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.

101 - Tearing The Indian Community Apart – Ethiopian Journey

Choosing the places to visit was quite easy. We wanted to travel to places that were close by and we wanted to finish off the trip in five days. The places selected themselves. Gondar, as it was only 175 kilometers away and it had Fasil Ghebbi, the fort and Fasilidas bath, another huge attraction.

We could not miss out Lalibela the 8^th natural wonder of the world. Not visiting Lalibela after staying in Ethiopia is like visiting India and not seeing Tirupati or visiting Saudi Arabia and not seeing Mecca.

We were all nature lovers including Anasuya aunty and we wanted to see the Majestic Simien mountains and see for ourselves ‘Gods own chess pieces’. The legend is that gods played chess with the mountains shaped like chess pieces. 

We also wanted to see the endangered Simien Fox, Gelada Baboons and the Ethiopian Walia Ibex, all majestic animals.

 Sadly, only 500 Walia Ibex are left in Ethiopia and most of them are in the Simien mountains. Of course we wanted to experience an ambience that is unparalleled in the world. Simien mountains has a mystique that we were told had to be experienced. It can’t be described.

We had to travel by road and there was no way we could travel by air especially to Simien mountains. Of course all the three places, Bahirdar, Gondar and Lalibela were connected by air but from Addis Ababa. Bahirdar – Lalibela was not connected by air and Bahirdar Gondar were so close that the travel has to be by road.

There was no reliable road transport service and once we planned to visit Simien mountains we had only one choice. Make it into a package tour and then it becomes viable and feasible.

Deciding to travel, was the easy part. Where do we get information about fixing a package tour?  Luckily for us Mansoor Ali Khan, my colleague from the management department had a known contact in Ghion Hotel. Ghion hotel was right at the edge of mango park and it was also close to the jetty that took tourists to the island monasteries.

Kuldeep and me went to Ghion hotel and met Mulugeta. Mulugeta told us that the trip was possible and that it would have to be a five-day trip. He promised us a 22 seater bus. The bus charges were fixed and the night stay would be at Gondar, Lalibela and one night would be at Simien National Park.

Five of us were certainties. Our family of four and Anasuya aunty. We first mooted the group travel idea in Kable 7 and it was received with great enthusiasm by Kuldeep and Shilpa, Dr. Neelima and Tasneem. Dr. Srinivas Inguva had gone to India and Dr. T. N. Murthy was not interested. We had eight (not counting Sahithi) in the kitty and wanted 14 more.

We were quite choosy in whom we wanted to invite. We knew by now that the cursed ‘Indian stretchable Time’ concept had travelled to Ethiopia too. Some Indians would take inordinate time to dress and arrive at the starting point. Especially we wanted to avoid TSFM (telugu Speaking faculty member) whose family was famed for late coming.

We extended invitations to Clara, Rajani, Mansoor’s family and Azaz Ahmed’s family. During one of our discussions, Management department’s HOD, Addis Gedafaw evinced interest to accompany us. But almost immediately Mansoor and Ahmed said NO.

They had young kids and did not want them to get diseases. Even though Adnan (Ahmed sir’s son) and Shagufa (Mansoor’s daughter) were Sahithi’s age, I respected their decision. Mansoor later told me that as they were Muslims, they were not keen about visiting churches. He said that he was planning a trip to Harar, the third holiest site for Muslims in the world. That left Clara, Rajani, Addis and a Russian Mathematics teacher named Alex. Alex volunteered by himself and said that he was coming, period. Possibly four more from PEDA campus.

From POLY, invitations were extended to Dr. Naidu, Suresh and his wife, Balakrishna and to Jeevan and his wife. Jeevan and his wife had come to the island monasteries along with us. They enjoyed themselves and we were sure that they would enjoy the five-day trip.  We had invited 6 from POLY campus.

So 4 from our family, 4 from Kable 7, 4 from PEDA campus and 6 from POLY campus, added up to eighteen. Yes, 22 would make it better and the cost would come down but we were quite worried about big numbers. I thought that things were moving smoothly.

The die was cast and the Indian community gossip mills of Bahirdar went into the overdrive. The Indian community was buzzing with curiosity, amazement, hurt and apprehension.

‘How dare Anil plan such an audacious trip? No one earlier has even attempted such an outrageous event? Who would want to go to “dangerous places”. He is risking lives of everyone including his wife and children? Why would he risk the life of his poor mother-in-law? He has lot of money to blow, is it? Why are we not included? How can he be so selfish? He is inviting Ethiopians, Russians but not Indians? Is he trying to curry up (maskafy) his HOD?! After all his contract will come up for renewal’

Rumours were flying thick and fast everywhere. The entire area of Simien mountains was totally lawless. Some explained “Lalibela is full of mosquitoes, waiting to take the blood out of the tourists”. This one in particular sounded very strange. It was as if the mosquitoes of Lalibela were blood sucking bats waiting to suck the blood out of the poor tourists.

Somehow this one got struck like glue. The rallying cry was resounding everywhere. Lalibela is full of mosquitoes waiting to give malaria as the gift for all tourists.  They were battle ready to ambush the audacious group of Indian teachers from Bahirdar who have ventured out into the bad world of travel and tourism, inspite of severe warnings.

