American Embassy School / American International School New Delhi, India, AIS/AES Alumni News

Sid Wahid AIS class of 1970 sidwah@gmail.com

Sid at the Great Wall of China, 2004

Let me tell you a little about my life over the last 36 (Lord!) years, exactly this June I think???

I am married, although my wife Susan of 33 years lives in Cambridge, MA and I here in India. This makes us "separated" but it is kind of 21st century separation because she wanted to live where are children are (in the Boston - Cambridge area) and there is just too much to do here in Kashmir for me to leave at this point. But as I said, it is a friendly separation and I see her everytime I am in the U.S., once or twice a year and we communicate at least once a week on the internet or by phone. Tough, but still hanging in there! Two beautiful children. Daughter Miriam married to Matt (both teachers) with three kids and son Karim unmarried, staying that way it seems, and about to enter law school.

As far as my activities, it is rather embarrassing to have friends who go to the Web tell me about what they read. It sounds so much grander on a Web page than in actual life! But it does keep me busy. I finished my studies (yes, I did do some of that despite my image in school!) as an academic with a PhD in Central Asian History (medieval period). This was all in the U.S. and then ended up teaching it for a number of years. Returned to India because of the mess that is Kashmir. Once here, I did a stint in the corporate world, then returned to academia and am now fully immersed in it. I am starting a new University for the government. That has been over the last year and it has been exhausting, but fun! Besides that I keep busy advocating as an activist in (i) Kashmir politics, (ii)against radical, literalist and puritanical interpretations of Islam and (iii) against a nuclearized South Asia!

As always,

Sid

June 14, 2006

Editor's Note: As always, Sid is being too modest. See Chandigarh Tribunefrom February 2006, Jammu University felicitates Prof Wahid from October 2005, and Dialouge for Peace Initiatives - Kashmir from 2003.