2018 is just around the corner, and we are so not ready for it. After all, 2017 was a year full of excitement, horror, and important milestones. As a nation, we have braved grievances and merriment, alike. But before we delve into our new year resolutions, let us take a quick, bittersweet trip down memory lane, together.
1. The year began with the internet trolling a young student for making an innocent mistake during an interview.
2. Parachinar market blast in January shook the entire nation and took 25 lives.
3. Member of the National Assembly, Naveed Qamar, sparked controversy upon spending lavishly on his daughter’s destination wedding in Thailand.
4. The suicide bombing of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar’s shrine, which claimed approximately 90 innocent lives.
5. An engineer from NUST, Osama Jafri, designed and introduced Pakistan’s first robot waitress.
6. Burj Khalifa celebrated Pakistan’s Resolution Day and lit up in the colours of our national flag.
7. Mashal Khan was killed mercilessly after being wrongly accused of blasphemy.
8. Shan Foods unveiled a touching TV commercial, wherein a Chinese woman won hearts by cooking for her neighbours.
9. We failed to answer Sahir Lodhi’s questions from the press conference.
He took it out on the woman whose poetry was terribly misunderstood!
10. The shady churail of Hyderabad , who was suspiciously open to a photo shoot in the middle of the night.
11. PIA pilot, Captain Amir Hashmi, abandoned the cockpit to take a ‘catnap.’
12. The demise of Suzi, Lahore’s only elephant, was really unfortunate. She had a lifespan of only 36 years.
13. Beating all the odds, it was Pakistan that won the title, and brought the ICC Champions Trophy home!
14. Internet-breaking photoshoot of our women’s cricket team in their brand new uniforms!
15. Farzana Jan became the first transgender person in Pakistan to hold a passport with a gender-neutral ‘X’ option.
16. An oil tanker toppled over in Bahawalpur, and exploded. More than 150 people died in the incident.
17. The iconic double-decker buses in London were decorated and the theme was ‘ Emerging Pakistan. ‘
18. A passenger made an unethical move by posting a photo of a PIA air hostess online.
Turns out, PIA had better pictures to show us, and we loved them.
19. Maryam Nawaz was accused of presenting forged documents, and suddenly Calibri became our favorite font!
20. One morning, we all woke up to this. Careem launched a Rishta Aunty Service.
21. Ayesha Gulalai made allegations of harassment against Imran Khan.
22. Pakistan lost its very own Mother Teresa, Dr. Ruth Pfao .
23. Mahira Khan was spotted smoking a cigarette, and for some reason, this made big news.
24. The popular preacher, Nouman Ali Khan, was accused of ‘sexting’ his female colleagues and followers.
25. The Blue Whale suicide challenge made its way into Pakistan and started claiming victims.
26. Malala Yousafzai was harassed for wearing jeans and boots. We thought her outfit was cute, though.
27. Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s tweet led to a doctor being fired from Aga Khan Hospital. This sparked a debate on what harassment is.
28. Dina Wadia, the daughter of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, passed away at 98 years old.
29. Famous shoe designer Christian Louboutin visited Pakistan in April and fashioned new flats named after Lahore!
30. Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s bust was sculpted and revealed at the British Museum in London.
31. The popular clothing brand Generation took their branding campaign to a whole other level! The campaign, Shahnaz Ki Shaadi, revolves around breaking stereotypes. It also features transgender and plus-size women as models.
32. TYLRA launched the Khatam-e-Nabuwat sit-in that lasted for two whole weeks and ended up provoking protests in the major cities.
33.There was a crackdown on protests by the police and it wasn’t a pretty sight.
34. 2017 was so hot for scandals that even Muniba Mazari got sucked in! Her former husband sued her for slandering him and blaming him for her condition.
35. These female powerlifters made Pakistanis everywh ere immensely proud by winning powerlifting championships internationally. Namely, the Oceania Classic Championships, and the Pacific Invitationals held in Singapore.
36. And lastly, we present to you the most significant event of the year. It is definitely going down in history. Disqualification of the prime minister from office.