THE PAKSOC TIMES

A Note from Publications:

You came to our events. Good, now the time has come to read

about them and re-live the fun.

It has been an eventful first semester and we hope you guys have

enjoyed all that we have had on offer so far.

Firstly, I would like everyone to join me to congratulate last year’s committee for organising such spectacular events and getting us

nominated for two guild awards (you guys rock!). Secondly, as this is my very first issue I wish to dedicate it to my predecessor’s Aisha

Farooq and Aishah Mahmood (yes were keeping the position of

publications an ‘Aisha(h)’ thing for the second consecutive year wohoo). Thank you for all your help and support girls.

Peace,

Aisha Sufi (Publications)

O c t - D e c 2 0 0 9

V o l u m e 1 I s s u e 1

University of Birmingham Pakistani Society, Guild of Students Facebook Group: UoB Pakistani Cultural Society Email: paksoc@gmail.com

Inside this issue

- Meet & Greet

- Alton Towers

- Shaam Dinner &

Dance

- Meet the

Committee

- International Futsal

Tournament

- Who is the Mystery

Guest of December?

_

PakSoc Birthday Shout-outs

Qaddafi (events) and his good

friend Hanish (aka daffy &

Dubb) had a joint belated 21st

birthday celebration back in

November. We hope you guys

had a good time and didn’t get

up to, too much mischief.

It turns out quite a few of our committee & members have celebrated

their birthdays this end of the year. So here it goes...

Our cute IT Officer (aka the girl who

clogs up all our inbox’s lol) Farina &

Mareen (events) celebrated their 21st

birthdays in September & October.

The newest edition to the

committee Saira (events)

celebrated her 20th

birthday in

October.

Tooba (events)

celebrated her 20th

birthday in October.

We hope u

celebrated in style

Newly Crowned *~Shaam~*

Queen Miss Nabila Haseen

celebrated her 20th

Birthday four

days after Shaam. What a way to

begin a new decade

Birthday wishes also going out to:

Amina Azaz, Sairah Ali, Nahida Bibi , Sunnum Hussain ,Saika Hussain,

Sammia Jan, Sabreen Kauser, Omar Khan, Sarah Sabir, Sana Shahid,

Naeem Zaman

The one who runs tingzzz... Name: Ibrar Hussain Aka: coco milkman no 3, Hometown: Birmingham Role: The President Course: International Relations Describe yourself in three words: Presidential, Charismatic, Passionate If you could have a superpower what would it be? Why? To be invisible so I can smuggle paan. Most common sayings: blud, Ey (in a Bengali accent), I don’t mess around. ‘Are u making love stories again?’ Don’t beat around the bush, 75% Pakistani 25% Australian. Loves: Portugal Dislikes: Australians

Where it all began...

Meet and Greet

Meet the Committee Part 1

Our first event of the year and as the saying

goes the first impression is a lasting one,

indeed it was.

The Meet and Greet was our first event of

the year and a great chance for people to

chat and learn more about PakSoc.

Approximately 150 of you turned up to

show us your support and to check out what

we had to offer this year.

To mix things up a bit we gave everyone

different colours stickers at the door when

they came in so that they would form into a

group with those who had the same colour

sticker. Thanks to this some of you actually

made some new friends.

The afternoon began with our President

Ibrar aka coco introducing himself and the

new committee to the audience. Our Vice

President Aneela, (with the tiny voice)

presented a slide show of the awesome

PakSoc events from last year and the events

we had on offer this year.

This was then followed by a presentation by

Emma from Teach First. At PakSoc we

believe in work hard and then play hard. It

was vital for us to put this message across to

our members.

Back to the fun and games, everyone was

split into groups according to the colour of

their stickers. The competition began, which

ever group answered all the questions about

Pakistan correctly got to eat first. Boy, were

we glad for all the wonderful international

students who turned up.

The final question about which city Ehsan

(chief of staff) came from in Pakistan, did

throw many of the groups, which only left

two groups. The group headed by the

president Ibrar and the one lead by

Tehreem (events) and me.

