A Note from the Publications Team:
We would like to wish all our members a very warm EID MUBARAK!! Hopefully, not too many of you had to spend the day in uni! Before we begin our new edition, we would like to rectify a few inaccuracies that emerged from the previous newsletter: first of all, we would like to clarify that it was actually England who won the PakSoc Cup last year and not Afro-Caribbean, although they were the favourites to win. Secondly, the dancer at the Meet & Greet was Aneela, not Anita, and we profusely apologise for our error. Also, we mentioned in our last newsletter that Farah Chaudary and Shamyla Mushtaq were responsible for the creation of ‘University of Birmingham Medical School Women’s Cricket Club’ or UBMSWCC (phew!! Try saying that one three times in a row!), while they deserve all the credit they get, we would like to highlight that it was our very own dear Mummy PakSoc, aka Sana Shahid, who was the brains behind the idea and so she deserves just as much recognition and praise☺. Well done girls! Publications is sincerely apologetic for any wrongdoing and as this is our first experience of writing a newsletter of such appeal, we hope you will understand that it is implausible for us to get it right especially in our first attempt! We thank everyone who has said nice things about the newsletter and we appreciate all the support we can get. We would like to remind everyone again that the newsletter is not aimed to mock or ridicule members of PakSoc, or any other individuals that may be mentioned. Its purpose is to keep you up-to-date with all things going on in PakSoc by providing a humorous, tongue-in-cheek account that should be read lightly. With Regards, Publications
THE PAKSOC TIMES November/December 2008
Volume 1, I s sue 2
University of Birmingham Pakistani Society, Guild of Students Facebook Group: UoB Paksoc Email: [email protected]
PakSoc SHOUT-OUTS So, as it turns out there are quite a few birthday shout‐outs that we need to get through in this issue. With this in mind, we thought that before we do anything else, we will get them out of the way…
Although his birthday wa right back in the beginning of November, we wou d like to wish our prestigious honora y member, Mr. Imran MotaHappy Birthday. Mr. Mota a has been a long supporter of PakSoc, offering his wisdom and experience consistentl and generously in order to help further the success of the society. We are greatly indebted to his invaluable service and hope that he continues to offer them in the future☺.
slr
la, a very
And a huge Happy Birthday to Nabila Haseen, Adnan Shabir, Nisar Shah, and Hossam
Mustafa l
yHappy Birthday Guys, hope you all celebrated in style☺!!
We have some special mentions for some special dudes and dudettes who have turned the big 2 1
this term:
Tauseef Liaquat Tasma Ismail Hannah Kiran
Hamira Saleem
It was Mummy PakSoc’s birthday a few weeks ago so we would, on behalf of everyone on the committee and everyone in the society, like to wish her a very, very HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! Thank you Sana for all the immense amount of effort you’ve put in as the brains behind the society. We love you loads!! ☺
We would also like to wish a many happy returns of the day to Mr. Omar Khan who celebrated his birthday in December. Mr. Khan is our newly appointed Football rep and will be now be a part of the Sports committee under the direction of Harrise Khan. Happy Birthday Omar and welcome to the club☺!!
Every issue we give you the chance to get to know our Committee better. Last time we took a look at Mummy and Daddy PakSoc, and now we’re going to focus in on the real brains behind the PakSoc society, cue Mr. Ehsan Ashraf… NAME: Ehsan Ashraf ALSO KNOWN AS: VAMPS; DRACULA; ANGRY MAN; EZI; MR. LOVER LOVER; JUGGY D ROLE: Events – BRAINS & OPERATIONS, without me you have nothing! STAR SIGN: Cancer STUDIES: Economics – not a typical Pakistani subject, have to be unique! HOMETOWN: Old Trafford, Manchester – Greatest City on Earth! LIKES: 1. SAAG ☺ 2. Aston Martins 3. Making a change in the world DISLIKES: 1. Typical Pakistani’s 2. Ignorance 3. Losing TENDS TO SAY ‘Allow You’; “Give me 2:2’s”; and, “What u saying?” A LOT! OBSESSED WITH: Perfection, Success and being number ONE!
