90 – Man Proposes and God Disposes – Ethiopian Journey.

The flight from Mumbai to Addis Ababa was supposed to depart from Mumbai at 7:30 p.m. Indian time. The flight time was five hours and the time difference was 2.5 hours (India is ahead of Ethiopia).

So Aunty would land by 10:00 p.m. local time and by the time emigration and customs check would get done it would be 10:30 to 10:45 p.m. I could start at 10:00 p.m. and reach Bole International Airport within fifteen minutes.

Ten minutes in the room and I got bored. We have to remember it was 2003 and there were no Mobile phones or TV available in hotel rooms. Even if TV was provided the programing was all in Amharic. English was not very popular and we hardly got any English newspapers, magazines or novels. I was glad I was leaving the next day morning. Man proposes and God disposes!!! 

Just to break out of the melancholic mood setting in, I stepped out for a shai at the Tree Top Bakery, situated right opposite, Tourist Hotel. The Shai perked up my mood and I returned. The receptionist was literally laying kittens. She gesticulated and shouted in a loud voice (quite in contrast with her usual persona of a demure and dainty lady) “Dr. Aneel, Dr. Aneel” she was frantic.

“We just phoned your room and even sent a room boy. You were not to be found. A message from Bahirdar. Someone called Paadmaa called”. I was perplexed “Did she leave a message?”.

“Oh, yes” she rummaged through the drawer and triumphantly took out a small paper “Paadmaa said that your mother was not coming. She asked you not to go to the airport”. I immediately understood mother to be mother-in-law. I did not expect the diminutive receptionist to understand the word mother-in-law.

I was taken aback. Luckily I had Kuldeep Singh’s landline number. I called from the reception itself. Kuldeep came on line and he was sympathetic. He confirmed that there was something wrong and that it was infact Kuldeep who received the phone call from India.

I believe the call from India shocked Padma. The gist of the matter was that Aunty was not allowed to board the flight from Mumbai to Addis Ababa and that she was sent back to Hyderabad. Padma had twin worries, the trauma that was caused to Aunty on her shocking ordeal and the second was how to inform me that her mother was not arriving. If the information was not passed on, I would have waited for hours together at Bole International Airport, waiting for Aunty.

It was Kuldeep who found out that I would stay at Tourist Hotel. At that time there were no telephone directories in Bahirdar. Many frantic calls later, one of the Indian finally gave Kuldeep the phone number of Tourist hotel. It was then Padma called the hotel reception and passed on the information.

All this was mumbo-jumbo to me. I asked Kuldeep to call Padma. It was an anxious ten-minute wait. Padma was on the phone. Her voice was quivering and she appeared strained. She said “Even I have very sketchy information. I was told by nannagaru that mummy checked in at Mumbai International Airport, the luggage was loaded on to the plane and that she was breezing through the customs when the tragedy struck.

The customs officer apparently looked at mummy’s passport and said that she had ECR (Emigration Check Required). (ECR was a provision made by the Indian government to prevent uneducated Indians being exploited especially in the Middle East).

As mummy did not have a ECR clearance stamp or a ECNR the customs officer refused to allow her to board.”.

Padma continued “I believe there was a considerate frequent traveler who was in the same flight. I believe he said that as mummy is a green card holder and frequent traveler to many parts of the world that she need not have an ECR”.

But I was told that the stone hearted customs officer became more and more angry and refused to budge from his stand. He glibly stated that aunty needed to go back to Hyderabad and get an ECNR clearance from the Hyderabad passport office.

Ethiopian Airlines were forced to off load aunty’s luggage and she was left stranded in the departure lounge. Some good Samaritans came to aunty’s help and assisted her in buying a ticket back to Hyderabad.

This information hit me like a bolt from the blue. I asked Padma “How much time will it take for aunty to get an ECNR and fly to Addis Ababa?” “No idea” Padma, replied “May be 4 to 5 days”.

This new information was like as if somebody drove a sledge hammer into my stomach “4 to 5 days!!!!” what will I do in Addis Ababa??”. Poor lady, Padma did not have the answer.

I returned to the room. The first thing I did was to check the money that I had. Remember, I bought the air tickets so that was not a problem. I had around 500 birr and a US 100-dollar note. If I were to change the 100 dollar note, I would be richer by another 800 birr.

That triggered me. I rushed to the Ethiopian Airlines office. They were about to shut shop for the day. The smiling booking counter lady canceled my next day morning flight to Bahirdar and put me on hold. I would have to confirm my next flight date at least a day in advance. Thankfully the rate would remain the same and I was not charged any cancellation fee. She shyly accepted my exuberant “Ameseginalehu (thank you in Amharic)”.

I went back and sat on an empty table at the Tree Top Bakery. Should I go back to Bahirdar? Travel takes two days both ways and I might have to rush back as the exact date of Aunty’s flight was unknown. I decided to stay back and rough it out in Addis Ababa. Luckily for me it was vacation time and there was no urgent need to get back to Bahirdar University, Bahirdar.

“When things get tough the tough get going” I reminded myself. 6 days x 40 birr would come up to 240 birr as room rent. That left me with 260 birr for me to have food and spend four to five dreary days in Addis Ababa. I was determined to hang on to the US 100-dollar note. I might still need to change it into birr!

Food was quite cheap in Addis at that time. Breakfast could be had for 5 birr and Bayenetu would set me back by another 3-5 birr. Even if I felt like indulging myself with Injera with Dorovat (chicken curry), Injera with Asa dulet (fish curry) or Injera with Tibs (mutton pieces roasted in Ghee) would cost 10-15 birr. I was super confident that my total food expenses would be around 20 birr per day. 20-birr x 6 days mean another 120 birr.

260 birr as lodging expenses and 120 birr as boarding expense meant that I would be left with 120 birr (around 600 rupees) to stay calm, cool, sane, collected and wait out the time for Aunty to make her hard earned trip to Addis Ababa. That night sleep proved to be an elusive mistress – teasing me all the time but not enveloping me in her broad bosom.

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.