102 - Trip to Gondar, Simien Mountains and lalibela - Ethiopian Journey

The first bit of bad news came from PEDA campus. TSFM (Telugu Speaking faculty member) who was annoyed at not being invited went and frightened Rajani out of her wits. He said “Rajani, you are going to die if you go to Lalibela. You will get malaria, no doubt at all”. 

Rattled at the talk of death, next day Rajani approached me in the university. She said “I came all the way from India to earn, save and go back. I don’t want to die like a nobody in this remote place”. The seriousness with which the message was delivered was stunning. I politely told her not to worry and asked her to stay put, safe at Bahirdar. 

The talk of Rajani not coming boosted the chances of Clara coming, as both could not see eye to eye. Even though they shared the same flat, the animosity between Clara and Rajani was known to the entire teaching community of Bahirdar. 

Then the news trickled in. Unknown to me Bala invited his HOD from Electrical Engineering Department along with his entire family. This threw a spanner in our plan. Addis Gedafaw was a very young Ethiopian girl and was quite compatible with us. We neither knew the HOD of Electrical Engineering nor knew his wife and kids. I had to call Balakrishna and tell him to drop the invitation to his HOD. 

This was the tipping point. Somehow it was construed that me being a PEDA faculty did not want the faculty (both Indian and Ethiopian) of POLY campus to come along with us to the trip. I watched haplessly as the rumours grew and spread. 

Days were slipping by and Mulugeta our tour guide kept reminding us that we needed to confirm the trip. The waiting game was dragging on. On 23rd of September, I made up my mind. I would tell our entire group of 18 invitees to confirm by the next day. 

That evening on the way to the market, I met Suresh. He was coming to my house. He was quite flustered. He said forthrightly “Anil sir. What you are doing is not correct. You are inviting selectively. This is creating bad feelings among us all. Bala is feeling very upset about the withdrawal of invitation to his HOD. If Addis can be called, why not his HOD? Even TSFM approached me. Why is he not invited”? He was not mincing words.  

The last week had been tough. I had to conduct the end-term examination for the extension classes, grade and submit the results. I was also the PRO of Bahirdar University and had to organise a press conference. On the top, Aunty’s return date to India was approaching fast and the trip could not be postponed. The mental trauma of the previous week spilled over. 

“Suresh”, I told him “There is no conspiracy theory. I am neither neglecting nor persecuting any one. Time is simply running out. We have already decided on the list of invitees. The reasons for not inviting TSFM is known to you. Alex is a bachelor and so is Addis. I thought inviting an Ethiopian family with kids would be too much of a cultural barrier to cross. And we do not know them at all. Their customs and habits might not be compatible with ours. That is why I had to tell Bala to drop the invitation”. Suresh did not look convinced at all. 

The ding-dong business of going forth and coming back had worn me down. I told him point blank, “Suresh, I think the trip has reached a point of no return. Our family had decided. Aunty has come all the way from America. We want to see Gondar, Lalibela and Simien mountains, come what may. We will go and we will go inspite of any one coming or not. Now it is individuals’ choice. They can take their own decisions”. Hearing this ultimatum, Suresh’s face turned red. He wished me goodbye and cycled away. I knew that the bridge was broken. 

By the time I returned from the market the damage was done. Suresh called Dr. Kuldeep on his landline. He informed Kuldeep that he, his wife and Bala were not coming to the trip. Cool and composed, Kuldeep assured Suresh that it was all right. 

By night, Dr. Naidu from POLY too dropped out. He cited his sinus problem and said that the cold weather in Simien might aggravate his problem. The reason was accepted, with a smile!

Now bad news was flooding in. Addis had twisted her ankle and was advised bed rest. She was forced to drop out. Clara and Addis were close friends and Clara too dropped out. It was looking as if the punters of Bahirdar were right. Spanners were being thrown into the trip, left, right, and centre and the wheels were coming off, quite dramatically. 

That evening an SOS (emergency) meeting was held in Dr. Kuldeep’s house in Kable 7. It was literally all hands on the deck. I told the meeting, “Things are not in our favour. But our family wants to go. And we will go, no matter, what. You are free to take your own decisions. We can’t wait. This dillydallying is very upsetting. We need to plan for the trip and pay advance to Ghion hotel”. 

Kuldeep broke out in laughter “Arrey Anil Saab. Why so solemn? Shilpa and I, are coming”. Dr. Neelima and Tasneem too nodded their affirmative. Looking on was an impassive T.N. Murthy. He said suddenly, “I am coming too. Seeing you face so much resistance, I would like to be part of the trip”. That was very good news. 

