(L to R) 1st row: Sherzod Karimov (He is in the UK now; married to our coursemate Nargiza; has 2 daughters) 2nd row: Bakhodir (lives in Kuala Lumpur), Nilufar, Jamshid Nasreddinov (works in Ernst & Young as an auditor, mostly in Tashkent and Moscow), Shahnoza (lives in USA), Mansur, Dilshod, Bekchan (lives in Canada) 3rd row: Kobil (lives in Wales), Shavkat (he left our institute when you left), Tohir, Mirzailhom, Basheriddin. Updates provided by Nilufar! This is one group of students (above) I really bonded with when in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Even today, after 12 years, I keep in touch with a good number of them. Some have done very, very well for themselves. One guy is an economics professor in Scotland and several others ended up with stints overseas - traveling, studying and working. Although these pics were obviously done on a special day, one benefit of living in the former USSR, especially at that time, was the sincere interest people had in getting to know us. The Uzbeks -and that includes all the various ethnic groups -were extremely hospitable and friendly. Of course, it sure helped knowing a language they were intent on learning.
a wonderful Uzbekistan pictorial given to me by Bekchan
The attention was flattering!
I agree with you all that those were very pleasant days. And I do miss them too. And Shahnoza is right when she said 'you made our year the best time ever'. No doubt that Allen opened the window to the international world for most of us. Our time with him gave many of us confidence for future. I am sure you would agree with me when I say that those of us in Allen's class had some sort of a pride and even a bit of arrogance about them. We felt special for which we are always grateful, Allen. Allen used say 'good job' and 'well done' very often. So it is time we say the same to him: WELL DONE, ALLEN. Kobil
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