Blessed base, Bahirdar! Ethiopian Journey, Blog Post No – 56.

Ethiopians just like any other country’s people are curious  about foreigners.  When we were in Addis Ababa “where are you going to work?” was  the  most  frequent query. When I  said “Bahirdar”, there would be glances of respect and of envy. They would say “You are lucky, enjoy yourselves”. 

I was puzzled, at that time.  But within fifteen days of reaching Bahirdar, I realized that they were bang on, correct. Bahirdar has many things going in its favour as an excellent place to visit and to stay.  Bahirdar is the capital of the Amhara region and Amharas are the traditional rulers of Ethiopia. The official language Amharic comes from the language spoken by the Amharas. 

Bahirdar or “by the side of the sea” is the place where Lake Tana is situated. Lake Tana is the source of the Blue Nile river and is the largest lake in Ethiopia. Located in Amhara region in the north-western Ethiopian highlands, lake Tana is approximately 84 kilometres long and 66 kilometres wide, with a maximum depth of 15 meters, and is at an elevation of 1,788 meters. Lake Tana is fed by the Lesser Abay, Reb and Gumara rivers. Its surface area ranges from 3,000 to 3,500 km², depending on season and rainfall. There are around 37-40 islands in Lake Tana an around 20 of them have island monasteries. 

Bahirdar sits right close to Axum (528 kilometres), Gondar (174 kilometres) the Lalibela, (314 Kilometres), the rock hewn churches of Lalibela are considered to be the 8th wonder of the world) and is very close to the Simien mountains. Bahirdar is right on the holy trail. 

Axum or Aksum is a city in the northern part of Ethiopia. Axum is The original capital of the Kingdom of Aksum and it is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in Africa. In 1980, UNESCO added Axum's archaeological sites to its list of world Heritage sites due to their historic value. The obelisks of Axum are world famous. 

Axum is also supposed to be the place where the ark of the covenant is presently located. The ark of the covenant is the ark where the original ten commandments have supposed to be housed. The ark of covenant is supposed to be at St. Mary of Zion Church.  The Ark is guarded by a select group of celibate Monks. Axum is located 528 kilometres from Bahirdar. 

Gondar or Gonder is a city Located in the Semien of the Amhara region. Gondar is on the north of Lake Tana on the Lesser Angereb river and southwest of the Simien Mountains. It is at an elevation of 2133 meters above sea level. Gondar served as a strong Christian kingdom for many years.

Gondar had previously served as the capital of the Ethiopian Empire. The city holds the remains of several royal castles, including those in Fasil Ghebbi (the Royal Enclosure), for which Gondar has been called the "Camelot of Africa". Fasil Ghebbi is also a UNESCO world heritage.  

The Simien Mountains in northern part of Ethiopia north east of Gondar in Amhara region, are part of the Ethiopian Highlands. They are a UNESCO world heritage site. The mountains consist of plateaus separated by valleys and rising to pinnacles. The tallest peak is Ras Dejen is at 4,550 metres. Other notable mountains include Mount Biuat at 4,437 metres and Kidis Yared at 4,453 metres.

Because of their geological origins, the mountains are unique. They are admiringly called God’s own chess pieces on earth. The mountains uncannily look like giant chess pieces and as the mountains are always clothed in mysterious mists and clouds, it looks as if the chess pieces are floating and it looks as if the gods are actually indulging in a serious game of chess amongst themselves.  Notable animals in the mountains include the Walia Ibex, Gelada or the weeping baboon and the Caracal, and the Simien fox. 

Lalibela is a town in Amhara region in the northern Ethiopia and is famous for monolithic rock hewn (cut) churches. Lalibela offers an exceptional testimony to the medieval and post-medieval civilization of Ethiopia. Lalibela is one of Ethiopia's holiest cities and a centre of Pilgrimage. Lalibela is at 2,500 meters above sea level. The Rock-Hewn Churches of Lalibela were declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1978.

This is one of the reason why local Ethiopians considered my posting as lucky. Lalibela is the most holy place for the Ethiopian Christians just as Mecca is for the Muslims and Tirupati is for the Hindus. 

Ethiopia was one of the earliest nations to adopt Christianity in the first half of the fourth century. The churches themselves date from the seventh to thirteenth centuries, and are traditionally dated to the reign of the Zagwe dynasty’s king Gebre Mesqel Lalibela.

