an unscheduled business trip (part 2)

I hate traveling the sense of being vulnerable, being helpless, the ‘open’/non-confirmed flight, the traffic jam on shahrah-e-faisal before the flight, worrying if the mangoes in the dufflebag would not get through customs

by the time I get my boarding card, i am much more calm and even the long queue at immigration does not bother me.

on the plane I see an old class-mate from college and I instantly recognize him
to make matters uncomfortable, he takes a seat just right next to me & I go into my shell thinking aloud whether i should introduce myself, i even remember his full name

he was the son of the college principal (who passed away recently God bless his soul) and how girlish he used to be in college. After about 3 hours into the flight, i finally muttered "class of 85 section A" only to get a totally astonished look from him as you rightly would from a total stranger

"yes section A but after about six months of pre-engg in Section A, I moved to pre-med" he added

made sense because while i remembered him in the same class but could not really place him at the passing out phase.

he is now on the faculty of karachi's largest private hospitals and returned from the US only about 4 years ago. it was good to hear from some other familiar names who used to be my best friends at school but i sensed that it would be impossible for him to remember where they are now, not everyone will have a memory like mine which is actually not helpful since people perceive you as desperately hanging on to the past