15-12-2009
2009: The Year That Was
Bonsoir, my pretties. I don't really know why I'm uploading this entry relatively early in the final month of this year - well no, I do, and there are a number of reasons, but I think the most important one is that I felt like it. If anything, I need to wash my hands clean of tweaking what has been a bit like a year-long project (yes, I am sad. And yes, I am proud of it :P) and see what you, my readers, think of my brainchild. I think there will be a lot of new readers this year, to whom I must extend the following warning/disclaimer: I occasionally sound a bit pompous in this entry. It is exceedingly long, so if you are prone to nosebleeds please keep a box of tissues handy. But lastly and most importantly - and I extend this wish to old readers too - enjoy your stay. :)
NavigateScenes To Remember... Or That Others Wish We'd Forget
For Making This Year What It Was, I Thank...
2009: The Year That Came To Be
Scenes To Remember... Or That Others Wish We'd Forget
Soondoos: Why does my wrist click? You know those really loud cracking sounds? They can be quite painful sometimes.
Abhinav: Did you hit it somewhere? Like against a human being?
"Ahh Soondoos, your motor mouth was equivalent to a Ferrari engine whine: the noise might not be everyone's cup of tea but you're exciting and you look good in red." - Roxanne
"Lawson, you have a great smile. It lights up Western Sydney." - Compliments done Julia-style :P
Barrister: You are like all Bengalis; they talk too much.
Dad: That may be so, but I know what I am talking about.
Istabraq (my sister): Yeah but it's ugly.
Soondoos: Your face is ugly.
Istabraq: Your mum is ugly.
Mum: YOUR MUM'S FACE IS UGLY! [Grins]
Re. the fauna at UWS Campbelltown:
Soondoos: Check out that duck - that is some epic featherage!
Amir: Can you please not throw the word "epic" around like that? Those are not epic ducks. If they could fire rocket launchers and make tea, then they'd be epic ducks.
"Simon steals my food, and then when I try to take it back from him he says 'Thief!'" - Bhaskar explaining why he can never gain weight.
Yathugiri while Sandy pours Skittles into her hand:
"Ooh, green and red! The colours of Bangladesh. Sandy, can I have a black one to represent the people?"
"People call me Ferrari, 'cause it kinda rhymes with Tewari. Like, if my name was Smorsche, they'd call me Porsche. Or if it was Bamborghini, they'd call me Lamborghini." - Amit
Istabraq: [Peeling an onion] Dammit, when can I stop, I must have peeled seven layers off already!
Mum: Maybe it's a Muslim onion.
Just before our debate:
Mitchell: Have you heard how I'm going to refer to Leon in my speech? I'm going to call him a sexy, sexy pony tail-toting, flaming redheaded fine figure of a man.
Soondoos: Ooh! What are you going to refer to me as?
Mitchell: I'm sorry, the only thing I could think of which I could honestly call you was "Heinous bitch".
Soondoos: [After getting up from my seat for the third time that PBL] Sorry guys, I need another toilet break.
Samantha (tutor): Soondoos, I think you need to get your prostate checked.
Anika: You've got that sarcastic bitchy appeal.
Soondoos: I'm a nice person. I don't have a sarcastic bitchy appeal!
Anika: [Laughs] That's like me saying I'm not pretty.
Harshil while Eric is washing his hands before an anatomy lab:
"It doesn't matter how hard you scrub, you're still gonna be a wanker."
In another PPD tute, when we were talking about our personalities:
"My weakness is that I have too many strengths." - Amit
As we leave the prayer room:
Soondoos: You glanced in the men's section, didn't you.
Denise: ... Well, I'm not Muslim!
"So, what are you going to buy with the money from selling yourself [at GHAWS auction]? A packet of Tic Tacs?" - Daryl
"When my husband proposes, he has to bend down on one knee, because he has to know his place in life." - Samia
During a PBL in which a fruit picker has presented with chest pain:
"Maybe he has a speach impediment. Or a melonoma. Or pearicarditis." - Andrew G
Michael explores conditionality:
"Hey, you still get to see me on the odd occasion that:
a) Your father isn’t in the country,
b) Your mother isn’t moody with you,
c) It’s the 3rd full moon of the year,
d) The Germans are invading, and
e) The tidal currents around the 7th largest island in Japan are moving so only every 7th wave is smaller than the six preceding it."
"Gosh, if my fingers looked like that I'd cut them off." - Charmy while looking at a picture of clubbed fingers in PBL
After changing my Facebook status to read "My mama says a lady ain't what she wears but what she knows":
Che: A lady is what her man is!
