How did it all begin?

'MUUUUMMM, I'M GOING TO GO CLIMB A MOUNTAIN!!'
'OK DARLING, BUT COME AND LOOK AT THIS BOY FIRST!'<Humph>

How did it all begin?

Ha!  I’m going to do that typical teacher thing of turning the question upside down and back to front and asking you in return, ‘How do all things begin?’  I’ll tell you, Anger and Escapism.  Not to mention the burning desire to blame our parents for everything.  In my case, it was not so much my parents but more well, everyone…or rather everything.

25th Birthday (Photo credit: migrationmuseum)

They say hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, or maybe it’s a woman in love?  Well, either way, turning 25 was a colossal bonk on the head.  SO WHAT if you’ve just been rejected after bothering your ass to actually consider and finally agree to the option of a blind date? (Over something as petty as geographical differences.  Anyone who is Indian will understand what I mean by this… ‘What do you mean she is from the south?!  But she will be so dark!‘.  (If you did not read that in an Indian accent then you must go back and do so now.  Better?  Thought so)).  I’ll continue…SO WHAT if every aunt, uncle, grandmother, grandfather, cousin brother, cousin sister and second cousin twice removed have found ‘the perfect Muslim boy for you!’  Great, call me when he gets a personality, or a degree for that matter.   Or how about when he actually has a clue he is being set up with some random girl on the other side of the world?  ‘Yes yes, my son would love to marry your daughter!  No no, we have not told him yet‘…?!

I’m being mean, I know I’m sorry.  Because you see the only reason it actually bothers me is that, despite first impressions, I’m actually madly in love with my family. Even good old second cousin twice removed.  So you see, when ‘good Muslim girl seeks good Muslim boy to spend the rest of their lives together’ went spectacularly tits up, it was kind of a long line of bumps and scratches that finally made me scream,

'SCREW THIS, I'M GOING TO GO CLIMB A MOUNTAIN! (NB I may have edited the text...). 

Before you could say ‘shaadi‘ I had followed an innocent add that popped up on Facebook and had put down a deposit to climb the tallest mountain in the world.

Oh right ok, so I’m only walking to Everest Base camp but trust me it’s still going to be hard work!