It was 1983. I had just started university as an international student at SHSU (Sam Houston State University), Texas, USA. Among other subjects as a double-major student, I had also selected Geology as one of the pure sciences subjects. I didn’t know a great deal about geology then, but it seemed quite exciting to delve into something new, as I already had good experience with Physics, Chemistry, etc.

No sooner had the lectures on geology started than the teacher flashed various pictures onto the projector screen. Wait a minute, I said to myself, I know where those pictures are from. Before I could think it through, I stood up in excitement and said, “Sir, these pictures are from the famous Balochistan province of my country, Pakistan.”

There was complete silence, with the entire class, including the teacher, looking at me and waiting for me to complete what I wanted to say. Realising that I had attracted the spotlight to myself, my heart started racing. I took a deep breath and said with embarrassment, “I’m sorry for interrupting the class.”

But the teacher said, “Not at all. I didn’t know that there was someone from Pakistan in my class. In fact, I was a young man when I had the opportunity to visit Balochistan as part of the US Geological Survey (USGS) team in........

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