Now we had five from our family (myself, Padma, Pranav, Sahithi and Aunty) and Dr. Kuldeep, Shilpa, Dr. T.N. Murthy, Dr. Neelima and Tasneem. That made the count a solid ten. Alex, the Russian too was in. A phone call and Jeevan confirmed that he and his wife too were in. 

I told the gathering, “that is it. We are freezing the group. We are a group of 12 (not considering Sahithi, a baby)”. I beamed at them, “Wow, we are a dirty dozen (punning on the popular western movie from Hollywood)”. Even though, said in jest, the tag struck. we were christened the Dirty Dozen. 

That evening we went and met Mulugeta and paid advance of 5,000 birr. He was shell shocked. We were paying for a bus of 22 but had only 12 tourists. We would start on 27th of September and return back by 31st September. Our trip was on, officially.

Man Proposes and God disposes – Ethiopian Journey – Blog Post – No 30.

Many a times we plan and plan and then the event is snatched from our hand. That is what happened on 22^nd November 2002. I really don’t know what transpired, but I was called to the administration department and told that I have to take the pink house and I was given the TINA! Before readers jump into fancy visions of who or what is TINA, let me pour water on any fancy romantic theories. TINA stands for There Is No Alternative. I had to take the pink house.

I rushed back to Ethiostar and told the breaking news to the bewildered and incredulous Padma. It almost broke her down!  She received the news with a wide opened mouth. “When do we have to leave?” she enquired anxiously.

“Anytime” I answered flippantly “the university bus has already started from PEDA”. Giving me looks that could have burnt a person to ashes, she rushed inside muttering something ominously.

The university bus landed at Ethiostar and we somehow rushed all our suitcases into the bus and off we went to the PINK house. PEDA staff had already put an eight seater sofa in the house. They also had given some very skeletal kitchen utensils, a huge centre table and two single cots in each of the bedrooms. There were light bulbs. But they were incandescent bulbs of very low wattage. Like the cane partition they seemed very tired and apologetic.

The Electric oven and the refrigerator were not delivered. The house had a wooden almirah but without any racks. The entire house was full of our suitcases. After dumping the luggage I rushed back to the university.

In the evening Annie Clara came along with me. She wanted to see our new house. She gave a start when she saw the house. “Sir” she exclaimed “this is the house that I wanted to move in. I am sure that I was not granted these houses as independent houses are not given to single employees”. Checking herself, she added “any how I am happy that it has been allotted to you”. Seeing that we did not have any appliance to cook food she generously offered us her electric stove.

Seeing the commotion our neighbour Chidambaram and his diminutive wife Usha came over. They invited us for dinner. Dinner that day was a gala affair. It was almost ten days since we had some genuine Indian food and the children enjoyed themselves immensely.

Once we got back home, it hit us hard. This is going to be our house for the next two years. We need to adapt and make it our own.    

That night Padma packed us off to the bedroom and started to write a letter.   She was sitting on the sofa in the drawing room. Bahirdar shuts down quite early. It was definitely spooky and it was hardly 8 p.m. but the night was loud with squeaky sounds made by crickets. The effect was accentuated by the huge glass panes and the cold wind that was blowing through.

Later she told me that it was very eerie sitting in the dim light and staring out into the darkness. Her imagination was playing wild tricks on her. She could almost see figures floating about in darkness. She could not shut out the view as curtains were not provided.

She wrote paused and wrote again. Next time she paused, she realized that it was not her imagination, there was something moving scurrilously about, very slowly and with very little noise. Shocked to the core, she tried to identify the source. To her horror she discovered that the noise was coming from the roof right over her head!

The more she wrote, the more was the noise. And after some time it became unbearable, the sounds were increasing in intensity and it was perplexing. What was causing the noise? Where there spirits that did not like people writing letters in the night?

Gathering all her wits, she mustered enough courage to switch off the light and rushed to the bedroom. She got into the bed and covered herself with a bed sheet. But the noises were relentless and some-how she lulled herself to sleep.

Injira the Ethiopian Dosa - Ethiopian Journey Part - Blog Post No - 17

Making the National Dish of Ethiopia, The Injira 

Next day morning, there was a knock on the door. I opened the door and standing there was a small, petite and bubbly woman. She barged in “My name is Annie Clara; I am from Tamil Nadu”. She announced, “I am a lecturer in the accounting department of PEDA, Bahirdar University. Addis told me that you had come and I came to welcome you”.

I was touched. Here we are, thousands of kilometres away from home and we are being received so warmly. Clara assured us that she would help us for anything that we need.   I thanked her for her visit and generosity.