The tie break resulted in Ibrar (the

president) and Ibrar Manawer who

represented my group to have a race, which

would decide the winning group. Of course

the president won (this had nothing to do

with the fact that he was 4 inches taller than

the other Ibrar lol).

Our talented Vice President who is also a

professional Bollywood dancer (oooh)

performed for us. She dazzled us with her

dance to the song ‘Ajaa nachle’ and looked

very stunning in her outfit.

(Everyone meeting new people )

After the fun, games and entertainment

came the best part of the event FREE FOOD.

Let’s face it this was the reason why most of

the people turned up. Hmm and the food

was yummy indeed samosa’s, pakora’s,

chicken biryani, boiled rice and cake (of

course).

(Aneela’s (VP) performance at meet & greet)

A special thanks to Vinny who provided us

with the catering the food was amazing.

Now for a PakSoc exclusive Vinny who is

also good friends with Ibrar has allowed us

to mention his real name. Yes, after God

knows how long we’ve known him he has

allowed us to reveal his real name (drum

roll) Afzal Hussain lol.

Although Amplifier was played one too

many times it was a fantastic start to the

year and we would like to thank everyone

who came along. It was nice to see both

new and familiar faces

Venue: Deb Hall, Guild of Students

Date: 7th October

Time: 2 till 4pm

Shrills and Spooks

Meet the Committee Part 2

Date: 28th October

Time: 1.30pm till late

Alton Towers Scarefest 09

Thrills, spooks and screams, the theme of this

trip to Alton Towers. Forget about going to

Alton Towers in the day time during summer,

when the sun is shining. It’s all about going

during Halloween, in the dark and dressing up in

scary outfits. Now that is what got the

adrenaline pumping.

After last year’s success, we decided to take

another trip down to the theme park. As usual

everyone was told to meet outside the guild of

students and off we went to the land of spooks.

On the way there we had a blast of a time

jamming to various tunes, eating, getting

acquainted with new faces and catching with

familiar ones.

Our coach journey extended to another two

hours as we were stuck on the motor way due

to an accident. However, this did not stop us

from having a good time. A couple of people

began to get into the spirit of Halloween and

had their faces painted. White face paint and

fake gory fake blood was everywhere. Not

forgetting the people who got a tad bit creative

and had patterns drawn on their faces.

Thankfully one of the girls had make up wipes

to clear away any unwanted designs and mess.

After which some of the members felt like a

fresh of breath air whilst we were still stuck in

traffic and decided to get off the coach to have

a little walk about on the hard shoulder. Little

did they know the coach began to pick up speed

and they had to run to catch up lol. I wonder

what the passersby must have thought when

they saw a bunch of brown faces running to the

coach. It was definitely a scene to see.

After a long coach journey we finally reached

Alton Towers at around 5.30pm and of course

everyone ran to get to the toilets first as their

bladders were about to burst.

It was pitch black when we reached there

and the park was crawling with families

and their children all dressed for the

occasion. It was the perfect opportunity

for people to creep up behind others and

give them the shock of their lives. Believe

me it worked people who aren’t usually

screamers were shouting their heads off.

Hilarious to watch but no so funny when it

happened to you, the lack of lighting at

some parts of the park also made the

experience that much better. Getting the

living day lights scared out of you was part

of the package.

(Some of the frightening faces of the night with

the president Ibrar aka coco milk man no 3)

We all went on the well known rides

nemisis, oblivion, air, rita, submission and

not forgetting the haunted house.

Some of us even had got the chance of

meeting one half of the group ‘It takes

two’ who auditioned for X-factor. As is

goes the guy worked at Alton Towers and

controlled the ride submission.

Others managed to win many teddies and

on our ride back we had few extra guests.

