Tuesday, April 14, 2009

The Pilot

The presence of pretty boy David Archuletta (of American Idol fame) in Kuala Lumpur last week for a concert, which had thrown some KL girls from a private school in the deepest throes of ecstasy, had me thinking about the time I was besotted with someone I had never met.

I was 15, and it proved to be six tumultuous months of incredible yearnings my young heart could ever hold, for I had fallen head over heels with a picture from a newspaper!

I am sure you too must have had experiences of similar fantasies at some point in your youth, falling for someone who never even knew you existed. That someone could very well be a picture in a magazine, or a voice on the radio.

Out of curiosity, I asked my youngest daughter Nawwar why she wasn't in the least excited about Archuletta's concert, and back came her indignant reply: "Maa! I am almost 24! My days of swooning over boy singers are over!"

Sometimes I forgot my 'little girl' is already of marriageable age, with a candidate and wedding plans in the works. ...*sigh*

Yet, I remember only too well how super-duper excited she was when Westlife came to town, how she painstakingly prepared a placard to greet Brian McFadden, a band member, at their performance in Genting and how she screamed herself hoarse upon seeing him.

"Yeah," she admitted laughingly, "Kind of silly, thinking about the things I did just to get near to Westlife." Whatever the case, she got herself a signed photograph of the group and was in seventh heaven for weeks afterwards.

As for me, I no longer remember how it started. All I could recall was I caught sight of a handsome pilot named Suhaili, whose story was highlighted in a local newspaper, and I was smitten.

I remember keeping the news cutting between the pages of a textbook, and taking a peek at this incredible vision every now and then. And sighing. That Suhaili truly was a looker and I fell, line hook and sinker.

I went through a period of mild depression because of this 'unrequited love'. I couldn't concentrate on school and as such my results plummeted. I also became weepy for no reason, locking myself in my room and crying over his picture.

Of course, talking about it now makes me feel how incredibly inane I was. Fortunately, the yearning didn't last very long. It must have been six months or thereabouts before I finally snapped out of it.

But the 'torture' was exquisite while it lasted...!






21 comments:

Kak Teh said...

Puteri, I had my fare share of unrequited love - a long list beginning with Barry manilow, Harisson Ford and closer to home was Shagul Hamid!!! That was bintang rtm wasnt it? And i believe I met him in London and nearly died!!!!

Fadhil said...

Salam Kak Aji Kama,

I have a phrase to complement your closing sentence : The pleasure that comes with the pain.

This story of yours also reminds me of the time many years ago when Jamal Abdillah was the heart-throb of the moment. A cousin sister of mine went on a `merajuk' streak when Jamal annouced that he was getting married.

kay_leeda said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
kay_leeda said...

Kak Puteri,

Who else if not si Donny Osmond!!! Had pictures of him everywhere, in my books, in my room....filled with muka mamat gigi penuh ni.

Can't really figure out why I was so smitten by him then. Must have been those teenager hormones.

p/s had to delete the earlier comment. Byk nyer lah typo...

Wan Nordin Wan Hussin said...

May I respond to Kak Teh please. It was Bakat TV 1971 that unearthed the singer-cum-PTD officer, Salamiah Hassan and (Datin) Faridah Hashim, who was the highest placed solo singer in the final. Hmm I was barely out of kindergarten, but I couldn't fail to notice their star qualities.

Kak Teh said...

oooh thanks GUiKP - Bakat Tv rupanya. ya, gila bayang sekejap kak teh masa tu, nasib baik AG came to the rescue.

Naz in Norway said...

Oh dear! I was head over heels dengan Mamat sideburns setanggung. None other than DJDave. I must have been around 8 and God help those who dare said anything bad about him. I lawan bertumbuk pun mau..haha!

mekyam said...

"But the 'torture' was exquisite while it lasted...!"betul sesangat tuh! hehehe! must be some sort of natural rite of passage.

Unknown said...

Kak Puteri,

Like mekyam say it, its a rite of passage into adulthood... I went gaga over Jordan Knight of NKOTB (new Kids) and Jason Bateman.... such hotties hehehhee I still have some of their pictures stowed away, but these days i am more composed and less drool. hehehhee

mamasita said...

Puteri, I had so many 'unrequited loves' tapi taklah seteruk macam yours! 6 months plus depression? That is almost like putus tunang! hahaha.
Mine sekejap-sekejap...I macam Minahnova so to speak!
And mine even included our dear PM Dato' Seri Najib Tun Razak!Mampiuh kena lutu dengan Datin Seri! hohoho

Pi Bani said...

Can't really recall falling heads over heels over anyone.... minat certain singers/actors tu adalah sikit-sikit tapi taklah sampai menonggeng. Tapi your case ni kira parah jugak ya? Handsome benor ke mamat pilot tu?! Was yours a case of sleep not well, eat not full, bathe not wet? Hahaha!

And oh, tumpang lalu.... Mamasita, I usually use the term casanona for the female version of casanova! :)

Dalam Dakapan Ibu said...

Kak Puteri,
It was pretty bad, wasn't it? Over a photo pulak tu. Did you finally find out who the guy actually was?

