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Tuesday 7 February 2012

Pretty Woman


    "Pretty woman, walking down the street
    Pretty woman, the kind I like to meet
    Pretty woman."

It is true when people talk of how memories fade with time.

Since the beginning of quest, all those faces have faded, they had to. It's a part of growing up. It's there, the detail of all this questing is there, I haven't forgot one bit.. but the characters and their faces? They've disintegrated into a distant memory. The more recent experiences serve as catalysts to quest. I can't recall most of their faces, It happens. Immunisation I call it.

It is also true when people talk of that one face they can never seem to forget. For me, it's a lady whom I never quested. As the sole experience of my life. It illustrates chemistry at its finest.

It was Autumn, late 2009. It's hard to forget this time of the year, everyone is wrapped up to protect themselves from the frosty, crisp British breeze. It was the year of University when I was everywhere attempting  to do everything. Fresh and new to the quest, a smile goes a long way. I befriended all the boys on campus. I rapidly became well known on campus. It was only natural for my paths to cross with people from all walks of life.

As your popularity increases, so do the number of names. From "pretty boy" all the way to "superman." Pretty boy was vain, I never got on well with that. And Superman would bring about giggles. The closest I had come to flying was falling down.

Superman (brown variation), had a lame weakness. Brownies are known in acclimatising to the warmth. We never handled the cold as well as our English counter parts. I would always run to the safe haven - Library.

There was something about our Library on campus. It would be our place to pray, eat, laugh, study, laugh, socialise, sleep, youtube, laugh.. listen to, and talk about complete twaddle. You never seem to forget the hours you spend at a place like that.

As with all chillin' studying sessions, you become hungry. It became a daily tradition, rounding the boys up and rollin' down to our favourite Halaal sandwich joint.

Tummy meet brain, brain meet tummy. Walking up the stairs, the two had started conversing. The world becomes a different place when you're hungry. As the body begins to enter a catabolic state, your stomach eagerly awaits for the next rounds goods, heightening your state of awareness with it's final release of energy.

No matter how skilled I was becoming in lowering my gazing nothing could prepare me for what was about to pursue.

The middle floor was the only exit of a 10 story building. With an open design in planning - In front of you, there was a new cafe; very vogue-esque. Nice, clean and modern. To the left, a large reception desk with a number of advisor talking away. Towards the exit, security and those walking in.

Whilst you're walking in opposite direction talking and laughing away, you notice something looking at you. You have no idea what it is but whatever it is, it looks different. You can't help but look.

Then it began.

That look. That first, innocent look. What happens during that look you have no idea, you fall out of the drivers seat because you don't realise those few seconds were the longest seconds you could think of. It was a uncontrolled shift in a chain of thoughts resulting in a pause and the loss of short term memory. The value of time loses its relativity when this happens. I must have been on the brink of starvation because for that split moment I surpassed the quantum mechanics of time and space.

It was the first time I experienced a brain fart. I had no recollection or control over what had just happened.  All I knew was that I had never seen such a beautiful woman. Such a beautiful woman in hijaab, that I would continue to see for the whole year on campus.

Having never socialised with the opposite sex, It was only natural that we never did speak properly. The whole year I kept seeing her, she would always smile and give a warm Salaam. A really warm, friendly Salaam too. Dare I throw in a wave, yes the wave too.

My boys were always vigilant and sharp. They noticed my funny bone started playing up whenever this happened.

"Soulseek, she would suit you well." The boys nodded in agreement "There's no one quite like you; heck I ain't ever met a dude like you. Let me speak to someone to speak to her" another said.

"No" I said. "It's not open to discussion." And that's how it continued for the whole year.

I heard she was a mathematician and a real fun girl. Every guy wants to befriend a pretty girl. Well, almost.

The question creeps up "Why?" and "Why 3 years on?"

Dreams are a strange circulation of the unconscious. When you wake up and finish praying Fajr, you realise it's that same frosty, crisp British weather.

You look out the window and you smile. "That's a pretty girl."

And It is true, you never forget a face.

26 comments:

  1. i never forget a pretty face lol

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  2. Have you ever read Love in a Headscarf by Shelina Janmohamed? Your blog sort of reminds me of her book but from a male perspective ...

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  3. aww! i like these posts of yours.

    :)

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  4. What intrigues me is that you never made a move....was she out of your league? hahaha guys are so superficial :)

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  5. I laughed so hard when you said "brain fart." I thought I was the only who used the term. =.="

    I have to agree with SI... because I do wonder why you never made a move? Intimidated perhaps? :P no I'm teasing.