The trip back was filled with candy floss,

candy rocks and all sorts of sugary foods

going around the coach. This sure got

everyone on a high. Singing along to the

latest tunes and just making a much noise

as possible. Whilst others tried to catch

some sleep (I wonder how far they got

with that lol)

The phrase of night had to be ‘Watch out

who’s behind you’ and ‘ahhhhhhh’. It was

a night filled with many festivities and

spooks. We thoroughly enjoyed being

frightened out of our wits. A member

named Shaziya Butt (second year

Sociology student) described the trip as ‘it

enabled members to dress up and release

their inner ‘scary’ self but it was a perfect

opportunity to meet new people’.

It was truly a night to remember and we

hope nobody suffered from nightmares

that night when they went to bed muhaha

(From left: Vp Aneela, me (Aisha Sufi), Ayesha Parvez,

Chief of staff Ehsan, Nabila Haseen and Saadia

(president of Paksoc 07-08) all at Alton towers)

Behind every man there’s a woman. She is the brains and beauty behind The P. The angelic... Name: Aneela Mather AKA: Neeli (hate all other nicknames!!) Hometown: Huddersfield Role: Vice President Course: Economics. Describe yourself in three words: Friendly, Approachable & Hardworking. If you could have a superpower what would it be? Why? The ability to read minds because life would be a lot easier if I knew what people want. Most common sayings: Everything is cool, wow, I’m excited (after a caffeine dose). Loves: sweets (actually anything with sugar or caffeine in it lol), dancing Dislikes: Raisons (a lot!!!).

Meet the Committee Part 3

The charming one who got the loudest cheer at the meet & greet ... Name: Qaddafi Yasin AKA: Colonel, Daffy Duck Daffa Cakes, Q, Mr PakSoc Hometown: Rawalpindi aka Birmingham Role: Events Team Course: Medical Sciences Describe yourself in three words: Charming, loveable & ambitious If you could have a super power what would it be, why? The ability to make everyone smile & eradicate poverty to make the world a happier place. Most common sayings: sacthee?! 'sunah' chilax! no worries, minor, is it, safee Do 1! The world is yours to take with great power comes great resposibility Loves: everything he does! science! Technology! TEXTING! PAKISTANI TEA! Meeting new people Eating & endulging in asian cuisine, taking over the dancefloor, being out and about, making people smile and annoying the female species Dislikes: conflict, ignorant people, fake people, slow walking, people waking up early(upto and before 11.59a.m) answering his phone, shaving

Shaam

Dinner & Dance

Venue: Sapphire Conference & Banqueting

Date: 2nd December 09

Time: 7pm till 12am

An event which needs no introduction, an

event were everyone came glammed up to

for a good cause. All proceedings went to

Save the Children Pakistan. Yes I’m talking

about the magical SHAAM DINNER & DANCE

PART TWO.

After last year’s massive success and being

nominated for a guild award (figures crossed

we shall win it this year) the University of

Birmingham Pakistani Cultural Society has

turned SHAAM into an annual Eid charity

dinner and dance.

After weeks of planning the much

anticipated Shaam took place five days after

Eid two Wednesday’s ago. Two hundred

tickets were sold with a demand for more

however, people were turned down at the

last minute (well we did tell you to buy

tickets early :P)

Those of you who did make it, were met at

the doors by Sawera (Secretary), Tooba

(events) and Farina (IT Officer) with sounds

of the cello being played in the background

by John Adenitire. Then people were

whisked up the stairs to the beautifully

decorated hall.

The night was packed with great

entertainment from dhol players, bhangra

dancers, Bollywood singer, beat boxer,

break dancer and even a magician. Everyone

was looking very classy in their traditional

and formal attire.

The hosts of the evening were Qaddafi

(events) and Aneela (vice president) who

opened the evening and introduced the first

act to perform, Eternal Taal a dhol dance

group. Their performance was a

combination of bhangra dancing and dhol

players. Which was very impressive indeed,

they managed to keep all the audience

captivated throughout their performance.

Whilst starter’s of samosa’s, sheesha

kebabs and roast’s were being served

Palvi Ji, a student of the great

Bollywood singer Asha Bhosle

entertained us with her old school

Bollywood tunes. She even managed to

get some members of the audience get

up onto the dance floor. (Yes two guys

doing the tango was one of many

highlights of the night).

