Sikander [Paperback]

M. Salahuddin Khan (Author), Pamela Guerrieri (Editor)

Book Description

Release date: July 26, 2010

"SIKANDER is the sweeping tale of the son of a Pakistani middle-class family.

It s 1986. Seventeen-year-old Sikander, dreams of studying and living in America, but in a blind rage after a family quarrel, he leaves his Peshawar, Pakistan home. Encountering mujahideen warriors, he joins them in their fight against the occupying Soviets in neighboring Afghanistan.

American assistance is stepped up with advanced weapons, like the Stinger missile, and the mujahideen begin prevailing against the Soviets. After just two years following Sikander s arrival, a Soviet withdrawal begins and Sikander returns as a war-wise hero, settling down to build a normal life in Pakistan.

Discovering romance, Sikander, becomes a happily married successful entrepreneur in Pakistan, when he finds his life abruptly thrown into turmoil as he s caught up in aftermath of 9/11. He must draw on the lessons from his mujahideen past as he takes on a perilous journey reaching as far as America, changing his life forever.

SIKANDER takes us from the pricey suburbs of Peshawar to the primitive war-torn landscape of Soviet-occupied Afghanistan, to the placid serenity of Scotland, through the camps of Guantanamo, and finally, corporate America. It is a 21 year journey through freedom and captivity, love and loss, wealth and poverty, dignity and humiliation, and transgression and redemption. A rare glimpse of a non-radical mainstream Muslim s experience of the West, SIKANDER is a journey of growth and self-discovery, and will touch the humanity of its readers.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Were there more novels like this astonishing, absorbing and challenging one by M. Salahuddin Khan then perhaps the confusion and chaos of the world response to the seemingly endless wars of the past decades would ease....This is a book that will affect the thinking of all who are fortunate enough to read it, providing a path to understanding and appreciation for human rights." --Grady Harp, Amazon Top 10 Classic Reviewer

"SIKANDER is an epic novel, reaching across the years of conflict in Afghanistan, from Soviet occupation to the post-9/11 years. Khan's depictions of everyday Afghan life, and the costs of the continuous conflicts across the social classes provides an eye opening look at something often glossed over in search of easy depictions of good and evil." --Ross Rojek, Sacramento / San Francisco Book Review



"A story of our times, SIKANDER is an immersion into the culture and experiences of one of the largest tribes on earth, the Pashtuns of Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is the story of a rite of passage from boyhood, to manhood, and ultimately to self-hood that transcends the politics of conflict and delves into the human dimension with all its capacities for love and hate, intolerance and forgiveness, cruelty and self-sacrifice. Intricate in detail and vast in scope, Sikander is a journey worth taking." --Duane Evans, Former CIA Officer, Author of North from Calcutta

From the Author

Whether we like it or not we live in a complex and often dangerous world in which cultures often brush against each other. Diasporas (used generically here) and migrations fuel such effects and the assumptions grounded in one culture frequently fall apart when naïvely applied to another. I'm a product of a diaspora. I was born in Pakistan. I moved to England at the age of four, spending the next thirty-two years growing up and receiving an education there. In 1988 I moved to the United States. From my earliest years, I've found myself thrust into an outsider's perspective of never quite belonging to the place where I've lived.

SIKANDER is a human story. It follows a young man's coming of age and subsequent growth through adversity. He finds himself more than once having to deal with loss, which brings him to the recognition of the ultimate and relative value of his own humanity and his relationships with people.

Sikander is also a citizen of the species. He belongs nowhere in particular and everywhere in general. In spirit, he transcends cultures while being a product of his native culture. Sikander's religion is a matter-of-fact aspect of daily life, informing decisions from the mundane to the seismic. Being a part of his daily existence, his religion is neither hanging in a closet only to be worn on Fridays, nor is it is a manic permanent resident of his frontal lobes.