Bets were being laid and punters were laying out odds. The odds were stacked against me. The stakes were so high that 3 birr bet on the trip being successful would return 10. And the trip not being successful was at 9:10. The verdict was out. Our trip was doomed to fail. Even though it is quite amusing now, at that time it was quite disheartening. I knew how people, who think differently were searched out and targeted.

A group of Indian elders paid a visit to my house. They were solemnness personified. One could mistake them for a team of United Nations on a peace brokering mission. Such was their earnestness. Their mission was crystal clear. ‘Call off the trip. It is a bad idea. Why do you want to spend so much money? This proposed trip is tearing the Indian community apart’. “Such a trip has never been attempted before” they exclaimed in horror.  

Their earnest argument, holier than thou attitude got me rankled. “Sirs” I said “I understand your anguish. This is not a trip of the Indian community. It is a private trip and I have the right to invite people, I like”. I gently reminded them that the Indian community in Bahirdar already had many sub groups like POLY Faculty group, PEDA Faculty group, Telugu group, Tamil group, North Indian group, Family group, Bachelors group, Vegetarian groups, Non vegetarian group, Boozers group and so on.

Seeing my eloquence on the topic, the Indian Bahirdar Elders got up, and left reluctantly. I burst out in laughter when I saw their stiff disapproving backs. It was rip roaringly funny, but it was the lull before the storm. The Tsunami was about to strike!!!. 

86 - Pranav's 2nd Grade examinations get over - visiting India - Preparing for Graduation ceremony - Sai Baba Bhajans - Ethiopian Journey - Blog Post no - 86

andrew-wulf-744104-unsplash

Pranav’s 2^nd grade examinations got over and the results were favourable. He passed the examinations with flying colours and got an overall percentage of 90%. He was over the moon!!!. We had to prepone our journey back to Bahirdar by a day as two examinations were held in a day by the school, so that we could go back to our universities one day in advance.

Ethiopian Airlines was accommodating and helped us in preponing our trip. There was excitement all around. We were not unhappy at Addis Ababa but home is home and we were keen to go back.

TFM (Telugu Faculty Member) who could not get us a small parcel from India even though he stayed only a kilometre away had given us a very generous list of things that he wanted from Addis Ababa.

As I read the list, I was truly astonished. TFM wanted almost everything from Addis, 10 kgs of fine rice, nearly ten kgs of vegetables. The sheer audacity of his wishes took my breath away.

We bought Thailand rice that looks like Sona Masoori. Basmati rice was available but somehow Basmati rice is not for daily use. It tasted funny when eaten as white rice. It is good for biryani and that too if taken once in a while. We also bought five kgs each of brinjal (egg-plant) and Okra (ladies finger).

The journey back to Bahirdar was quite rocky and full of turbulence. It was scary too. The plane was buffeted with strong winds and it kept dropping and climbing up again. Sahithi was very scared. We too were experiencing the same but put up a straight face but internally we were all shivering with fright.

In our first contract we had to deposit our passports in the university. Planning to go to India was a herculean task. First of all, there had to be a valid reason to travel and an Indian in Bahirdar had to sign the travel application as a surety.

Kuldeep (our PEDA mathematics faculty) wanted to go to India on a personal visit and saw to it that a telegram arrived from India citing that his grandmother was sick. I stood as a surety for Kuldeep. Kuldeep’s departure was a shock to many Indians in Bahirdar.

True to Indian mentality, rumours started to fly - That Kuldeep could not teach properly, that his feedback was not good and that he was gone for good and that as a surety I was in trouble.

Many Indians were actually very happy. ‘Anil got his comeuppance’ was the general feeling. They all purred like cats who had their full quota of cream and were contented.  They were sharpening their axes –eager to see the broom getting lowered on me (the penalty being levied).

Kuldeep returned from India. Most Indians were actually disappointed with the turn of events. Funny, the way people react to crisis and crisis management. 

good-free-photos-773344-unsplash

As the semester progressed there was palpable excitement in the university. The student community started looking brighter and the air was pregnant with anticipation. Initially I could not understand what was happening. Then it dawned upon me. The student community was preparing for the event of their lifetime – Graduation Ceremony!

For many in Ethiopia even in 2002, it was very rare to be well educated. Passing the school examination was seen as an achievement and here were students who were passing their advanced diplomas for the first time and in some cases some students were getting graduated! For many families, they were the first graduates!

charles-deloye-660433-unsplash (1)

Getting graduated in Ethiopia at that time was a really big deal. It was very rare and families travelled long distances to different universities just to see their children getting graduated. The family would not spare any effort or cost to celebrate their most joyous day – GRADUATION CEREMONY.

It was an event of a life time. I was told that Bahirdar would get decked like a new bride. There would be festivities everywhere. Flower bouquet sellers would do brisk business and all local photographers would be busy.

There would be brisk business for stationery and gift shops. The students and their parents and relatives would roam in Bahirdar – the students in their graduation dress. The celebrations would spill into the streets. There would be dancing and impromptu celebrations everywhere. It looks as if entire Bahirdar was celebrating the students’ success.

