A Jigit Without His Horse : 17 Years of Roaming the Russian & Central Asian Lands by Hashim Ismail

The author was born in 1958 in Kedah, Northern State of Malaysia during one of the most difficult periods for the country which just received independence from the British Colonial. He was brought up amidst poverty and primitive ecosystem experineced by most of newly independent Asian countries. It would be hard to imagine that he was destined to be assigned throughout a major part of his career in the foreign and diplomatic services in Central Asia and the Soviet Union. He took up the challenge in building up his career at his own pace through the mastery of Uzbek and Russian languages upon which the door to his historical and cultural expedition was laid opened. His maverick attributes too, have helped him to capture the essentials of the continental attributes too, have helped him to capture the essentials of the continental wisdom in the most unorthodox way through engagement with people from all walks of life. His exploits through the rustic country, rugged mountains and infinite horizon of forest would only be matched with deeper emotion in unexplained attributes and reaching the thoughts of real life assurance taht hace wired him to "one of us". The subtle and essential values inculcated drove his adrenalin towards the congregation of behaviour, thereby providing an immense source of motivation to be part of the living culture of the country. This is thus a classic case in the study of any melting pot from any continent, whereby mere coexsistence would miss out the rich and deep cultural experince. His contribution has no doubt provided a mirror image to the local inhabitants while those from the outside world it could be a dream worth venturing. The book has manifested that the author had succesfully gone through the mysterious "cultural immersion."