Meet the Committee Sheesha Social
For those of you who enjoy chillaxing what better way to do it with than a good old Sheesha. PakSoc once again organised a great event for all you fellow PakSoc family peeps, just a great way for everyone at PakSoc to hang out with their friends and with their PakSoc family. Ok, so Sheesha isn’t for everyone but hey whether you’re a Sheesha addict (like many of us…not naming names…) or just prefer a casual Sheesha here and there or whether you don’t do Sheesha at all….hell who cares… there is no discrimination with Sheesha because everyone is welcome to hang out and have a good time at a good old Sheesha lounge. So we at PakSoc chose Red Sea lounge as it is one of the popular ones in our lovely city of Birmingham, and we have to admit it has a great vibe in there. I mean the cosy sofa’s, the great music (which many of us were singing along to…including me), and the surprisingly warm feel even though you’re outside, and yes, the yummy milkshakes, but most importantly the wide variety of Sheesha flavours. How can one possibly go wrong at the Red Sea lounge? Regardless of this, the reason why we all had a good time that night was because we were all together, chillaxing, laughing, talking and basically just hanging within our PakSoc crew…
We at PakSoc truly hope everyone had a great night as that was our aim for everyone to have a top night, and I’m sure we all did ☺ I mean I have to say what could make people more closer than sharing each other’s Sheesha…now this calls for a
Eid-ul-Adha cheesy ‘AWWWW how sweet’ moment.
Jokes aside we had a good night, and we are positive there will be many more good nights to come as long as you guys stay in the safe hands of PakSoc (and yes, that is the signature Pakistani style OBVIOUS advertising technique – had to get it in there somewhere! ☺)
Sheesha lounges are pretty sikkk (whether you do Sheesha or not)… and a great way to soak in some culture as well as hang out with your friends!!
Location: Red Sea Lounge
On the 8th of December Muslims worldwide celebrated Eid….well at least I hope we all celebrated it on the same day!! This Eid (also known as Big Eid) is extra special because it signifies the end of the Hajj pilgrimage and traditionally involves the sacrificing of an animal in the name of Allah. So, on this day, everyone in Pakistan, or at least, everyone who has the means too, buys a bakra that can then be sacrificed with all the meat being shared between family and friends and the homeless. Eid…it’s a day full of family, friends and great food….and a chance for everyone to dress up and look gooooood ☺! For most of us the day starts with a signature eating of something sweet in the morning…like halwa or seviyan (is that how u spell it?)….yummy!!! Many of us go pray Eid Namaz in the morning because of course it’s not Eid without reading
Now up next is the one and only… NAME: Ibrar Hussain ALSO KNOWN AS: Cocoa Montana, ‘you know you want me’; Mr. International, because he’s been around. ROLE: Events, and occasionally the spiritual ‘team’ leader STAR SIGN: Gemini – you try working me out! STUDIES: International Relations HOMETOWN: Aston, Birmingham LIKES: 1. Military Coups 2. Easyjet & lastminute.com 3. Portugal – que pasa amigo DISLIKES: 1. World Poverty 2. Long term relationships (To the women: ‘you know I love you really ☺’) 3. Ethnic cleansing – you know who you are! TENDS TO SAY ‘We don’t mess around’ A LOT! OBSESSED WITH: Money, Power and Respect…watch out Asim, lol x
Meet the Committee Part 2
Other News namaz first. And then afterwards, in my case, get smothered with kisses from all the aunty jees…!!! And I’m sure most of us spend the rest of the day with family and friends, stuffing your faces with all the endless food. Aren’t we lucky that we have two Eids, that’s double the fun and the FOOD!! I hope everyone had a great Eid no matter what you were doing, because it’s a special day and we all deserve such a treat ☺ What’s more, everyone must have received the signature Eid messages or should I say forwarded messages, and then passed them on!!! Ahhhhh but Eid wouldn’t be Eid without them!! So happy happy belated Eid wishes to EVERYONE at our very own PakSoc family☺
Finally…
Another little note from Publications…Myself and Aisha F thoroughly enjoy writing this newsletter for all you guys, we hope you guys are enjoying reading it… there are still many more to come…and again THANK YOU so much for all the s and positive feedback…you guys rock ☺ upport
Happy Holidays dudes and dudettes!!! Have a relaxing one and we look forward to seein !!!g you guys in 2009
Luv the Aisha(h)z ☺
The University of Birmingham Pakistani Society have been kindly sponsored
by: Cravings Ltd
554 Stratford Road Sparkhill
Birmingham B11 4AL
What you guys can look forward to from PakSoc in Semester Two:
‐ Multicultural Evening in association with other Guild societies: Deb Hall, 20/01/09
‐ Refresher Fair: Guild, 21/01/09
‐ PakSoc Football Cup: The FINAL Pakistan A v. The Rest of the World
‐ Cricket Re‐match PakSoc v. MedSoc
‐ Ice‐Skating
‐ Go‐karting
‐ Film Night
‐ Poetry Evening with a talk on the great Allama Iqbal.
