And so it happened...

I just came out of an event I'd been waiting for for the last year, maybe a little more :) AIESEC Lahore's 2008/2009 LCP elections. Here's why:

In September 2005, we recruited some great kids into AIESEC. We recruited a couple of freshmen, and some of these went on to become EB members that December. One of them, Hasan, sat down with me at a national conference, and we planned what he was going to do in AIESEC for the next 4 years. We realized that in order to run for MCP, he'd need to stay fully involved in the LC till he graduated, thus making it logical that he apply for LCP at some stage. The best time to do this was his last year - 2008/2009.

Later that year, at a mid-year recruitment, we recruited another freshman (one of many), who, we quickly realized, was able to get along with anyone, and ended up becoming someone the EB would turn to when trying to work out LC problems. That was Adeel. Somewhere in the middle of 2006, he too realized he wanted to to apply for the EB, and then maybe later, LCP. in the 2008/2009 term :)

(This is turning into an Indian movie, sorry!)

Anyway - today was those elections. Two people we'd recruited, seen take on various positions, with various results were running against each other (plus Bubloo, but this story is not about him, sorry again!). They were both equally good, both had been trained equally well. The difference was their approach on what the LC needed to do next year, and how they were going to get it done.

People have asked me, who would you rather win. I can't choose, it's not a fair question. Since 2006, I'd known one of these guys would be LCP 2008/2009 - but over the years I had varied opinions on who would do a better job, depending on their recent successes and failures. For me, they were both ideal candidates, unfortunately, there's only one LCP :)

Anyway, I just came out of elections, and we have the answer - the LCP for AIESEC Lahore 2008/2009 is Adeel Hasan. I couldn't be happier, I couldn't be sadder. It's so odd.

Congrats Adeel - you're going to do a great job! And Hasan, MCP elections 2009/2010 are next year :)

2007...

*I admit I've been horrible with the whole blog update thing, but for the last three years, I answer these questions at the start of the new year. I promise there will be a more detailed update on life, sometime soon*

1. What did you do in 2007 that you'd never done before?
Lived alone. In Karachi. Learnt to make sheesha. Got addicted to sheesha!

2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I never make NY resolutions.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
No

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No

5. What countries did you visit?
Egypt, Turkey, UAE, India

6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?
Well, at the start of 2006 I lacked a laptop. I got it around February, but as of very recently I don't have a laptop again, so I'll have to say a laptop!

7. What date from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
November 29 - December 4. I not only lost my laptop, cell phone and money during these dates, but I also lived on an airport for close to 48 hours (Terminal-like) yet had one of my best trips to India (which should be an indicator of how my previous India trips have been)

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I managed to make a lot of time for family.

9. What was your biggest failure?
I didn't make so much time for my high school/college friends

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
No

11. What was the best thing you bought?
My laptop :(

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
The inhabitants of 104, Moon Apartments :) + Yao

13.Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
No one as such...

14.Where did most of your money go?
Coffee

15.What did you get really, really, really excited about?
The twenty20 world cup final!

16.What song will always remind you of 2007?
Get Low, closely followed by Tokyo Drift and Laaree Chootee. The amount of times we listened to these...aaaa!!

17.Compared to this time last year,
I. are you happier or sadder?
Happier

II. thinner or fatter?
Thinner

III. richer or poorer?
Poorer

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Eat healthy food

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Sheesha - I can actually feel my lung capacity decreasing

20. Did you fall in love in 2007?
No

21. How many one-night stands?
Experiencing short term memory loss..

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

23. What was the best book you read?
Ice-candy man. And I just finished reading it.

24. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Mika

25. What did you want and get?
Laptop, cell phone, very cool travel bag

26. What did you want and not get?
Can't think of anything.

27. What was your favorite film of this year?
The worse one was "Goal" (the Indian version), closely followed by "Pirates 3".

28. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 24, and went to spend the day at my brother's house. My roommates also took me out for dinner, but that was a day or so before the big day.

29. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?


30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?
Same as 2006 - although I wore a lot more of traditional stuff.

31. What kept you sane?
My fellow MCPs - mwa!!

32. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
No one, didn't watch that much TV. However, I did see Lion King again, and Mufasa is hot!

33. What political issue stirred you the most?
Haha, there's enough here to write a novel. In brief, Musharraf's weird behaviour.

34. Who did you miss?
Ammar Z, Kirmani, Naureen, Marina. And that list isn't in any order.

35. Who was the best new person you met?
Marina Ran!

36. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007:
If you can't do anything to change it, then learn to live with it.