Soondoos: Che, go jump.
Fahim: What do you mean by "Che, go jump"?
Che: Yeah... what do you mean? :P
Soondoos: It means "Dinh Bao An Che, I find your response contemptuous and think you should go jump off a bridge/cliff/building/similarly high structure".
Che: Wait, let me go ask my lawyers if they can charge you for homicide after I follow your orders. If so, then you are what I made you: a killer.
Soondoos: ... Snap.
Normanhurst's finest:
Humayun: Stop lecturing me, you loser.
Sarfraz: Your mum's a loser. Oh shieeeeeet :P
Humayun: You seriously need new calls.
Sarfraz: Your dad needs new calls.
"If your parents are anything like mine, a boy is a serial rapist until Mum knows his entire family background for about five centuries back. Then if she approves, he automatically becomes good. And if she sees him with a girl before she knows him, it automatically means he is of loose character and not to be trusted." - Savitha
While Tasnuba is talking about plans to visit the hospital her uncle works at in Bangladesh:
"A doctor? Who works in a hospital? That's so cool!" - One of Rabbia's finer moments :P
Khanh: You've never watched The Lion King?! NOOOO - it's like my sky is crashing. How did you learn all your life lessons? How did you learn right from wrong?!
Soondoos: Er, Days of Our Lives? ... Explains a lot about me, doesn't it?
Khanh: Yes! Exhibit A, the product of daytime soap: terminally bad judgment of male specimens.
Soondoos: Ma, you know how you take the chokos you grow to your school and give them to the other teachers? Do you just like, give them away, or sell them, or... ?
Istabraq: You should trade them. No, you should gamble with them: "I see your banana, and I raise you a choko."
Fareesa: Abhinav, I didn't get your joke!
Soondoos: Is this the one with the stamp collector? My understanding of it was... well, think about a stamp. And before you stick a stamp on an envelope, what do you do to it? So if her husband was a stamp collector, then... ?
Fareesa: He collected vaginas?
"I found a hole in one of my socks the other day, and I thought, 'Darn it!' Aaahahahahha. Oh dear. I haven't been getting enough sleep." - Parima
Soondoos: Why would he do that?
Lawson: I dunno, too much selfishness being reabsorbed by his loops of Henle?
Michael to me after looking at the Ingredients list on a Terry's chocolate orange:
"You can't eat this. It says it has traces of bacon in it."
Harshil: Apparently boys are always thinking about sex.
Soondoos: It's true.
Harshil: Yeah but HOW? HOW can they always be thinking about it?
Soondoos: Men are very simple creatures. Actually, I think they alternate their thoughts of sex with thoughts of food. Occasionally though, the two will meld and give rise to one or both of the following: "I'm hungry for sex", or "I would really love to eat some form of dessert off a woman's skin right now".
"Dude, what is your problem! Why do you have to go for complete morons when you have an awesome guy like this practically served to you on a platter?! [Silence] ... You're thinking of him on a platter, aren't you." - Denise
"Soondoos, if you had a boyfriend, would your Dad kill him?" - Ravi asking a very valid question :P
Random kid on train 1: My dad's a builder.
[Later...]
Random kid on train 2: Hey does your dad build houses?
Random kid on train 1: ... Nah man. He builds trees.
Soondoos: But he said he would!
Matthew: Men say a lot of things, then they find something to eat.
While Eric plans my wedding with an unnamed curry male:
Soondoos: You are aware that he and I have never even spoken?
Eric: Actually, I was under the impression that that was the case for most Desi weddings.
Soondoos: You said you'd come and visit me at uni!
Humayun: Omg, it's so far, and it's in farmland. I'd have to catch a cow to get there. Not only that, but I'd have to change cows at least three times.
Soondoos: Is it worse than Macarthur? Wait no, at least Macarthur has a train station, it's not that bad...
Humayun: Saf's suburb doesn't even have a cow station.
"There was a helicopter on the Village Green [at UNSW] today. Do they have helicopters at UWS? I don't think so. Cows can't fly helicopters, can they?" - Humayun. As you can tell, he likes cows.
"We agreed last week, Richard, you were going to be our pseudo-patient [to practice abdominal examinations on]. Besides, your liver's probably going to be the easiest for us to feel." - Anthony in ICM
"I've always liked the name Persephone. You know, that chick in Greek pathology." - Richard
Re. some elaborately decorated Capitol sticker photos:
Simon: Hehe worst sticky photo ever =P good work decorating it, Eric. I think I may have salvaged it though, by replacing Harshil's banana face with a crab.
