What’s good about a new year? To be honest, nothing is good about it given the extra effort needed at the time of speech delivery to make sure you don’t say next year to things which are suddenly going to happen in this year and the added mental effort of making sure you jot the correct digit when writing down the date. However, the new year, or end of an year can serve as a benchmark to have a look at the things and events that happened in the past year. Looking back myself, I can say with certainty that this year had events that will remain ingrained in my memories forever.

The beginning of year 2008 was a good time for me. I was done with my final semester exams looking at various options to shape my career. As soon as the year started I knew the next two-and-a-half months would be extremely busy. Being the sole driver in my family (with my dad in UAE), only son, and only brother of my dear sister it was me who had to make sure all her wedding arrangements were meticulously handled. I didn’t apply for jobs at that time, hoping to secure an admission in some MSc course. I also knew the next few days would be spent shopping with my mom. This wasn’t all that bad: shopping at Tariq Road with ladies around

Khair, it wasn’t easy throwing away wedding cards at a function where more than 1200 people were expected and going after so many people to get things done. I got my result in January which was a disappointment but I tried not to think about it. I got my beautiful Nokia N95 8gb around this time too.

Enter March, the marriage went smoothly on 15th. I never knew I would be shedding tears at the time of sister’s rukhsati. I tried hard to get away from the people at that moment but still someone caught me on cam! But hey, she is more than a sister. My best friend since childhood, who put herself to save my ass at time. And being only 2, we were and are still quite close. I wanted to say so many things to her at that time, apologise for a lot of things, but I didn’t. *sigh*

March was also a December-like marriage season, the rest of the month was spent in attending four other weddings. In the same month I applied to different universities (two to be precise) for masters.

As usual, marriage followed a string of dawats which was so boring and frustrating. Why? Because all the same people were supposed to gather every day, only the venue differed! I also got few job interviews in the month of April and two job offers which I declined later.

Beginning May, I started feeling down. So, I decided to go to Abu Dhabi to spend a few days with my dad. My mom was reluctant to go (for some reasons) but I managed to convince her to accompany me. Now, it is not usual for more than one person from our family to be in Abu Dhabi with dad. Everyone takes turns. Just a day before departure, I had another interview and I planned to join them after 2 weeks. This, and the my convocation in the end of May (which my father was looking forward to eagerly), ensured that the trip would be for two weeks only. The next few days in Abu Dhabi were awesome. Spending time with my mom and dad together after so long was great. I was missing my sister but then it was not often that our family would be together (that’s one disadvantage of working abroad).

This month also includes the worst nightmare of my life – the severe heart-attack suffered by my dad. The way I handled it in the middle of the night, when the doctors gave no hope and I couldn’t utter that to my mother. The brave face I put forth and made her go back home and cried for a long time in the corridors of the hospital.

But that event resulted in my sister coming to Abu Dhabi and we were all together for a few days. Needless to say, my dad missed the convocation which I attended on a short trip to Karachi and then moved back to Abu Dhabi by the end of May.

Early June, I held an unconditional admission at Imperial College so looking for a job was out of question. I spent the month looking frantically after my health, running 6-7 km daily at Abu Dhabi corniche. This was probably one of the best times of my life, spent with my family together after four long years.

I was back in Karachi in July for visa application and this month and the following month was spent in roaming around the city, eating lots of good food! I even got my car in perfect condition (after claiming insurance) getting rid of the dent that stupid bus-wala left on it. In August I went on a short, but very exciting and memorable, trip to Islamabad for a cousin’s wedding.

In September, I bid farewell to Karachi, feeling miserable! Back to Abu Dhabi to spend 3 more weeks before leaving for London in October.

October was depressing at first, especially the time when I had to leave from the airport. As usual, I presented that brave face of mine to mask my inner feelings (I’m really good at that!). In London, I saw my first birthday without anyone around, but that’s life! I hardly cared about birthdays before, but this time I did. Most of the month was spend getting to know about the city and getting acclimatised to my new life.

November was totally uneventful. I think it never even came!

The last month of the year began with Eid – another day when I dearly missed my old life. The festive season then kicked in some energy and the Christmas celebrations were quite memorable. Time passes at a faster pace when one is busy, and I was busy with courseworks (still am busy) during this time.

Just before the year ended, I got myself the beautfil Nikon D60, which marked yet another important day in life. Incidentally, that too coincided with my blog’s first birthday (27th December, again!).

So here it is, the end of the year which had many emotional tests for me. All these events infused some attributes in me which were lacking before. At the end of it, I feel like I’ve come out as a strong individual and probably grown-up too.

I do hope and pray that the next time I (and you) review the previous year, it may be filled with joyous words and cherished memories.