Harvard University

Today, I find myself unable to join the conversation. I stare blankly at the blue cloth seat in front of me, trying to gently coax, my knotted stomach out of my throat. All I can think about is the empty seat beside me and the uncomfortable feeling of entering uncertain, territory alone. My friend and co-teacher, Shahriyar, is in the Ankur hospital recovering from a serious belt of amoebic dysentery. I visited him yesterday. He was lying in bed with his summer reading in his right hand and an IV in his left. Looking pain and exhausted, he weekly lifted his head and greeted me. “I don’t know…