Meeting an old friend..

He greeted me first. In the context of Malaysian literature, he is a national figure. He belongs to the nation, so to speak. I have seen him everywhere either in newspapers, his writing, or just an invited guest on TV. I don't expect him to greet me first considering an encounter of a kind long time ago where he says something that sounds sarcastic. Surprisingly he looked up and greeted me first. Well, nobody is an enemy forever. Everybody should be forever friends when a right opportunity presents itself. Being polite I do elevate his ego by saying something about him being a well known literary figure in Malaysia. That acknowledgement makes him smile from cheek to cheek. Haha. Despite who you are, psychologically everybody is nobody until somebody comes along and gives some kind of a supportive remark. After few exchanges of mutual stories, I excuse myself. What a big sigh of relief! It seems the spirit of forgiveness pervades the encounter - meeting an old friend.