Matthew: Simon, giving someone crabs is never a solution.
"Amir, did you shave your chest?" - Aarani
For Making This Year What It Was, I Thank...
Aakansha for being consistently sweet and for generating so many hilarious anecdotes :P
Abhinav for unexpectedly landing in my life by some means which I am still ignorant of, and for staying there.
Alyce for being top notch company, especially during the Semester Two exam period :P
Amir for not letting an old faux pas mar what could potentially classify as a pretty epic friendship.
Amit for always lending a helping hand or hint if I should need it, and [literally] reminding me to smile.
Ammu for being the most amazing woman I have, and probably will, ever meet - I have faith in myself because I have faith in you.
Anika for being my beautiful wife and wonderful friend - our friendship only grows stronger as time passes and as we realise just how mental we both are :)
Anna H for still always making time for old friends and good times and being a living reminder of the importance of loyalty.
Anna C for being great fun to hang out with (on the rare occasion I was able to) and being so sweet.
Barakah for admirably handling the complaining and idiosyncrasies I think I'm entitled to as an older sister, and always having a story to tell.
Bhavneet for always being ready to contribute to a conversation and helping me out during exam prep, but NOT for those winks :P
Betsy for the train rides home from ICM.
Charitha for that infectious giggle... or cackle... or chortle... you get the picture :P
Che for keeping me grounded and reminding me to always strive to remain worthy of the opportunities granted to me.
Christina S for random bouts of probing discourse, and for just being so very gorgeous.
Daryl for being a great friend even though we might only see each other once every two months, and for that unique deadpan Dazzle charm.
Denise for being the perfect companion, whether I am feeling verbose or quiet or hyper or hypo or hot or cold or awake or asleep or hysterical or tranquil or - mm, you get me. Adjacent jigsaw pieces, forever :)
Dounan for making every trip to UNSW something to look forward to.
Eric for helping me through some tough times, and making me start to confront things about myself which I don't like but need to be aware of.
Fareesa for trying to convert me to Jay Sean-ism and encouraging my dreams of happily ever after :P
Farouk for reinstating his position as my hectic Muslim brutha, and making his interaction with my fellow first-years so hilarious to watch.
Guy Sebastian for being a marvellous substitute for a meaningful relationship :)
HALAQAH GIRLS :P: Aaia, Abbir, Ayman, Laila, Rabbia, Samia, Sara and Tasnuba for being such a wonderful group of fellow Muslimahs - I have enjoyed sharing the hope, joy and understanding of faith with each and every one of you.
Harshil for understanding and accepting me, (figurative) warts and all, and for having such a generous and simply... good, spirit <4
Humayun for the late-night laugh fests, helping me back up when I was down and catching multiple cows to whoop whoop to see me.
ICM GROUP: Anthony, Giannina, Karen, Nimna and Richard for being a most unexpected assortment of the very best that MBBS I has to offer - it has been wonderful learning with and from you, and spending time with you both in and out of the hospital.
Istabraq for making me that incredible mask for Medball, whooping my ass in foosball and being super company on the rare occasion I saw her outside of her room this year :P
Jaismine for being a first-rate public transport buddy.
Julia for still knowing how to make me laugh with that one of a kind sense of humour.
Khanh for the familiar calm that settles into my veins whenever I'm around her and still being my number one woman-I'd-go-for-if-I-were-male - love you for always.
Lawson for epitomising class, intelligence and loyalty and for being the kind of gentleman young boys should aspire to be.
Leon for making a note to be lovely on every occasion that we speak, and being an awesome redhead to add to my collection of awesome redheads :)
Matthew K for being a source of unimitable counsel and comfort, and unfailingly being able to make me smile with my eyes.
Matthew S for being another awesome redhead to add to my collection of awesome redheads, and an eloquent and charming addition to my friends.
Michael, the original awesome redhead, for being a bit of every male figure I need in my life - to me you are, and will always be, Superman.
Mitchell for hooking me up with so much fantastic new music, the fun chats and having one of the best smiles in MBBS I :P
Mujahid, Mubariz and Murabit for being the best little brothers I could have asked for. The things they do, from responding to the ridiculous nicknames I give them to running to greet me at the door and then waiting to give me a kiss when I get home from uni, make me feel like the luckiest big sister in the world.
Natalie for being the perfect person to indulge with in anything from girlish fantasies to larger than life dreams.
