‘Love is not consolation, it is light’ From the author of Maps for Lost Lovers and The Wasted Vigil comes a novel set in the months after 9/11, when Western armies invaded Afghanistan—a story of love, hope and grief, of uncorrupted faith and of what it means to be alive. Jeo and his foster-brother Mikal leave their home in Pakistan to help care for wounded Afghans. Within hours of entering the wide-horizoned Afghan landscape, Mikal and Jeo are separated and, emerging from the carnage, Mikal begins his search for Jeo. But his deepest wish is to return home—to the young woman he loves and who loves him, Jeo’s wife. The Blind Man’s Garden maps a place both phantasmally beautiful and chilling. Taking us on a journey from Al Qaeda’s hideouts in Waziristan and American-built military prisons to a family left behind—Mikal’s and Jeo’s blind, regretful father, Jeo’s resolute wife and her superstitious mother—it unflinchingly examines war and brotherhood, devastation, separation and remorse, while celebrating the redemptive power of nature, art and literature.

When shots ring out on the Grand Trunk Road in the fictional Pakistani city of Zamara, Nargis’s life begins to crumble around her. Soon her husband—and fellow architect—is dead and, under threat from a powerful military intelligence officer, she fears that a long-hidden truth about her past will be exposed. For weeks someone has been broadcasting people’s secrets from the minaret of the local mosque, and, in a country where even the accusation of blasphemy is a currency to be bartered, the mysterious broadcasts have struck fear in Christians and Muslims alike. A revelatory portrait of the human spirit, in The Golden Legend, Nadeem Aslam gives us a novel of Pakistan’s past and present—a story of corruption and resilience, of love and terror, and of the disguises that are sometimes necessary for survival.

Marcus Caldwell, and English widower and Muslim convert, lives in an old perfume factory in the shadow of the Tora Bora mountains in Afghanistan. Lara, a Russian woman, arrives at his home one day in search of her brother, a Soviet soldier who disappeared in the area many years previously, and who may have known Marcus’s daughter. In the days that follow, further people arrive there, each seeking someone or something. The stories and histories that unfold, interweaving and overlapping, span nearly a quarter of a century and tell of the terrible afflictions that have plagued Afghanistan—as well of the love that can blossom during war and conflict.

Love is not consolation, it is light. From the author of Maps for Lost Lovers comes a searing, exquisitely written novel set in Pakistan and Afghanistan in the months following 9/11 - a story of war, of one family's losses, and of the simplest, most enduring human impulses. Jeo and Mikal, foster-brothers from a small Pakistani city, secretly enter Afghanistan: not to fight with the Taliban, but to help and care for wounded civilians. But it soon becomes apparent that good intentions can't keep them out of harm's way...From the wilds of Afghanistan to the heart of the family left behind - their blind father haunted for years by the death of his wife, by the mistakes he may have made in the name of Islam and nationhood, Jeo's steadfast wife and her superstitious mother - Aslam's prose takes us on an extraordinary journey, through war, tragedy, love and brotherhood.

Contents 1. Global and National Perspectives of Professional Preparation Physical Culture and Sport Masters Students in Pandemic Abdybekova Nurmira, Dzhalilova Baktykan, Ernazarova Ulpat & Mambetalieva Nurisa 2. Innovative Teaching-Learning Practices: A Paradigm Shift Sishanki Kashyap 3. Distant Educational Technologies in Foreign Language Teaching in Medical University Bayzhigitova A.A., Zamaletdinova G.S. & Dr. Karaeva Z. 4. Economic Evaluations of Health and Health Policy Biimyrsaeva Erkegul Mundusbekovna & Biimyrsaeva Aidana Kamchybekovna 5. Depicting Position of Women through Selected Poetry of A.K. Ramanujan Prof. (Dr.) Pramod Kumar & Ms. Harsheetaa Bhardwaj 6. Exploring the Dynamics of Dysfunctional Families in Mannu Bhandari’s the Tale of a Weak Girl Srishti Jalal & Prof. (Dr.) Pramod Kumar 7. Flipped Learning to Increase Students’ Motivation Zhyldyz Takenova 8. Evolution of Pedagogic Practices Dr. Brinda Chowdhari 9. Islamic Feminism in Nawal El Saadawi’s ‘Woman at Point Zero’ and Khaled Hosseini’s ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’ Dr. Rafraf Shakil Ansari 10. Value Orientations, the Impact of Satisfaction on a Person‘s Physical Health Kasymova Nazira Omurkulovna 11. Loneliness or Dysfunction: Mannu Bhandari’s The Lonely One Srishti Jalal & Prof. (Dr.) Pramod Kumar 12. Features of the Development of Intercultural Communication of Future Specialists Abdraeva Aigul Tolokovna, Sadykbek Kyzy Zhainagul & Sartbekova Nurzhan Koodoevna 13. The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Education in Kyrgyzstan: A Sociological Analysis Shaiyldaeva Asel, Mysakulova Guilnaz & Adina Azhigulova 14. Socialization and Optimization in Teaching of Foreign Students in a Medical University in Fundamental Disciplines Torokulova Sofiia, Chorov Mamatkan Jetimishevich & Saryeva Nurisa 15. Peculiarities of Adaptation and Teaching Fundamental Disciplines to Foreign Students in a Medical University Nurisa Saryeva, Sofiia Torokulova & Aizada Makeshova 16. Interconnectedness of Man and Nature in the Novel “The Living Mountain” by Amitav Ghosh Anna Lalzidingi & Prof. (Dr.) Pramod Kumar 17. Portrayal of Women in Bankim Chandra’s Novel ‘Rajmohan’s Wife’ Clara C Lalrinhlui & Prof. (Dr.) Pramod Kumar 18. Significance of Language in Ethnic Identification in West Africa Moustapha Aboubacar Diori & Dr. Brinda Chowdhari 19. The Status of English Language and its Influence in India Sagolsem Bonie Devi & Dr. Brinda Chowdhari 20. Teaching Drama: Innovative and Engaging Pedagogical Approaches Dr. Gurpyari Bhatnagar 21. A Representation of Bacha Baziin Afghan war Zones in Nadeem Aslam’s Blind Man’s Garden Shivangi Mavi & Dr. Pallavi Thakur

Examining novels by celebrated authors, some neglected and some brand new texts, Arin Keeble offers a detailed analysis of the ways novels from around the world have represented terrorism in the early twenty-first century. Over five chapters, he uncovers a movement away from event-based narratives toward depictions of terrorism as a violent symptom or feature of twenty-first century world-systems and neoliberalism. Beginning with the early literary response to 9/11 and the 9/11 novel genre, the book moves through more recent depictions of the endless 'war on terror', state terror, white nationalist terror and historical narratives of terror that resonate in the current political climate. In doing so, it examines the changing ways literature has sought to make sense of both the reasons why terrorism occurs and the effects it has on victims, survivors and international and intercultural relations.