Happy New Year!

So the end of another year has been and gone! I don’t know where the time goes. It seems like just yesterday that I started 2008 by waking up on a Karachi winter’s day, feeling slightly hungover. This year the hangover was there, but instead of Karachi, I found myself in Crewe (equally as harsh).

Anyway in true New Year tradition I am going to indulge myself with some New Year resolutions and a Nida Rasheed stylee review of 2008. If you’ve got this far, please don’t feel compelled to read on.

RESOLUTIONS
1. Make the best possible next step.
2. Prepare for and complete something physically challenging.
3. Eat 5 pieces of fruit or veg per day.
4. Make a decision either way and stick to it.
5. Read, write and take photos regularly.
6. Eat Breakfast.
7. Significantly improve at the guitar.
8. Learn to drive.
9. Break 80
10. Learn to cook.

Review of 2008 in Question Form

1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before?
Volunteered at a music festival. It was Reading festival and a truly awesome experience. I met loads more people than I would normally, saw more character at the festival and generally loved it. I also saw Rage which was a bonus.

2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I didn’t make resolutions, but think I partly achieved my aim of having more direction in my life.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? No.

4. Did anyone close to you die? No.

5. What countries did you visit?
Pakistan (I was already there), India, Nepal and Scotland.

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
A place that feels like home. (As in not shitty student accommodation)

7. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
June 7th. I flew home from Pakistan after 10 months and surprised my mum at her 50th birthday party. My whole family was there and even some of my friends. It was easily one of the best days of my life!

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Completing my traineeship, getting selected for my Masters course and getting through the Cadbury assessment.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Not achieving a good balance.

11. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Yes I was in hospital for a while with Hepatitus A. I’ve also had a couple of nasty infections recently. I really want to look after myself better in 2009.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Shalwar Kammez with Paul Sloss in Lahore. It wasn’t so much the product but the enjoyment of buying it. We looked and bargained in every shop on the street before selecting our clothes. We then wore them together with such pride.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Taha Durrani – He (somehow) got engaged. I can’t wait for the wedding.
Kurt Archer also. I partly just want to write down this story so I don’t forget it. We were coming out of this nice restaurant when we saw a small girl begging on the street. It was the Karachi winter and she had no shoes on. This clearly broke Kurt’s heart. He sat on the step of the restaurant, took off his socks and put them on the little girl’s feet. He then turned to me and said: “They were my favourite socks.”

13.Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Various terrorists / politicians.

14.Where did most of your money go?
Travelling, as in actual travelling to new places, but also travelling between places in the UK. Trains are so expensive now. I don’t know why my friends can’t all live in the same place, prefereably Sheffield.

15.What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Going home as a surprise for my mum’s birthday.

16.What song will always remind you of 2008?
Incubus – ‘Drive’
Frank Turner – ‘Photosynthesis’

17.Compared to this time last year, are you happier or sadder?
Sadder. But not very sad. I was really happy this time last year. II. thinner or fatter? Fatter
III. richer or poorer? Poorer.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Reading and learning Urdu. A golden opportunity was missed there.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Checking facebook and my emails.

20. Did you fall in love in 2008? No

21. How many one-night stands? No comment

22. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? No.

23. What was the best book you read? ‘Twilight at Midnight’ – It was about the partition of India. I also started Alastair Campbell’s diary which is a classy read.

24. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Frank Turner without a shadow of a doubt.

25. What did you want and get?
A place at Sheffield University to study journalism.

26. What did you want and not get?
Funding for my Masters

27. What was your favorite film of this year?
Charlie Wilson’s War, Lions for Lambs and Little Miss Sunshine. I doubt any of them are from this year, but I saw them this year so I think that counts.

28. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I was 25. On the weekend before my birthday I had lunch with some university friends and went out with some school friends. On the day I got stupidly drunk in the student union.

29. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Not sure.

30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
Bargain centric. I have also noticed a lot of hoods and collars creeping into my wardrobe.

31. What kept you sane?
Blogging and my family.

32. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Gwyneth Paltrow in Iron Man. That is lame. I don’t often fancy public figures that much.

33. What political issue stirred you the most?
Pakistani politics, especially the rise of Zardari, although I feel disconnected from all of that now. The Democratic nomination (as opposed to the election) also got me going.

34. Who did you miss?
Taha, Sohaib, Nida, Klepo, Zafirah, Mikey, Kurt, Cileia and Seto amongst others.

35. Who was the best new person you met?
Rizwan of Queens English. He was a British guy with Pakistani origin who moved to Karachi with his young family to start his own English School. He was an inspiration. I think he has now closed the school and moved back to the UK.

36. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008
As part of my course I had to find stories in Rotherham. This led me to meet people that are making a big difference to the lives of people in their communities while going relatively unnoticed. The lesson is that people are generally good, and that you don’t have to be in the top job, or have had the best education to make a difference in the world!


That was a bit of a waste of time, but who knows, it might be nice to look back on this time next year!