    @This Girl Blogs: The scary coincidence is that I just finished reading her book, "Love in a Headscarf" and I was thinking the same thing.

    You should read it SoulSeek! :)

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  6. This Girl Blogs - I haven't but thanks for the heads up, can't say I've ever heard of it.

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  7. SI + Complications - I don't believe in a women being out of my league.

    I thought you were both Quest fans, clearly bad ones. I keed. Clues are in the date. More clues are in the navigation with posts dated around 09/10.

    Complications - You're weird (shhh).

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  8. Hey hey hey..... in my defense.. I'm a new Quest fan... SI has been a fan longer than I have. Second.. there are so many prospects it makes my head spin.

    You don't beleive in a woman being out of your league??? Pfft.. perhaps that is your biggest flaw hommes. :P

    Kay allow me to take a shot at who mystery girl is... she the one titled under the blog post "The one that got away" and she didn't consider you due to "conditional reasons?"

    I must be right.

    Your talkin' people being weird? Ha! Don't make me laugh nose licker. :P


    Yeah... I went there! *swag*

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  9. Technically that's a quest - This one wasn't quested.

    Quest isn't about pursuing every woman you find attractive. Not enough swag (something we asians got) yeah.. wut!

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    1. I see.... so you didn't pursue her... because she was attractive.... Makes total sense.

      I think your mistaken its africans... not asians. :)

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    2. I'm going to strip you of your swag, terrible sports you lot!

      I was wasting time with another prospect, na'meen?

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    3. Oh....

      *gasp* Our swag can never be stripped. It is embedded in us and comes from within.

      True story.

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  10. Haha Complications - you beat me to my response but loved reading yours! lol :)

    I don't doubt you can't get any woman you want SS - my little bro says exactly the same. But let me give you a little nugget of information that no amount of learning about women will ever teach you or will be written down anywhere.

    A quality woman (not the masses cheap barbie dolls!) *chooses* whether to let a guy in or not. She makes a decision within split seconds of meeting him. So next time you meet a potential and she's stuck up or there's no 'attraction', it's because she's already decided it's not going anywhere and she's just trying to be polite to keep conversation going hence she feels there's little point in making effort. The guy will walk away thinking that he wasn't attracted to her, not knowing that she was playing the game. Some guys will never ever learn this. A woman may see the guy before he's even aware of her existence. Again, she will have made her mind up beforehand. So where he's thinking, that he's the man ;), she's laughing because she's wasn't interested. Do you see where I'm going with this?

    By the way SS, still trying to rile up women? We're much more clever than that ;P

    And dude, get over A already....my ex potential was so hung up on another woman that any woman he met after that just didn't match up. He was 29 years old, still unmarried and still trying to find that 'chemistry' that he had with her. He won't be getting married any time soon....You know what i'm saying is right.....

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    Replies
    1. Great response! :o

      I may have beaten you in the timing of response, but you sure knocked mine out with quality. ;p

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    2. lol ok we need to stop picking on him now...he's not that bad but i think he gets the point. Hell hath no fury like a scorned woman and all that :)

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  11. SI - Correct. Similarly applies for men. Even when you're not questing, the same applies in meeting any human being. The first 90 seconds of rapport (especially on those one off cases) generally define how the rest will flow.

    There's a huge difference between somebody failing on the basis of feeling someone is beyond their league and 'well you tried but it's just not going to happen.'

    Don't misunderstand me.

    Your Mystic meg skills need a lot of work. On hindsight, how about we scrap that altogether?

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  12. Well at least we agree on one thing. That anyone can get anyone they want providing they make the effort. I didn't misunderstand.

    Chemistry can develop over time as well and isn't always instant. All i'm saying is that chemistry counts, it sure does but some people get so blinded by that alone that they forget everything else. Once the honeymoon period is over, reality kicks in.

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  13. In true SI style you jump in between directing something to me and making a general point. It's quite difficult to differentiate at times. Pathai naa..

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  14. haha yeh it can be quite difficult to keep up with me. I expect everyone to understand what i'm saying :)

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  15. Lets try this - Put [general] tags around general comments. And lets drop the mystic meg assumptions lol.

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  16. No because then it wouldn't be fun anymore.

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  17. never fails to make me smile.
    Faces are hard to forget. Esp. pretty ones!

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  18. Si like the song that Lisa's husband sings goes "She's out of my league" you hit the nail on the head,that's why SS never made a move.

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