Umber Khairi’s debut novel, titled ‘Akbar in Wonderland,’ allows readers to explore and experience the newsroom of the 1990s. In the story, Akbar Hussain is the newly appointed editor of a magazine launched by his paper. The novel conveys a vivid sense of Akbar’s desk, enabling those working in today’s newsrooms to relate, recalling moments when the tea boy went missing just when that cup of tea felt most dire. Khairi’s novel takes the reader to the streets of Karachi in the 90s… the smells, flavours, and sounds of the city…
When the reader takes a step into Akbar’s idealistic world, one where his father reminded him to “… never forget that it is your responsibility to question and discover. Don’t go into your research with any preconceived ideas or dogma. You must test out new ideas and look for clues, for facts. You must be committed to facts, you must be committed to the truth, no matter what agendas it challenges”.
Akbar, the newly appointed editor of a magazine launched by his paper, did not realise that the ideals of journalism are often better suited to books. When it comes to practice, the real world is but a wonderland.
Khairi has worked as a producer and broadcaster with the BBC World Service in London for over 16 years and is one of the co-founders of Newsline, which was a journalist-owned magazine. Her first novel, Akbar in Wonderland, tells the story of a naïve journalist in 1990s Karachi who becomes entangled in a game of media manipulation and political engineering.
The novel reminds readers that fiction often sits uncomfortably close to reality, with many who have worked in the city’s newsrooms able to identify the characters in the story. Yet one may wonder whether the “fictional” world of the 1990s now feels distant from today’s lived, current-day “fictional” realities – or whether, as years and decades pass, some fictions stubbornly remain realities.
Khairi offers the readers a lens into Akbar’s newsroom – one which many could identify as their own in current times, not necessarily within the borders of the land of the pure. Akbar, a young editor, is forced to step out of his ‘wonderland’ when his magazine’s cover story on corruption by the party in power leads to the toppling of the civilian government. Soon after, his colleague, Zaheer Khan, aka Zed, begins to investigate the cover story… that’s when Akbar comes out of his bubble of wonders, a reality where only certain authors can pen tales.
Akbar in Wonderland is an unputdownable read. From the everyday conversations in his living room with the street child selling flower garlands, Karachiites will be able to relive the city streets in Akbar in Wonderland, and if lucky enough, vividly visualize Karachi of those days.
Khairi’s debut novel is a page-turner, reminding readers of everyday characters in workplaces beyond newsrooms – where nepotism thrives, and work ethics are sidelined to benefit a few.
The book should be read by every aspiring journalist, regardless of location, to gain insight into the dark corridors of manipulation and the control of facts, fiction, and the boundaries of what can be told, and if so, how. The book leaves the reader heavy-hearted and troubled, but when you turn to the last page, one wonders if one should stick to the 5 Ws and H in journalism, for the real work and world of journalism are far beyond the classroom lectures.
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