The texture of an Injira 

We were not getting our food, so we volunteered to try the local food. The local Chapatti or the staple food is the Injira. Injira is like a huge flat bread or like a very gigantic dosa. Injira is made from one of the tiniest grain in the world. The iron rich grain is called Teff. Injira is a dough risen flat bread with a sour, unique spongy texture. Injira is the national dish of Ethiopia.

The first time we had Injira, it was a huge let down. It had a very sour taste and it was very huge. The quantity would be enough to make 6-8 Indian dosas. Injira is round and is twenty  inches in diameter. The interesting part are the side dishes that are put on the top of the Injira. The nearest Indian equivalent of the Injira is an Uttapam but fermented many times over.

Teff flour is mixed with water and the mixture is allowed to ferment for several days. As a result of this process, Injira gets a definite sour taste. The Injira is then baked into large, flat pancakes.

Injira is never eaten alone. It is always served with several kinds of wats (dals) or curies or stews. There can be two or three different types of wats made of meats (mutton, chicken or beef), egg, many types of salads and a little rice. The amount of rice eaten by an average south Indian would feed atleast fifty Ethiopians. Typically, spoonful of rice is served along with the Injira.

As the Injira is spongy and granular, the wat soaks it thoroughly and that makes the Injira very tasty. Initially it was quite difficult to eat an Injira. But later on we started enjoying it and Padma often says that she misses an Injira. We did have Injira in California, USA. No doubt It was tasty but to experience an authentic Injira one needs to taste it in Ethiopia.

Usually Injira is eaten with different types of meats like Dora (Chicken) wat, Tibs (pieces of fried meat pieces). There are many variations of the delicacy, depending on type, size or shape of the cuts of meat used.

But during the lent and on Wednesday and Friday a vegetarian Injira is eaten, my favourite called the Beyeyanetu. Whenever I went to the restaurant in Ethiostar and proudly ordered a Beyeyanetu, the waitress would giggle. Annoyed and irritated, I complained to the Manager of the hotel. He came back to me beaming “Sir, the girl is actually very flattered that you are ordering an Ethiopian dish and that too in Amharic. But your accent is that of a very small child just learning Amharic. She finds it very cute”. I don’t know whether it was a compliment or an insult to be compared with a child.  

Fit-Fit or Fir-fir is a common Ethiopian breakfast dish. It is made from shredded Injira, stir-fried with spices or wat.

Another popular breakfast food is Fatira. The delicacy consists of a large fried pancake made with flour, often with a layer of egg. It is eaten with honey.

The Most Popular snacks are Dabo Kolo (small pieces of baked bread). Ethiopian Kolo (roasted barley mixed with other local grains). 

Kolo made from roasted barley, chickpeas and peanuts is often sold by street vendors wrapped in a paper cone. Popcorn is also popular as a snack. 

Surprise of surprises, a delicacy called Sambusa (Indian Samosa) is also popular in some parts of Ethiopia. But the filling is not potato, instead mashed lentil (green gram) is used! Talk of globalization of Indian food.

As the Injira is rich in Iron and not in Carbohydrates, Ethiopians are typically thin and wiry. African athleticism and high altitude climate, makes most Ethiopians have good physique. In 2002, it was very rare to see a fat Ethiopian. So whenever they see a very a large man or woman they would get fascinated and follow that person. Of-course the obvious ribbing and ragging would automatically follow.

Due of their easy going nature and their natural good genes and healthy eating, incidence of Heart attacks are very rare in Ethiopia (166^th rank out of 172 countries surveyed) whereas India is a high risk country with a global rank of 39.

One-day right in front of Ethiostar there was a head-on collision that involved two bicyclists. In India it would have led to an altercation where all the bystanders would join in merrily, create a huge ruckus and finally it would lead to a massive traffic Jam. The aftermath of the crowd disturbance in many cases would be many times more severe than the accident itself.

But here both the Ethiopians who were sprawled flat on the ground got up, dusted themselves and hugged each other. There was exchange of pleasantries and after checking each other’s bicycles they went on their respective ways. Such a charming way to solve minor problems.

Ethiopians tend to wear lots of clothes. A typical Ethiopian would wear many sets of clothes and wear a coat and cover their body with a white cloth. Most of the Indians were initially skeptical of this habit but quickly realized that it was a very wise decision. In a country where the climate is variable and the temperature fluctuates by as much as 20 degrees centigrade in a day, it is better to cover the body with protective clothing so that the body does not get too cold and suffer from debilitating diseases. Even in a city bus the locals would keep all the windows shut and would rather suffer the suffocation rather than let the cool breeze come in. Perhaps they were also protecting themselves from the dust rising out of the metal roads.