(The whole commitee at the event)

Then the main course of naan, chicken

curry, a vegetarian dish and rice were

served. Whilst everyone ate the

committee members were on the hunt

to find Shaam king and queen. (So if you

noticed that we was given you the eye

and pointing now you know why lol).

Additctive Dj’s provided us with

smashing beats which kept us

moving throughout the night. Now

for the desert hmmmmm rasmali (in

true goodness gracious me style).

Whilst everyone was munching on

their food committee members

were going around selling lovely red

roses. Some of the lucky girls

managed to get the guys to buy

them roses (thanks for your

generosity), whilst the rest of us

bought them for ourselves (okay I

think that was only me lol).

Ehsan (chief of staff) came to the

front and gave a shout out to the

committee, we all came up to the

front whist every one applauded (it

was much appreciated). The most

anticipated part of the came graced

us. Yes the crowning of the Shaam

king and queen. After a long

evening of going around the hall

and checking people out we chose

(drum roll) Nabila Haseen (second

year English Language and

Literature) for Shaam Queen and

Amir Hamza Hussain (second year

medic) for King.

Meet the Committee Part 4

One of the brain’s behind the magical Shaam evening. The Lovely miss ... Name: Tehreem Ahmed AKA: Tweem, Terry, Tezza, Tam, Tammy are

just some of them!

Hometown: Brum

Role: Events

Course: Joint Honours Social Policy and

Sociology

Describe yourself in three words: CHATTY, outgoing

and a tiny weeny bit dramatic (oops that’s more than three words

in itself!)

If you could have a super power what would it be, why? To be

able to read minds…

Most common sayings: hmmm, no comment, oh dear

Loves: Reading, perfection and spontaneity

Dislikes: Judgemental beings

After most of the festivities of the

evening we had a performance by Sitare

Punjab Di they are bangra singers who

were lead by DJ Gopal (good friend of

Tehreem (events)). He sang an acoustic

version of Imran Khan Ni nachle and got

the audience raving in their seats. We

also had an amazing performace by K

sounds a duo of break dancing and beat

boxing.

Whilst performances were undergoing

people had a chance to turn the

spectacular Shaam into a long lasting

memory by getting profession

photographs taken by K.Eagle

Photographers. They worked their

magic and people looked hot in their

pictures.

The last hour and half was dominated

by people hitting the dance floor and

showing off their moves. Many of us

girls chucked of our heels and went

crazy.

Misbah Rahman second year law

described the event as ‘A truly

unforgettable Shaam indeed. I enjoyed

every minute of it.’

Much to their surprise they were called

to the front and Amir was given a

crown. The DJ asked them to have a

first dance whilst a romantic acoustic

version of Jay Sean’s Down was played.

Although, both of them were quite

embarrassed and their dance was a bit

of a shambles, we all couldn’t help but

think rab ne bana di Jodi awww.

(Shaam Queen Nabila & King Amir)

As much as we didn’t want the night to

end we had to clear out the venue at

12.30am and some of us went for a well

earned Sheesha break.

(Eternal Taal’s Performance)

All in all the night was a huge success

and even the guild president Fabian Guy

Neuner joined us in our celebration of

Pakistani culture. We would like to

thank everyone who came and figures

crossed the guild award will be ours this

year

Save the Children: Pakistan

Save the Children Pakistan was the

charity that we raised money for.

Thanks to all your generosity we

raised over £500 for the charity.

Save the children have worked in

Pakistan since 1985 – first with

Afghan refugees and since, 1999,

directly with Pakistani children and

women. They have a strong

portfolio of health, education and

microfinance programs. Save the

children are also working in areas

shattered by the 2005 earthquake to

help residents build homes and

‘build back better’ health and

education systems.

Shaam is kindly sponsored by:

Office: 0121 686 8195

Mobile: 07968 790 250

EMAIL: contacts@humsafarweddingservice.co.uk

Head Office: Humsafar Wedding

Services Ltd.

