is also average, though a sedentary lifestyle has lead to exactly none of that weight being muscle. He manages to hide this with tailored jeans and button down tops with vests, which give him the appearance of a hipster; not overweight, but not scrawny. It's when the clothes come off that it's clear he needs to do some working out.

Completing his hipster look are thick glasses. His sight is decent enough that he doesn't have to wear them except when driving, but he wears them frequently regardless. This may have something to do with his wife's frequent proclamations that she loves men in glasses.
Personality: Tarak is an easy-going, optimistic person. For the most part people take him for granted, because he's quiet and doesn't seek grandeur or external validation, and that's perfectly okay with him. He has opinions, but he doesn't like to bandy them about. He says that's because they aren't other people's business, but really he just doesn't like confrontation. He can be pushed to a breaking point, but he exercises enough self-control that this is rarely seen. He believes in picking his battles, and he's good at sizing situations up and judging whether a confrontation will be worth it. Usually the answer is no.

That doesn't mean he never looks out for his own interests, but he has a bad habit of choosing passive aggression and manipulation to get there, a fact he doesn't always acknowledge, or even always recognize. After all, he considers his motivation to be for the benefit of other people, so that means whatever means he uses are positive, right?

He's very good at recognizing other people's motivations, as well as their strengths and weaknesses. Because of this, however, he sometimes feels entitled to know more about other people than they want him to, and if he feels people are hiding things from him he'll do his best to investigate. This also means that, although he wants people to succeed and be happy, he has difficulty forming serious attachments. Not that it can't be done, but a perspective that sees other people as puzzles and pawns tends to form a bit of an aloof, detached personality.

Your Vices

Likes:
+ Helping others succeed
+ Soy-milk ice cream sandwiches
+ Networking
+ Mouthwash
+ Italian food/Garlic
+ Punctuality
+ Modern rock
+ Singing in the car
+ Playing with his son
+ Reading the newspaper in the morning before work
Dislikes:
- Pork
- The words 'Islamist' and 'Muhammadanism'
- Being the focus of attention
- Stubborn and argumentative people
- Fiction books
- Having his opinions known
- Songs with sirens in them; they are truly the worst driving songs ever
- Humidity
- Yard work
- Sleeping in
- Breaking in new shoes
Strengths:
+ Tactful
+ Mellow
+ Recognizes and can capitalize on other people's strengths
+ Has a strong singing voice, though few people ever hear it
+ Inquisitive
+ Perceptive
+ Manipulative (because he's good at it)
+ Empathetic
Weaknesses:
- Fidgety
- Has difficulty admitting to strong opinions
- Passive aggressive
- Nosy
- Sedentary
- His family
- A bit of a superiority complex
- Aloof
Fears:
- himself or his family being the victim of Islamaphobia or racism
Secret: Nothing major or important.

Family Ties

Father: Amanpreet Rana (57)
Mother: Fatima Rana nee Bhatti (55; Anatomic Separation)
Siblings: Vinaya Atwal nee Rana (age 35)
Chandresh Rana (31; Penguin communication)
Any Other Important People:
Wife: Yizel Rana nee Madera-Ramirez (34; Smell manipulation)
Son: Michael Rana (9)
Brother-in-law: Suraj Atwal (age 38)
Sister-in-law: Lien Rana nee Nguyen (27; Underwater breathing)
Nieces: Melanie Rana (7), Ariel Rana (6), Nicole Rana (4)
Nephew: Tanvir Atwal (12; Cobra shifter)

History

Tarak was born October 10th, 1977 to Fatima and Amanpreet Rana. Both hailed from Muslim immigrant families from Punjab: Amanpreet's parents had fled to the United States before he was born, shortly after Eastern Punjab was annexed into India, escaping the ensuing religious and ethnic violence. Fatima's family arrived in California while she was still a young girl, and when she manifested Meta abilities she was brought to Hammel against her will. Her biggest complaint was that there was no Mosque anywhere in Vermont at the time, and so as soon as she had graduated she picked up and moved to Boston, where she met her future husband. The fact that his family were Rajput and Punjabi like hers helped the couple to forge an instant connection.

They had three children, a daughter and two sons. The daughter was a firebrand, opinionated and full of sarcasm. The youngest son wanted to be like his siblings, but frequently criticized them in order to build himself up. And Tarak was stuck in the middle, trying to keep the peace.

Vinaya never manifested any abilities, to the relief of both her parents, but Tarak and his younger brother both found themselves shipped off to Hammel after their abilities manifested: Tarak because his attempt to will himself invisible in order to avoid a doctor's appointment was successful (and resulted in almost immediate vomiting) and Chandresh because he insisted he could talk to the penguins at the zoo. Vermont had not become any more multicultural in the time since Fatima had attended Hammel, and there remained a decided lack of Mosques.

He did well enough in school, always studious and never rocking the boat. He got along well with most of his peers though he had few close friends. Certainly not his future coworkers, Lenore and Moira, though he knew who they were. His closest friend was Yizel Madera-Ramirez, a connection that had begun, much like his parents, based on shared religious values.

The year he graduated saw the creation of the Islamic Society of Vermont (ISVT) but by that point he already had a scholarship to Amherst and he wasn't about to waste that. After all, his education was more important to his future than helping establish a religious organization.

In college he began to experience a bit more racism than he'd encountered at Hammel, and he began going by Terry over the phone or over email or in any situation that wasn't face-to-face if he had the slightest worry that his correspondent might be uncomfortable with the fact that he wasn't a white American, a fact his younger brother continues to harp upon as "being ashamed of their heritage." but which Tarak considers simply practical.

After college he reconnected with Yizel, and while he found she had changed some, he liked it. He liked it a lot, in fact, and after a whirlwind courtship period the two found themselves married with a baby. They agreed upon the name Michael as suitably American, a name that wouldn't call more attention to their child than his ethnicity and religion already would -- and he was double-marked because of both the Islamophobia running rampant post-9/11 and the racism towards Hispanics marking the ongoing debate over illegal immigration.

The young family moved to Baltimore, Maryland, and Tarak began working as a recruiting officer for a government contractor. He enjoyed his job well enough, but the opportunity to help his fellow Meta humans find positions in government agencies and related companies was too good to pass up. After all, he's not only helping individuals succeed now; he's helping an entire underrepresented minority to integrate, a task previously much more difficult as Hammel focused only on ability control rather than ability to cope in society at large. He wasn't too thrilled to move Michael out of his school and away from his friends, but he's sure that his son will adapt soon enough. And besides, it isn't at all unlikely that Michael will turn out to be Meta himself, given that both his parents are.

Regardless of whether or not his son manifests he's excited to help other people like himself and his wife (and mother, brother, sister in law, nephew...) and he can't wait for Operation Patriot to reach its full potential.

Roleplay Example

Allow me to point you in the direction of Mr. Joshua Bernstein, Ms. Ginny Campbell, Ms .Sakhmet Richmond, Dr. Terrence Jordan, Ms. Tsukiko Aoki, and Mr. Hart Kenney.

What About You?

Name: Dryope
Age: 27
Experience: Way too long
How Did You Find Us? The 'D continues to get the credit
Ready To Play? Woooo!

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[Admin!]

Accepted!
You know what to do.

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