By Farkhanda Qaiser
1st year

Ever since Kellogs has been launched, I have been nagging myself to make some contribution but something or the other crops up. Either there is a sub stage/module/stage or if not then the net doesn’t work…! So I decided to wait for the summer vacations and here I am to regale you with a success story…!

I’m still mentally occupied by our roller coaster of a year and the outstanding things we did. Today I’ll talk about one of those events…i.e. Bake Sale!

Much like every other event, bake sale also started with the posters being plastered all over KE. Zero point, opposite anatomy lawn, on trees, on notice boards and every other place where Kemcolians could chance their eyes on. ‘Much awaited event of the year…just a week away’ was the oft-repeated announcement. From the day that we were allocated the day for our bake sale, we started the preparations. The first task was to inform the class which in itself was a daunting one. Anyone who has ever made an announcement in our class would definitely know what I mean. You can expect anything from the audience: Boos or applause; things like shoes, over-alls, physiology books or even garlands flying your way; but most surprisingly songs being sung for you…! (And trust me; the last one is NOT an exaggeration!) During one of the bake sale announcements, the poor announcer was honored with ‘Paisa paisa krti hai tu, paise pe marti hai tu’ chant among the guffaws of those who heard it…! Yes, very embarrassing.

But the SPWS organizers were not the ones to give up. We moved on to the next phase of choosing a theme. We were told it wasn’t necessary. Many classes didn’t have any theme at all. Ha…! That did it. “We will be different!” roared everyone, “We will have a theme that no one has had before.” And so after much brainstorming, we did just that.

Then we prepared hand-made cards for more than 30 teachers and that too in DH. The enthusiasm was contagious. By now, everyone wanted to be a part of this event. All students were seen hustling and bustling around anatomy and even physiology departments to dispatch invitations to the faculty. Among the teachers, some were pleasantly surprised at being remembered; others avoided us like a plague in case we asked them for donations! In the meanwhile, the menu had to be decided too. Boys excused themselves saying, it was the girls’ domain. Girls wanted time to think. We, the organizers, were in a fix. Much shouting and pleading followed. Finally this matter was also resolved. As we’d chosen a unique theme so we also had to make decorations. Suneeba took the responsibility and thus was seen scurrying back and forth to anarkali.

At last the Big day arrived. Any fears of our failure were dissuaded as soon as they crossed our minds because the bake sale started even before its time. The culinary delights cooked and baked by the brilliant chefs of the country were irresistible. Around that time, our chief guest arrived. Our very own Ma’am Atiya – the head of Anatomy Department. Yes, we were giving her a surprise birthday bash. And that was our theme. Balloons soared in the air, gift boxes were stacked near the stalls and all the organizers wore birthday hats! Ma’ma Atiya’s real birthday was the next day but we decided to celebrate it in advance. She was definitely caught unawares but decided to go with the flow. And believe it or not, she reluctantly wore a humongous birthday hat and cut the sumptuous chocolate cake to the roaring cheers of all Kemcolians gathered in the pharmacology lawn. Thus our bake sale had been inaugurated. In view of the sweltering heat of May, we had imported the renowned Lemonade and Gola stalls on cartwheels from Anarkali. But hold it, that was not all we offered. As we’d had no funfair so we also set up some non-food stalls like palmistry and face-reading. Thus our bake sale stretched on for more than 3 hours in which there was no distinction between the nerds and cool dudes and dudettes of our class. All were seen making announcements in street-hawker like voices, competing to bag the most money and last but not the least taking pictures with their beautifully embellished stalls. This day was definitely one of the most memorable days of my life! And I’m sure that’s true for the entire 1st year.

In the end, all our efforts paid off when 1st year was declared the winner for generating more than 80 grand. Never before had any single class raised such a huge amount in a bake sale! But we did it all under the able supervision of Humaira Sarfraz and Ammar Afzal – the SPWS GR and CR of 1st year. Thank you guys for entertaining us so thoroughly and that too for a noble cause! (The funds were used to buy pediatric ventilators for Lady Wellington Hospital.)