Essay / Somewhere in Pakistan
Recurring Reveries
“I’m walking through my old high school in Gulberg, Lahore. I’m with a group of people, and there’s vague excitement around us as though there’s a festival happening. A man from the group looks at me and says something like, ‘Yes, I’m here.’ He looks familiar and at the same time not. I try to remember who he is with serious concentration but fail to reach any conclusion. He looks at me again as though he knows what I’m thinking. All of a sudden, I know who he is – he’s dead. The way he looks at me gives me shivers – it feels like he’s intent on making me realize he’s a ghost and this is a little secret just between us. No one else knows or will ever know. We continue walking with the group. I feel scared, silent, curious and thrilled.”