And the big one you’ve all been waiting for…
‐ Cultural night ‘Mauja Hi Mauja’ January, TBC
It’s going to be an event filled semester so make sure you don’t miss out!!
Well, in other news, it has sadly not been all fun and games. Unfortunately, you have probably all heard about the Mumbai bombings that occurred recently. Approximately 170 people were killed in the attacks with nearly 300 injured. There has been a lot of controversy surrounding the whole thing about who was responsible for this clearly upsetting incident and many fingers have been pointed towards Pakistan. However, whilst the bombings have been linked to Islamic extremists, it is important to note that people of all faith and nationalities were victims of this event, including Muslims. Therefore, we would like to highlight that PakSoc strongly condemns such type of activity
What, another profile? Dude…we’re just getting started… ☺ Up next is the money behind the operation, and so it’s probably a good idea to stay on the good side of Miss… NAME: Khazina Waraich ALSO KNOWN AS: Khaz/Kheena ROLE: Treasurer; aka the one with ALL the money… STAR SIGN: Virgo STUDIES: Medicine (2nd year) HOMETOWN: Faisalabad LIKES: 1. Travelling 2. Socialising 3. Speaking German: ‘Sprechen Sie Deutsch?’ DISLIKES: 1. Train delays 2. Overcooked rice 3. British Weather (oh look…rain…) TENDS TO SAY ‘Zabardast’ and ‘like’ A LOT! OBSESSED WITH: Spending ages perfecting things!
Next up is our little ray of sunshine who has the awful task of running around after the committee… Little Miss… NAME: Maryam Shahid ALSO KNOWN AS: Mario; Super Mario; Maz; Marylin; Little One; and the Animated Cartoon ROLE: Secretary, the One and Only… STAR SIGN: Virgo STUDIES: Law HOMETOWN: Hounslow, London – BRAP BRAP!!! LIKES: 1. Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (you can easily bribe me with some…) 2. I♥New York 3. To clean – I’m a clean freak! DISLIKES: 1. Dark Chocolate 2. People who don’t talk, it’s like talking to a brick wall!! 3. Feet – don’t ask why!! Even I don’t know why, but they just make me cringe! TENDS TO SAY ‘Pleaseeeeeeee!’; ‘Huhhhhh?!?’; ‘I’m confused!’; ‘you whattttt??’; ‘I’m just a little angel, can’t you see my halo?’ (Pointing to the imaginary halo above my head); ‘It’s all relative...’; and ‘obviouslyyyyy!’ A LOT! OBSESSED WITH: SLEEPING: will sleep anywhere, anytime and when I’m not sleeping, I’m obsessed with TALKING... LOTS!!