SIKANDER also allows the reader an in-depth immersion into the "ordinary" nature of most of the world's routinely lived Islam, which is far removed from the misconceptions sadly prevalent in much of the non-Muslim world. The story does not, however, intend an apologist perspective. Neither does it suggest that we have a simple "east-versus-west" narrative to consider. It simply forces us to step into the ordinary lives of everyday Muslims while allowing us to be aware of the textured, varied, and nuanced hues of such life from rural Afghanistan to urban Pakistan and to a lesser degree for diaspora Muslims in the USA. All of this is still within the mainstream camp, without venturing into radical or heretical renditions of the religion which also obviously exist.

Sikander's personal growth as a man involves working through the cultural differences in the practice of mainstream Islam and the conflicts between it and the "fringes" of the religion without making him be a religious fanatic of any stripe while doing so.
An additional theme was to examine the veneer-like quality of what we call civilization. Seen frontally, it projects depth and substance and seeming durability. We use words like "institution" to help us consolidate such sensibilities into our collective psyche. But turned on its side it reveals its true lack of depth and fragility. After all, civilization has only existed for a few millennia, which is but the blink of an eye against the vast ocean of time that has shaped homo sapiens, the animal that lies beneath. We should not be surprised to see how readily any human being is capable of descent into unfettered inhumanity, under the sanction of higher authority. It also reminds us why we have governments, laws and rules and why "minor" losses of liberty, while alluring in their seeming role of safeguarding physical security, can so often lead ultimately to disaster, and in a very real sense, increase the risks to physical security.

Lastly, in SIKANDER I wanted to weave the thread of an individual life through the fabric of world events that shape it. When today we hear about casualties and soldiers' tragic deaths in conflicts such as the post-9/11 Afghanistan war or Iraq, the human interest focus is upon the lives and families of the fallen. We want to know what defined them as people, how they grew up, their military career, family and so on. All these things quite properly help us to look into their essential humanity and feel empathy for such a tragic loss. SIKANDER has been squarely aimed at doing something similar but from the viewpoint of the equally ordinary people of Afghanistan and Pakistan, whose lives have been touched by conflict and its fallout, but whose deaths are sadly often just statistics. The story attempts to remind us to re-examine how this rendering of "otherness" upon such lives causes us to fail to see their no-less-essential humanity.

I would also like to clarify that the story's setting in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the USA is secondary to its core focus being that of an examination of human nature and behavior across the boundaries between cultures. For a sense of realism, much effort went into researching historical events and the geography of the regions involved. This does not make this book a work of reference about either the events or the geography. The purpose of the research was to provide as realistic a context for the narrative as possible. But at the end of the day, it's a work of fiction. As for a source on the nature of Afghan and Pakistani culture, I would like to believe that the included glossary is both accurate and substantive and would strongly recommend the interested reader study its contents.

I hope you enjoy the story.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 586 pages
• Publisher: Karakoram Press; First American Edition edition (July 26, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0578052881
• ISBN-13: 978-0578052885
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (104 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,738,787 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was born in a small town in Pakistan called Burewala of refugee parents who lost everything in India during and after the 1947 Partition. A few years after his migration to Pakistan, my father, Abdullah, found work in the post-war immigration boom in England in 1955 and since he only earned laborer wages, he had to save up and send for his family a few at a time. (Credit was a thing of the future). As he left Pakistan, my mother, Shakooran, took her five children to live with her parents in Karachi until we could join dad.

In 1956, when I was just four, my mother managed to save and borrow enough to take the trip with at least her two youngest children, my younger brother and me. My other brother and two sisters completed the family migration about a year later. I spent my childhood in Doncaster, England and grew up there until I left home for college in Southampton, England to learn how to be an aerospace designer. A high point during this time for me was to have been privileged enough to witness the launch of Apollo 16 on my very first trip to the USA in April of 1972. That set me on the path of loving everything American and I resolved to live in this great country one day.