They would visit the tourist spots and take keep sake snaps. It was truly amazing what graduation meant for Ethiopians. I could not wait. I wanted to experience my first Ethiopian graduation ceremony!

In demand would be the teachers, especially the foreign teachers.  I was asked by my students, including the ones that I did not teach, whether I would be in Bahirdar at the graduation time. Taking snaps with teachers was customary and taking snaps with foreign teachers was a badge of honour – ‘I was taught by a foreigner – that too an Indian!!!!!’.

stephane-hermellin-550943-unsplash

This planning for the festivities somehow made me pensive and sad. We Indians have become blasé and don’t seem to enjoy the small things in life. Graduation ceremonies are mostly done away in Indian Institutions both at graduate and post graduate level. It is customary for universities to hold graduation ceremonies only for PhD scholars and that too once in two or three years. We need to celebrate  the event irrespective of it magnitude.

Padma decided that we should perform Sai Baba’s bhajan every Thursday. Our family, Dr. Srinivas Inguva (who had a very melodious voice) and Dr. Neelima were the regulars.   We (our family, Dr. Srinivas Inguva or Dr. Neelima) prepared some snacks and offered it to Sai Baba as Prasad. After the Bhajan, we would partake in the Prasad and then disperse. It was soothing and made the kids concentrate on connecting with the almighty.

One Indian was quite upset. He asked me “Anil garu, I am very glad that you are performing Sai Baba Bhajan. That is very nice. But I am not getting my share of the Prasad”.

I was totally taken aback “Your Prasad sir, I don’t understand?”. That Indian gave me the look that people give an imbecile, “Sir, my share sir, you are not sending my share”.

By this time, I had recovered from the initial shock. I said, very gently, “Sir, Prasad has to be taken as Prasad. It is only for people who come to my house and do the Bhajan. We can’t give Prasad for the people who stay at their homes and expect us to home deliver”. The Indian kept quiet, grudgingly.

“Google! What the heck is that?” - Ethiopian Journey - Blog Post no – 36

Terms like ‘The only constant in this world is change’ and “where are we?” “Oh at the beginning” “Where is the beginning?” “At the start” might be very good opening statements in India but would fox and bemuse Ethiopians who would take things literally.

Idioms like “steps to be undertaken to solve the problem, Paradigm shift, trying to pound square pegs in round holes’” would confuse them. I learnt to use simple language and be as graphical and pictorial as possible. I would give them both Indian and Ethiopian examples which were highly appreciated.

Whatever I said, I would write the same on the board. Most of the class rooms had two boards and I would totally fill up the entire two boards and would not erase them. This was an advice from an Ethiopian colleague. The matter on the board would be copied by many other students including many who were not even remotely connected with management education. That was the hunger for information and knowledge that the Ethiopian students had in 2002.

Back then, Google was still a new medium and not many students have heard the word!  I am told by Dr. Elefachew Mossisa that I took the entire class of B.A in Accounting to the computer laboratory and told them in a stern voice to open the internet browser and type in the word ‘Google’. He told me in an awestruck voice that it was his first experience with Google and it is still etched in his memory. I had unwittingly introduced the magical world of Google to an entire batch of accounting students!

My very neat, crisp and clear handwriting was highly appreciated. Indian teachers were very much liked by the Ethiopian students as most of them had no accent at all and were easily understandable. But the same can’t be said about the accent of the Ethiopian students. Their English was very difficult to understand and they would pronounce ‘Fifteen’ as ‘fifty’. This led to lots of confusion.

Once I grandly announced “you will have an exam tomorrow at 8.00 a.m”. There were groans and slightly loud ‘Ahs’ but I thought that they got the message. The next day I gulped my breakfast, rushed to the department, got my exam papers and went to the exam hall. There was NOBODY there, except a very forlorn looking puppy, which was horrified as I ushered it away from the class room.

I waited for half an hour and went to Ms. Addis Gedefaw in a huff. I was irritated. I reported the exam boycott to Addis. Addis was frankly exasperated and said, “Anil, get used to our timings, you said 8.00 a.m and the students have understood it as 8.00 a.m, Ethiopian Time” (which is 2 p.m. according to European Time). I was flabbergasted.

Dr. Neelima Ramakuru from the Physics department had sent an e-mail to her husband. Sending an E-mail was a minor coup in BDU at that time. E-Mails would take upto to 10-15 minutes to get transmitted. As she was heaving a sign of relief, her husband shot a reply “What are you doing in the university at mid night (1200 p.m.)” Dr. Neelima was totally nonplussed. Then it struck her. Her husband would have got an e-mail with the time stamp as 1200 hours and immediately assumed that it was 1200 in the night. Actually it was only 6 p.m. in the evening and there was light everywhere, including the University.

Working hours at Bahirdar University were a breeze. Most Indians would be allotted a load of two subjects per semester and they would be given subjects which could not be taught by the local Ethiopian teachers. Once a class was taken the faculty was free to go. So it was up to the faculty to stay in the campus or go home. As Indians had been accustomed to staying on the campus for eight hours most of them preferred to stay in the campus and work on the internet that was maddeningly slow!