My friends Aziz, Mahmood, Barkat, Nasir, Tajuddin and myself used to hang out together in Pakistan. 

Here is a photo of the "gang of six" taken in 1981.

From left to right: Mahmood, Aziz, Barkat, Naushad, Tajuddin and Nasir.

Aziz and I have lived in Dallas since 1985 and have stayed in touch. The last time I saw Nasir was in 1985, in Houston, Texas. The others I had not seen since I left Pakistan in 1982.

Barkat moved to USA too and ended up in California. He was in Los Angeles and then moved to San Diego where he lives now. 

Nasir also moved to the States. He was in Texas, then Georgia and now lives in South Carolina.

Mahmood ended up in Vancouver, Canada. He is now in the process of moving to Chicago, USA to try his hand at some business there.

Tajuddin never left Pakistan. He now lives in Karachi.

I was working on a consulting contract in Orlando, Florida when Aziz informed me that Barkat and Nasir were planning to come to Dallas. He suggested that it would be fun if I too could come to Dallas and meet up with them. He also contacted Mahmood to do the same.

Thanks to Aziz's efforts and his hospitality we were all able to meet in Dallas. Everybody came with their families so Aziz had quite a houseful. Aziz insisted that we all stay at his house so that we could stay up all night talking about old times.

I flew into Dallas on Friday, June 21st. The others had already arrived the day before. All four of them came to pick me up at the airport around midnight. It was great. The reminiscing started right away. That night, we didn't go to sleep until 5 am.

Below are two photos for comparison. They include the same people, standing in the same order (Mahmood, Aziz, Barkat, Nasir and Naushad). The one on the left was taken in Islamabad, Pakistan in 1981 and the one the right was taken in June, 2002.

Photos around Aziz's house

around_house_04.jpg (37105 bytes) around_house_01.jpg (44495 bytes) around_house_02.jpg (27051 bytes) around_house_03.jpg (27986 bytes) around_house_05.jpg (45637 bytes) around_house_06.jpg (28263 bytes)

There were 10 kids in house

kids_00.jpg (65591 bytes) kids_01.jpg (39491 bytes) kids_02.jpg (28228 bytes) kids_03.jpg (18871 bytes) kids_04.jpg (29862 bytes) kids_05.jpg (27094 bytes)

We celebrated a birthday at Chucky Cheese

Chucky_01.jpg (38972 bytes) Chucky_02.jpg (28080 bytes) Chucky_03.jpg (51295 bytes) Chucky_04.jpg (39510 bytes) Chucky_05.jpg (33322 bytes)

We went for dinner to a Thai restaurant

Thai_01.jpg (27296 bytes) Thai_02.jpg (24551 bytes) Thai_03.jpg (25673 bytes) Thai_04.jpg (14004 bytes)

Group Photos
group_06.jpg (83683 bytes)   group_07.jpg (83827 bytes)
 
The gang of "six minus one" Mahmood with his family, his mother, his sister and two nephews. Mahmood with his family
group_00.jpg (60275 bytes) group_01.jpg (51825 bytes) group_05.jpg (46424 bytes)
Barkat with his family Nasir with his family Aziz with his family
group_02.jpg (48615 bytes) group_03.jpg (49702 bytes) group_04.jpg (37462 bytes)