Category : Books-Non-Fiction

Sub Category : Biography

It was a warm and sunny morning sometime in late October 1988. I had just finished filling up my registrations forms at the Film Academy booth counter on the first floor and was instructed to wait at the waiting area on the ground floor, in a classroom next to the cafeteria in the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (FINAS) complex. It was my first time there so I wasn't familiar with the layout of the buildings. 

I managed to locate the classroom that acted like the waiting room. I opened the door ready to walk in when something stopped me at the threshold. The sudden cold air from the airconditioner inside the room made me aware of the change of temperature. I braved myself and walked in. 

There were already about a dozen people there. I approached a Chinese guy who was sitting by himself reading. 

"Excuse me, is this the waiting area for the Film Academy interview?"

"Yes," came an irritated grunt.

I am pretty sure I was warm and polite when I approached the dude. I was raised right. So for him to grunt like a disgruntled pig at me for no rhyme or reason, well, excuse me! He didn't even have the courtesy to give me a glance. Imagine that. How rude!

Then again, keeping it real, I dont know the dude. I've never met him again. He was just one of those hundreds of souls that I accidentally bump into in my journey. I have no right to judge him. Maybe I caught him at a bad time when I approached him that morning. Or maybe he was just nervous about the interview and that was why he was aloof. I'm sure he's a good person. I was just meant to see that side of him. 

I took a seat near a window, facing the door. I looked around, checking out the action, so to speak. The people there were scattered around. A clear show of strangers. Each one of them appeared to be deep in their own thoughts; oblivious to whatever that is going on outside of their self. Those strangers and I? We were thrown together to fulfill one common purpose - to attend an interview that would seal our next path of our own journey. Who will make the cut to walk that path for the next three years? That was pretty much the question that was playing on our minds at that time. The vibe inside the size of a room that would fit 20 kids max, was pretty intense. It felt like there wasn't really much room in there to breathe, if that makes any sense. The silence was deafening. I could almost hear a chaotic hum of everyone's thoughts in the air. It was maddening. It was suffocating. In a way I can't explain, it freaked me out.

I was deep in my thoughts playing a match 3 game on my phone to kill time when a nervous voice snapped me back to reality.

"Excuse me...."

Her waist was at my eye level when she zapped me back to the classroom. I slowly panned my view from her waist all the way up to see a smiley and friendly face of a Chinese girl with long, permed hair, looking at me. 

I grinned. "Yep, you're at the right place. Interview, right?"

"Yes, that's right," she said as she plonked herself on the chair next to mine, acting right at home. "I'm Doris."

"Zee. Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too."
Grins.

"Do you smoke...?"

That question threw me off for a moment. I did not see that coming. Not from someone like Doris whose appearance is prim and proper in her denim, 'A' line maxi length skirt, which is narrow at the top and wide at the bottom; cut in the shape of the alphabet A. She matched it with a colorful and decent blouse and off white moccasins pumps. If I were to view her based on her appearance at that moment, she would not strike to me as someone who smokes. She looked like a person who goes by the rules. Definitely not a rebel. So, her question did throw me off guard.

"Yeah, I smoke."
Grins.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"I am thinking what you're thinking."
More grins.

As we walked out of the room together in search of a nice spot to smoke and get better acquainted, THAT was the moment that sealed the deal between Doris and I, for me.

Two strangers crossed paths. The path they had both chosen 'happened' to be the same path. 
They met, they talked, they laughed, they clicked. Coincidence?

Question is, what does Fate have in store for them next?
Do they get to ride their next journey together, or do they ride separately?

Well, I guess you'll just have to watch this space to find out then, huh?
Grins.

*Author's Note: 
I am writing this story as a special tribute to Doris, one of the very few people that I have deep in my heart. Her birthday is coming up soon, Feb 19th, and I thought the gift of my words would be the best gift I could give her for her 52nd birthday. 

So yeah, this piece is very intimate and personal to me. I am putting it out here to invite you along on my journey with Doris. Up close and personal. Raw and real, telling shit for what is really what. No filter. No sugarcoating. No bullshit. Zee Style.