Nathalie for smooth little pick up lines to brighten any morning train ride, no matter how cold the Glenfield morning may be.
Nushat for being her unique brand of hyper every time I see her :P
OneRepublic for penning songs that verbalise any and every mood I may be in.
PROCRASTINATORS ALLIED: Aditya P, Aditya V, Natasha D, Parima, Ravi, Sandhya, Savitha and Shaon for honing the fine art of bludgery that we serve. You guys have filled half of my inbox with jokes, anecdotes, website links, questions, answers and friendship for just over a year and a half now and I've enjoyed every minute of it.
Rabbia for being the outwardly silent dark horse who I can count on should I want hilarious insights, anecdotes, or just someone to talk to.
Ravi for always keeping an eye out for me and for still being such a sweetheart.
Richard for being a team player and for his [occasionally brutally] honest compliments :P
Roxanne for being a big bucket of giggles, warmth and lubbly jubbly-ness.
Samia for being like a twin who understands how my mind works because her face will always reflect exactly what I'm thinking :P
Sandy for continuing to boldly wave the flag for kickass crunchies everywhere :P
Sarfraz for having the rare gift of turning anything, be it the circle of life or apple and mango juice, into a seriously engaging topic of conversation.
Tasnuba for her random questions, being a blast to hang out with and being so friendly to me at the beginning of the year when I feared the only people I'd know in my new course would be toolshed graduates.
Tristan for being a fantastic GHAWS buddy and always having a kind word, joke or hug to dispense should he think I need one.
Victoria for still being my kindred biatch and not letting second year Med Sci quash her vibrance, wit or bad-ass hotness ;)
Vivian T for always having a million dollar smile whenever I see her.
Yathugiri for making the few conversations we were able to have this year feel as warm and welcoming as they were where we left off.
Zainib for being a beautiful, crazy, principled woman whom I admire and have come to place in the highest esteem.
Zenna for providing timely reminders about why I do the things I do, think the things I think and believe the things I believe.
2009:
The Year That Came To Be
- What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before?
- Did you make any resolutions for this year and will you make any for next year?
- Did anyone close to you give birth?
- Did anyone close to you die?
- What countries did you visit?
- What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
- What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory and why?
- What was your biggest achievement of the year?
- What was your biggest failure?
- Did you suffer illness or injury?
- What was the best thing you bought?
- Whose behaviour merited celebration?
- Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
- Where did most of your money go?
- What did you get really, really excited about?
- What song will always remind you of 2009?
- Compared to this time last year, are you a) Happier, or b) Sadder?
- What do you wish you'd done more of?
- What do you wish you'd done less of?
- Did you fall in love in 2009?
- What was your favourite TV program?
- Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
- What was the best book you read?
- What was your greatest musical discovery?
- What did you want and get?
- What did you want and not get?
- What was your favourite film this year?
- What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
- What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
- How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
- What kept you sane?
- Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
- What political issue stirred you the most?
- Who did you miss?
- Who was the best new person you met?
- Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.
- Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
Went on camp. Painted my nails. Drove a car. Made nachos. Okay Michael you were right, maybe I'm not actually older than 15 yet -_-
For this year: Work a little harder. Get better at going with the flow. Remember to tend to the bigger picture rather than the easel it rests temporarily upon. Stop using so many clichés. Use commas only when necessary. And - simply because it's traditional to resolve to do this and then fail - get fit.
For next year: Stop getting so focused on the wrong things. Aim to do well, as opposed to just aiming to not screw up. Spend less time on the computer. Eat more salad. And get a bit fitter.
No, but it wasn't for want of cluckiness :P
No.
Hrrrm... some would argue that the land surrounding Macarthur station resembles the Northern Territory, but the NT is still part of Australia so I guess that doesn't count either :/
Some new pairs of shoes - I haven't bought shoes all year because everything in the shops is hideous, and it pains me. Also some things like more mental stability and maturity, but everybody knows you have to work for those on your own :P
Hmm... I really don't know. I don't mean that it hasn't been an eventful year - because that's a lie - but there isn't any one specific date that sticks out in my mind.
Accepting the existence of bad habits and trying to kick them cold turkey. Whether I succeeded or not remains to be seen, but the fact that I tried is a big step for me.
Not accepting the existence of said bad habits earlier? :P Or maybe constructivity during second semester. Yeah, I think that would be it.
My knee felt very old and painful during the winter months. Well I don't know what else I was expecting - I am getting on in years after all. 8-)
Benji, my beautiful computer... though to be fair, I didn't really buy that. Ooh, I have another one which I was at least partially responsible for purchasing - my Zoza wrap :)
As always, my amazing friends and family.