Meet the Committee Part 3
forward‐thinking leader of our time was the special consideration he gave to the status of women: “No nation can rise to the height of glory unless your women are side by side with you.” Muhammad Ali Jinnah. It is no wonder then that such an equalitarian thinker could rise to the
Meet the Committee Part 4
heights he did. Yet, it is sad to think that a nation which was created on the basis of such high hopes has crumbled to its current degenerative state. The current climate of Pakistan is extremely unstable: most recently, we witnessed the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, another past leader of Pakistan but one that cannot even be likened to the greatness of Jinnah. Interestingly, she has also been cemented into Pakistan’s history with 300,000 commemorative ten rupee coins being issued on the first anniversary of her death on December 27th. She has been inscribed as, “Daughter of the East, the honourable martyr Benazir Bhutto”. But this is open to debate. Pakistan has altered greatly since Jinnah’s time, and we can only hope and pray that another visionary, with the same morals and ideals as our founder, can push Pakistan out of its wreckage and build it anew according to the dreams of one man called Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
and we greatly sympathize and send our condolences to those families affected by this monstrous attack, and we are supported in our views by NUPSA.
Muhammad Ali Jinnah (December 25, 1876 – September 11, 1948) is perhaps one of the most influential political figureheads in history, and as the founder of a nation of which we are all proud (whether we like to publicise this or not), it is only fitting for us to commemorate his birthday. Jinnah was a man of many ideals and aspirations, he believed in the purity of faith and goodness in all that surrounded him. His Western education enabled him to distance himself from the immediate poverty and suffering of his fellow Muslims, to place him on a pedestal from where he could understand them and thus by doing so, envision a change that could save his generation and more importantly his future generations: “We should have a State in which we could live and breathe as free men and which we could develop according to our own lights and culture and where principles of Islamic social justice could find free play.” Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
What is perhaps most significant about Jinnah, which cements him as a
After our constant remarks about and towards our most notorious committee member, we finally thought it was time to introduce you to him properly. Calling… NAME: Harrise Khan ALSO KNOWN AS: The Young Harrise Khan; King Khan; King of the Khan’s; Yogi; Beast; Kung Fu Panda. ROLE: Director of Sports STAR SIGN: Taurus STUDIES: Law HOMETOWN: Scunthorpe, born and bred. LIKES: 1. Boxing and Sport 2. Eating – I’m a fatty ☺ 3. Spending time with my girls, Asilah and Madi ☺ DISLIKES: 1. Healthy Food 2. People who order salads at McDonalds 3. Dixi Chicken TENDS TO SAY ‘Do you wanna walk home?’; ‘Beautiful’ (pats chest); ‘Pectactic’ (whilst feeling my man boobs) A LOT! OBSESSED WITH: Man Points
The Sports Pages Sports Profile
The last two months have been literally dominated by sports thanks to our renowned Director of Sports, the young Harrise Khan/King Khan/Asian‐sensation/King of the Khans... (I would like to clarify that that was his acclamation this time!) The football tournament got under way at the beginning of November but is still an ongoing process due to the lack of dry, playable weather. The initial line‐up saw the participation of 15 teams: Pakistan A, Pakistan B, India, England, Mexico, Iran, Egypt, Argentina, Arabia, Wales, Germany, The Nordic Region, Malaysia, Afro‐Caribbean, and The Rest of the World. They all gathered together (well, at least most of them) on a very cold and windy Sunday morning on the Astro turf pitches with both our PakSoc teams looking very much the part with their newly designed green and white football shirts sponsored by Cravings.