Mine? I think on top of the list was Leif Garrett. Punyalah banyak newspapers and mags jadi mangsa gunting I. Recently I googled about him and found out he was into drugs etc as an adult. So tak hensem anymore!

2nd - it was Tan Sri P Ramlee. I was so smitten with him!

Wan Nordin Wan Hussin said...

Like Naz, one of my classmates at the secondary school in Kale Chepo was infatuated with D J Dave (aka Irwan Shah). She was daydreaming about him in class most of the time. She wrapped all her buku pinjaman (including buku pengetahuan ugama Islam) with photos of the singer with shirts unzipped to reveal a mass of bulu dada!

MrsNordin said...

I still do have this kind feelings now, eventho' I've passed 40. Tapi tak lah sampai wrap buku sekolah dengan gambar orang tu! Hee.. hee...

On top of the list is of course Jamal Abdillah!
The very mention of his name would send me smiling for no reason! I have this huge poster of him which I recently purchased during his convert. I really want to put it up somewhere, but of course my husband would go beserk, isn't it?

Another one is my gy**e (hee.. hee!!). I have a picture of him in my office drawer!

Iron Butterfly said...

mine is local - faizal hussein.

i so hate nasha aziz when she was engaged to him. hahaha saiko.

AZROYYYYYYY!!!!!!!

ummisara said...

Salam Kak Aji Kama,

I had many 'unrequited loves' as well...to name a few:

1- Jordan Knight of NKOTB [Aida...kita sama ler hehe]

2- Tommy Page [Desert Rose! You were there for me during these crazy period..kekek]. I finally met him in Penang yr 1992 b4 my SPM trial exam and nearly died jugak!!!!!! jatuh cinta habissss! hahahaah

3- Angelito - Philippine Soap Drama[Desert Rose! u tau kan sapa???? hahahah]

Entah sapa -sapa lagi...malunyaaa bila ingat balik...hahahahhah!

Anonymous said...

I know what you mean, ma'am. Pilots (especially those who fly fighters for the are force) are invariably handsome buggers.

This is why, even if I had perfect 20-20 vision (didn't wear glasses), I would not have been selected to fly fighters for TUDM *pulling my hair out*

Tommy Yewfigure said...

Hi Puteri,

It’s the uniform lah. Bet all u ‘mature’ women here had drooled over Robert Redford in his crisp white Naval Officer uniform in ‘The Way We Were’…….ahhh…memories like the corner of……

Talking about memories, each time I hesitantly come into yours or Mamasita’s blog; I feel like a young ‘innocent’ high school boy approaching nervously to a group of giggly girls all huddle together in one corner, with me hoping to ask for a dance…hehehe….terkejut lah I. Kesian ni each time there’s a slow number, I’ll be shush away,(still traumatised after all these years by these rejections) but hot numbers, there’s no shortage of willing partners. Yeah Tigress, get down on it! but I rather do ‘The Hustle’.

All u lovely ladies in here, have a good day.

Cheers,
Tommy
P/S – I had a crush on that SYT that starred in ‘Melody Fair’, u know S.W.A.L.K…..blushing…

لف توف™ said...

Ladies are the "teruk***" creatures known!

Kama At-Tarawis said...

Kak Teh - but that shahul hamid memang hensem kan kak teh! Me drooling jugaklah sekejap..:)

Oldstock - I too had one merajuk stint; it happened when my then idol A Ramlie kawin (I think the bride was singer Maria Bachok, dah lupa).. broken-hearted macam nak rak!

Kay - hahaha, that toothy Mamat! But he was cute!

Naz & GuiKP- OO Naz, so you were mitten with that bai fellow arr. GuiKP, memang his bulu dader sooo lebat berpintal2lah that fellow.

Mekyam - I think this gila bayang phase is one of the most painful episodes in growing up because we were still innocent then, not knowing why we felt the way we did.

Aida - you are one generation down dah, tapi the intensity of your gila bayang phase remains sama with us older folks..:)

Mamasita - hehehe, I have always been the intense kind. tergila2 kat gambar pun separuh pengsan..

Pi - actually pi, I think it was the air force uniform that did it. tak hensem pun bila pakai uniform, terus nampak hensem.

DDI - I can imagie, all the majalah terlopong sana terlopong sini kena gunting..LOL

Mrs N - this I must share with you mrs N.. when I had my second child, Joe, I pun drooling over my gyn**.. veli hensem chinese fellow..hehehe

IB - kan kita semua saiko at some point during our teenage days.. ok la tuu..hehehe

Edelweiss - wah, ramainya! you had actually built up a collection of gila bayang personalities during your younger days.. ini sah dok daydream semedang in class..lol

Mat B - it's too true Mat.. the uniform did it. But i want to let you into a secret. When I became a reporter, my heart tergaru2 wanna go check the NST archives for this news cutting.. just to do a follow-up.. dah kawin ker, duduk mana and all those.. tapi got cold feet lah.. terus tak jadi :-)

Tommy - we ladies hv the ability to strip you naked with our eyes.. so beware, you have been warned!

Laptop - indeed, I shall not argue on the fact that we were the teruk-est..LOL

Anonymous said...

Need to keep testing my blog. Not working as I want it to yet. Thx for the theme. Maybe this will get mine to look better..