Meeting Old Friends
I was at TESCO Ampang last Saturday when I saw this one guy with the oh-so-familiar stride and astonishingly similar hairdo as when I last saw him. Hey...that was 27 years ago!! Many a time I met familiar faces at this particular shopping mall but I never really made any effort to strike a conversation fearing that I might get the wrong guy.

But last Saturday was an exception. I was certain.

I said to myself, "No, I can't be wrong. No two guys will look the same. Not this guy..." As he made his way back to the aisle that I was in, I reached for his hands and asked for the confirmation, "You are Raja Shahridzo, right?" - His name was very easy to memorize.

Bingo! I was right. And I introduced myself. Gave my full name and all. Gave also the exact year and exact dorm name that we used to live in at Carbondale, Illinois. This was in 1980 (Jan-April). Gave the names of our friends. My friends. His friends.

Darn it !! He still couldn't remember who I was or which Azmi this was. Hey.. I was your classmate!! We even chanced at pinball together at the dorm lobby!!

He was nice though... yes Shahridzo that I know has always been nice and soft-spoken. And in my 10 minutes of revisiting the past with him, I can sense that not much has changed in him either. Still a nice guy. He was very apologetic for not able to remember me.

Quickly I mentioned to him that I still have those class photos that we took outside Pulliam Hall (or was it Faner Hall) at SIU. After exchanging business cards, he come up with the smart idea.

"You scan those photos and email them to me." Yeah, sure. And you'd better remember this time.

After scanning those photos I figured that since I have a blog, why don't I just post them into my blog. That way the other members can see them too.. And for those classmates who couldn't remember who your classmates were 27 years ago, picture this :

Seated (L-R): Amran, Salim, Myself, Donna Mack, Shahridzo and Azman.
Back (L-R): Juriah, Wan Haizan, Noraini, Anita, Khairiah, Norzaini, Jamaliah, Siti Kamaliah, Rosnah and Jayne Hilderbrand.

Cannot totally blame Shahridzo for not remembering. Blame is on me too... I look a lot different from 27 years ago. I'm bigger (desperately trying not to use the word fatter here..) now. Wider (again!) also. Spot a different hair-style. Now with full-grown moustache, the likes of Datuk K. Mmm...what else...

Yup, I look a lot different now. My kids say so... This is how I look now. Try to figure out which one was me in the old photos.

I think, if I'm not wrong, these photos were taken by using Jamaliah's camera. Otherwise, I dare not explain why she was among us guys in the two photos. "Yo Jamaliah, you out there??!"