I spent a few years in the aerospace industry but though I was enamored with airplanes and flying, the industry didn't do that much for me. In 1979 I made a significant career move into a new field called Computer Aided Design and continued my headlong path to gear-headedness. A few more years later, I found I had something of an aptitude for marketing and later business strategy. The geek never left my soul however and I managed to become Chief Technology Officer of a company called Computervision Corporation in Massachusetts having migrated to the USA with my wife Rehana and three British sons in 1988. Three American daughters later, in 1998, I was on my way to another fascinating and nascent industry - digital maps for navigation at NAVTEQ in Chicago. Those are the ones used in map websites like MapQuest as well as virtually every car and cell-phone navigation system. I spent nine years at NAVTEQ becoming, you guessed it, Chief Technology Officer and then Senior VP for Global Marketing and Strategy.

After something of a windfall on the stock market following NAVTEQ's IPO, I decided to pursue a dream or two. One dream was to design and produce a new line of high-end loudspeaker. Despite rave reviews for the products, we hit the great economic tsunami of 2008, so I've had, er, more time on my hands than I had planned.

Coincidentally over the last year I've been befriended by a devout elderly man who at the age of 75 picked up a paint brush and started painting. I'm a Muslim and he's a Christian so we naturally found a lot to talk about which is something of an inspiration for my writings in comparative terms on religion. Meanwhile, he approached me about marketing his paintings and before too long I also found myself launching a web site for him.

While surfing, I found Helium one day and I liked the look of not only the material but also the effort to preserve civility that is so often missing in online forums these days. So, I pitched my tent there and have written about virtually anything I wanted ever since. Very liberating!

Meanwhile, as the economic tsunami was raging, I could see the real-estate debacle unfolding right before my eyes and the thought of people having to leave their homes in foreclosure made me think about coming up with a possible solution. In mid 2008, with my partners we launched an investment company to purchase large quantities of single-family homes pending foreclosure using a mathematically determined short-sale pricing formula, and rent them back to the homeowner with the prospect of them repurchasing the home some years down the road. All in a socially responsible fashion and not out to strip people of their equity since we would only do the short sale for a negative equity home.

In December 2009, a thought struck me, (born of much brooding over the way America's political and foreign affairs landscape had been unfolding over the past decade) about a particularly interesting situation which centered on the relationship between different cultures in close proximity and about which I was intrigued enough to imagine a story around it. With a few more days of tinkering with the idea, a novel was born. In a state of frenzied concentration lasting six weeks a nearly 600 page novel called SIKANDER did indeed emerge and now I''m happy to say its finally available and where better than Amazon?

So now I'm updating this biography to note that SIKANDER has been getting excellent reviews but in addition to that, at the beginning of March 2011, I was delighted to accept the 2010 Los Angeles Book Festival Award for the best General Fiction book and separately, the GRAND PRIZE outright award for the best book across all fiction and non-fiction categories. And getting the award in Hollywood Blvd's Roosevelt Hotel (site of the first Oscars in 1929) was its own special thrill! Aside from the useful financial value of the award, the biggest impact on me has been to encourage me to write more and to give me confidence that my work has independently been validated. It's a great feeling.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars M. Salahuddin Khan's SIKANDER: Deep and Gripping Human Tale September 16, 2010

By Bhumika Ghimire

Format:Kindle Edition

SIKANDER Presents the Human Face Behind Conflict
Now that US combat operations in Iraq have ended, focus of war on terror has sifted to the forgotten war-the one in Afghanistan.

Following terrorist attacks on 9/11. Afghanistan became "the" target for the US as Al Qaeda-which carried out the attacks, was based in the country. But the mission lost focus soon and America was in another war, based
on questionable intelligence reports which were later found to be totally false and misleading.Iraq was attacked in 2003, barely two years after US operations in Afghanistan began.

After 7 years of operation in Iraq which failed to produce desirable results and added more problems than solving any, America is out of Iraq and the President has promised that Afghan operations is of high priority now.