Pakistan A, captained by our very own Omar Khan and Rehan Khan, got off to a very good start seeing as the Nordic Region forfeited their match, pulling out last minute, resulting in the Pakistan team gaining an easy 3 points without so much as a sweat. The next few matches however, proved a bit more cumbersome. The team drew against Iran and then drew again with Malaysia and were eventually defeated by the stronger Afro‐
Pakistan A team photo after their first match
Caribbean side, losing 4‐1. Amazingly, with the luck of the three points already in the bag, Pakistan A still managed to reach the play‐offs (which perhaps doesn’t say much about the rest of the competitors), where they beat Canada, 2‐0. Meanwhile England, captained by the newly appointed Chief Selector of the PakSoc teams, Ibrar Manawer, lost 3‐0 to Arabia. In the final of the play‐offs Pakistan A drew 1‐1 with Arabia, following a last minute goal from Naeem Moosa. They then went on to defeat Arabia on penalties, securing their place in the quarter finals. Pakistan B had an equally tough time: captained by Harrise Khan, they unfortunately lost their first game, but recovered well, with some good solid performances from defender Adil, keeper Khurrum and midfielder Farhan, all showing panache which allowed them to reach the quarter finals. The successful teams, to reach the quarter finals included, both our Pakistan A and Pakistan B teams, India, Iran, Egypt, Wales, Afro‐Caribbean and The Rest of the World. Our teams really
had their work cut out for them, playing on the second day of the tournament a week later, another rainy Sunday morning which also saw the eagerly anticipated Cricket match between MedSoc and PakSoc, to be held at the Edgbaston Indoor Cricket Nets on Pershore Road. Once again the weather prevailed and the tournament was further delayed. Eventually, Pakistan A did extremely well to progress to this next stage. Whilst, they did not win any match outright, they did well to defeat India in the deciding match on penalties, pushing them into the semi‐ finals. Penalty takers: Omar, Wasim and
Pakistan B, Farhan Shahid, tackling the Arabian midfielder
The Brains behind that ‘young’ face…and probably the true Director of Sports behind the scenes ☺, the lovely Miss… NAME: Asilah Khan ALSO KNOWN AS: Assman; Skabetti; Silu; Lil’ Paki; C ROLE: Girls Sports Rep STAR SIGN: Gemini STUDIES: Law HOMETOWN: Leicester baby ☺ LIKES: 1. Optimism 2. Having fun ‘n’ making the most of life 3. Football: big up Man United and Leicester City ☺ ☺ DISLIKES: 1. Liverpool fans :P 2. Anyone that has anything bad to say about Leicester 3. Pessimists TENDS TO SAY ‘S/He’s cute!!’ A LOT! OBSESSED WITH: Buying shoes ☺
last ball in order to clinch the trophy. Sadly they managed to get only 2 meaning that the match ended in a draw.
There was much banter and competitive friction amongst the team players during the match with our very own Director of Sports, the young Harrise Khan, complaining that the “excessive appealing” from the medics was most “unjust”. In the end, however, he was relatively pleased that his team remain, for now, “masha’Allah, still undefeated”. The draw has meant that another match will be scheduled for early next semester, and this time both teams are keen to make sure this match is the decider between the two equally strong sides, with the MedSoc captain, Awais Habeebullah, going as far as insisting: “If I lose next time, I will quit!” Good luck to both teams, and we will keep you up‐to‐date on this next match that will definitely be one you won’t want to miss.
Sports Profile Part 2
Cricket… The long awaited cricket
contest between the Medics and the PakSoc members finally ensued on November 23rd at the Edgbaston Cricket Club Indoor Nets on Pershore Road. Both sides had been training extensively for this match, with the last year’s losers, MedSoc, eagerly wanting to come out on top this time round. Unfortunately, there was no clear winner as the match ended in a draw after 70 runs scored by each side. PakSoc needed more than 2 runs of the
Rehan slotted their penalties away, and superb keeper Sabial did the rest with some fantastic goal keeping.
Alas, it was the end of the road for the Pakistan B team as they regrettably went out after losing to The Rest of the World. However, they put up a good fight, showing much enthusiasm.
The semi‐finals included the matches, PakSoc A vs. Wales, and The Rest of the World vs. Iran. Pakistan A were well on their way to win against the Wales side, who were 1‐0 down, after a somewhat special goal from Omar, only to succumb to an equaliser in the last minute of the match, leaving the teams to decide on penalties. PakSoc A won, and as a result, will now face The Rest of the World in the finals to be confirmed at a later date. Well done Pakistan A and commiserations to Pakistan B, better luck next year!
Pakistan A and B team photo
Inside the Cricket Nets: team PakSoc warming up before the match. Below, Harrise Khan
commenting after the match.