212 Bradford Street,

Digbeth, Birmingham,

B12 0RG

www.humsafarweddingservices.co.uk

Meet the Committee Part 5

The brain behind the magical Shaam evening. The Lovely miss ... Name: Tehreem Ahmed AKA: Tweem, Terry, Tezza, Tam, Tammy

are just some of them!

Hometown: Brum

Role: Events

Course: Joint Honours Social Policy and

Sociology

Describe yourself in three words: CHATTY, outgoing

and a tiny weeny bit dramatic (oops that’s more than three words in

itself!)

If you could have a super power what would it be, why? To be able to

read minds…

Most common sayings: hmmm, no comment, oh dear

Loves: Reading, perfection and spontaneity

Dislikes: Judgemental beings

Writes it all down in black and white or should I say black, white and green. Yes its moi... Name: Aisha Sufi AKA: Ashy, Ash and most commonly Suffffiiiii. Hometown: Brum town Role: Publications Course: English Language and Literature in Education Describe yourself in three words: Loud, petite & crazy If you could have a super power what would it be, why? Be able to move things with my mind, cuz im preety weak Most common sayings: Hell no!, kool, ‘im blue daba deba’, you started it ima finsh it, ‘No I am not 14, I’m 19!!!’, That’s my chuuneee Loves: Italian food, P-diddy – I need a girl, long walks (when I’m not wearing heels), reading children’s literature, redbull. Dislikes: Amplifier (yes the annoying Imran khan song), boys (they smell)

International Futsal

Tournament

In every issue we will have a mystery guest and it’s up to you to figure out

who it is. The first person to send the correct answer to:

aisha_sufi@hotmail.co.uk (including your name and contact details) will get

a free ticket* to our next event. The identity of the person will be revealed in

our next issue so watch this space.

*Ticket value of £10 or above.

Who’s the Mystery Guest of December?

During freshers’ week whilst the rest of

us were busy signing up to many

different societies, meeting new people

and chilling out at uni, some of our lads

were out representing us in a football

tournament.

The International Futsal Tournament is

an annual tournament held at the

University of Birmingham. Our Paksoc

football team also competed and

showed the other teams what they are

made of.

The team consisted of Omar Khan

(captain, midfield), Samir Sameja

(striker), Wasim Nawaz (defender),

Areej Khan (defender) and our president

Ibrar Hussain who also played in defence

and in goal for the last three games. As

the team were short of players they

managed to grab two players from the

sidelines to make up the numbers.

(Top from left: Samir Sameja, Areej Khan and

Francesco. Bottom from left: Rodrigue, Omar

Khan and Ibrar Hussain).

There were seven international teams

competing in a group. Paksoc won five

games, drew one, lost none. We won

the semi-finals after a closely fought

extra-time. In the finals we were up

against Vietnam, who have won many

tournaments in the past. However, we

dominated the game and Omar slotted

the ball through to Samir who scored

the winning goal to win the tournament.

The Top goal scorer was Samir Sameja

and the Player of the Tournament was

Omar Khan (Captain). An international

scout came to watch and was impressed

with the boys’ football skills. (Well done

lads ).

A predominate figure in the catering industry.

Friendly, welcoming and always open to help

people.

Likes to be called ‘Doctor’.

Attends all Paksoc events.

Other Sports News:

We have two major football games

coming up next semester: the annual

match against rival’s Indian soc and

Bham uni Paksoc Vs Aston uni Paksoc.

We are looking to hold football trials

after Christmas holidays, so if you are

interested contact Ibrar through the

facebook group: University of

Birmingham Pakistani Society.

Hasnain Siddiqui (Treasurer) has kindly

offered Paksoc members a 20% discount

off everything when you mention ‘Paksoc

Bham uni’ whilst placing an order at his

phone shop (thanks dude, you can’t get a

better discount than that). More details of

products on offer at

www.haz-tech.co.uk. Facebook Group:

Haz Tech.