Certain friends and family.
Vili's pies, potato wedges with sweet chilli sauce and sour cream and Oporto's. Quit judging, there's not much else you can do with your money out in Macarthur, dammit.
My 17.967th, though as the date neared I remember excitement being replaced with a feeling of dread/fear :P Also got pretty excited about Medcamp and Medball.
As usual, there are a few:
Halo - Beyoncé
Fearless - HR King
Broken Strings (feat. Nelly Furtado) - James Morrison
Like It Like That - Guy Sebastian
The Heart Of The Matter - India.Arie
Sadder. I don't mean that I'm actually sad, but I do think I'm sadder. This time last year I was staring down the barrel of big changes; the changes were scary, but in a good way. Right now I am again staring down the barrel of changes - some are definitely exciting, but they're shunted to the side by other changes which are the kind that come like sucker punches to the gut... and they take a long time, and a lot of effort, to start seeing any sort of positive in.
Dealing with things on my own. Following the Bulldogs properly.
Dealing with things by burdening other people :P And wallowing in misery, when I did.
Who knows. Who cares.
Scrubs as provided by fabulous people on the internet. On actual TV: Fringe and Merlin... which Rabbia once memorably called Arthur :P
There are things I hate about certain people which I was unaware of this time last year. But is there anyone new who I completely hate? Don't think so. To hate them, I'd have to care about them, and people who sink low enough to warrant my disdain very rarely stay important enough to me to end up earning my hatred.
Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns. Call me unoriginal, but it struck a chord.
Mitchell Waters' iPod :P
Amazing new people in my life. A degree and life path I've longed for, for as long as I can remember.
Things that probably aren't good for me to have at this point in time anyway.
Don't think I've watched enough to provide good judgment on that. New Moon was just the tonic I needed after my Semester Two exams though, to remind myself that there really are stupider creatures than me on this planet: for instance, the jackass who decided it would be creative to circle a pasty mute girl with unwashed hair for a minute and then call it a scene.
I turned 18 and didn't do anything particularly memorable on that day. On my 17.967th birthday though I had something of a shindig at my place where I decided to mark this milestone in my life by stressing three times more than usual and trying to ensure everybody was having a good time. 'Twas a great day :D
A Taylor Lautner who was older than me, and not going out with someone who had the same first name as him. Actually scratch that - going out with anyone... who wasn't me. :P
What does it matter what my personal fashion concept was if everything I wore ended up looking better on Amir anyway?
Trees. Clouds. Sunsets. Music. Benji. Friends. Family. God.
(Shrugs) Nobody, really. I'd say Taylor Lautner but rumour has it he's still 17 and so some people think it would be wrong 8-)
Political issue? I wasn't paying attention this year. Call me ignorant but I had other concerns.
Lots of people. UNSW friends. High school friends. Girl friends. Guy friends. You get the picture.
I gave this a bit of thought and decided not to wuss out of giving a straightforward answer, even though I met a lot of incredible new people this year. If I had to choose one person though, it would probably be Harshil.
There are very few people worth sacrificing your dignity for, and the only ones that are will never put you in a position where you will be forced to choose. And if you believe you are worth something - be it a new dress, someone's time of day or the right to be happy or to stop hurting - then you have to work to be worth it. Just believing it or wanting it is not enough. And if you believe, want, and work hard enough, then the prize is yours.
This is the kind of song that nurses the heart and heals the soul, which is what I've been trying to achieve this year. The "him" mentioned is not the only reason I've been trying to do this, though to say that no male contributed to it would be a lie. Listening to this song amuses me sometimes; I never stop being surprised when I realise, even though I've realised it a thousand times before, that I am always free, and that the imprisonment I feel at times is mostly in my head: a product of the old baggage that I just need to release in order to feel that sweet freedom once again -
"The choice is yours
No matter what it is
To choose life
Is to choose to forgive
You don't have to try and hurt him
Or break his pride
Just shake that weight off
And you'll be ready to fly"
-- Get It Together, India.Arie
Finally, we've reached the end of another year, and another entry. Be good to yourselves and those around you, my dears - have a fabulous holiday, and an incredible New Year. All the best for 2010 :)
Tata,
Soondoos
QUOTE OF THE YEAR:
"Being reminded people love you can make you cry as much as knowing there are people who will hurt you for loving them." - My attempt to word a universal truth.
tandoosi at 9:24 p.m.