M. Salahuddin Khan's SIKANDER is a fast moving novel based on Afghanistan, which shows the human face behind all those labeled "religious fanatics" and "insurgents".

Sikandar, a Pakistani youth from a well to do family in city of Peshawar, finds himself fighting along side the Afghan mujaheddin against the Russians, in remote hills of Laghar Juy.By popular definition, it easy to assume that Sikandar and his comrades must be religious hardliners or some kind of a fanatics to get involved in the conflict.

Not so. Khan brings out the human face behind the warriors and the real challenges facing a youngster who goes from carefree life in the suburbs to life of a rugged warrior in Afghan mountains. These people are not one dimensional characters.

The author has done excellent job of presenting Sikandar, his comrades and their family as humans and not putting them into a labeled box and pretending as if they do not exist beyond these set labels. In exploring the person behind the labels, Khan has kept melodrama and unnecessary emotional situations out.

There is no attempt to gather sympathy or pity for Sikandar or his comrades and there is no attempt to glamorize the life of an insurgent. What Sikandar lacks in drama and soap opera style tear jerking situations is perhaps its biggest strength.

The characters, all of them, have real dignity and presence about them. Even the Gitmo guard who tortures Sikandar is surprisingly real and alive person. It is easy to hate him but it is also hard to ignore him as a
real person facing serious judgment call. The author has presented the situation in Gitmo and the torture of Sikandar as a learning opportunity and the seriousness is not spoiled by extravagant high talk.

SIKANDER's reader will come out understanding more about Afghanistan and its people beyond what is presented in the media-which is usually limited to describing the country as a battered war torn nation with people who live by rules made centuries ago. They will not find anger or vengeful feelings in this novel. Despite its intensity, SIKANDER is surprisingly positive novel.

M. Salahuddin Khan's SIKANDER is a winner. Grab a copy, you will enjoy the journey.

Also published at Associated Content.

24 of 30 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Insights and Explanations: A Novel of Wonder July 6, 2010

By Grady Harp HALL OF FAMETOP 50 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Were there more novels like this astonishing, absorbing and challenging one by M. Salahuddin Khan then perhaps the confusion and chaos of the world response to the seemingly endless wars of the past decades would ease. With all the grace of an experienced writer (this is Khan's first full length novel though he has served as Publisher for Islamica Magazine, a quarterly journal that is written in English for Muslim readers as a forum for discussing current events and philosophical differences), Khan launches the reader into a maze of pathways of understanding just why we have become so confused and overwhelmed by the cross-section of Christian and Islam beliefs - and he does this in the person of an idealistic Pakistani youth (Sikander) whose life is complexly tattooed with events and coincidences, choices and commitments that lead him from Pakistan to Afghanistan to Scotland to the USA.

But the most intriguing and successful part of this fine novel is the insight Khan gives to the plight of prisoner versus captor in the way he explores the Guantanamo apex of the story. In ultimately narrowing this epic to the interaction between an American soldier guard and an innocent Pakistani detainee, Khan manages to explain conflicts so basic and roots of core friendships so unique that he allows us to see the madness of war and its consequences on individuals no matter what their prior backgrounds can mean. This is a book that will affect the thinking of all who are fortunate enough to read it, providing a path to understanding and appreciation for human rights. Grady Harp, July 10

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Sikander review by Hank October 14, 2012

By Hank Landman

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Interesting book showing a view from the other side in the Afghan conflict. Despite the author making many valid points it also shows how deeply ingrained the believes and behaviours are in these tribal areas. Western efforts to impose "democracy" and enlightenment are doomed to fail and the Pashtuns and similar tribes have to find their own way to develop and integrate slowly in a world culture. It reinforces the view that Islam is not only a religion but a complete way of living and subject to various interpretations. Similar to the way Christians used to live in Medieval Europe. The more liberal middle class Pashtuns from Pakistan are described in this book as moderate and the differences with the ones from Afghanistan are well illustrated. Overall worth reading for people who like to read a good story and with interest in cultural anthropology.