So 4 out of 9 world heritage sites in Ethiopia are very close to Bahirdar. I made up my mind to visit them all. I wold not get another chance to see so many world heritage centres at one go! 

Right from our childhood we always have heard the word Nile, in great awe. Nile is the longest river in the world. Egypt which boasts of having one of the most ancient civilizations in the world is called the Gift of the Nile. If there is not Nile River there is no Egypt. And we are staying at the starting point of the Nile River! 

The island monasteries are very old and seeped in history. World over antiques and artefacts are kept at centrally guarded museums which are very convenient to visit. But Uniquely in Ethiopia the island monasteries are maintained in the same way as they have been maintained for hundreds of years. 

The monasteries are humble but house remarkable bibles, crosses and many leather parchments and other religious items of immense religious and cultural value. A monk was once asked “You have so many valuable articles in these monasteries, are you not scared of thieves, who is/are the guard/s?” The priest gave a withering look, softened his furrow, smiled gently and said “why should we worry, GOD is our GUARD”.

The Butcher Of Bahirdar! (Poor English Language!) – Ethiopian Journey – Blog Post no – 55

TFM would slide up to people and ask, “What is your good name?” This would stump everyone including the Ethiopians. Wild thoughts would race in their minds. “We have our names given by our parents. All names are good names. Why would anyone’s parents give their children bad names? Bad names are earned by people and not given by parents” Hold on to your horses! TFM’s intentions are usually good. Only his execution stank to high heaven! He was only translating the Hindi phrase, “Aap ka Shubh Naam Kya hai? (meaning what is your good name)”.

Once TFM was to be the anchor for a college function in BDU. He had a well prepared speech (rather learned by rote). But seeing the huge crowd that was looking speculatively and may I add with a rather keen and hawkish eye, TFM lost it.

He blabbered “Ladies, gentlemen and Faculty members!” There was an eerie pin drop silence and then the crowd roared!!! He made it look as if the faculty members were all from the third sex!. After that TFM was not the same person again. He quickly made an inglorious exit from the stage.  

TFM was suffering from a urinary tract infection. He went in for a urine examination. The lab technician was not giving the report. So TFM went to the chief doctor and said, “When are you going to TASTE my urine?” The doctor was astonished “Why should I taste your urine?” “You have charged me 50 birr. So taste my urine”.

The Doctor was getting perplexed. Luckily for him, the nurse could understand what was happening. She whispered something in Amharic and the clouds of doubt lifted from the worried brows of the poor doctor. He looked as if a tonne of weight was lifted off his weary shoulders. He broke into a winsome smile.

“Oh, Oh, Oh, you mean TEST the urine. Will be done sir, Will be done and you will get your report by the evening”. He winked conspiratorially at his nurse. TFM was sometimes too much to bear.

To the doctor’s surprise like a bad penny, TFM appeared again. The doctor was worried. He heaved an internal groan. His soul screamed out “Why me? Why me?” But no one answered his tortured soul. He tightened his loins.  Facing TFM once was enough but twice in two weeks was too much. TFM needs to give time for people to recuperate before he launched into his next onslaught.

Unmindful of the Tsunami he was about to launch, TFM walks (rather slides up) to the doctor and whispers in his ears “Doctor I have romantic pains”. The doctor had a shock of his life. He recoiled as if he was stuck by a speeding bullet.

“What romantic pains! I suppose you are married”. It was now the turn of TFM to look pained “what do you mean married? Of course I am a married and have two children. But what has that got to do with ROMANTIC pains. My joints are aching and I have pain in the entire body”.

The dutiful doctor had a brain wave; He almost shouted “Eureka” and executed a small jump from his seat. He was like a kid who had access to unlimited supply of candy! Controlling himself he said “YES, YES, I see, I see, You have rheumatic pains”.

The doctor made it crystal clear to his staff that whenever TFM visits the hospital the next time, he (TFM) should be told that the doctor had gone to Timbuktu and that he is not likely to return in his life time.

The poor doctor would slink along in the market. He used to throw worried glances all around him. He was scarred and scared. Scared that TFM would jump on him from somewhere and pose a question. Talk of occupational hazards!

Once TFM finished his class and announced “That was great, wasn’t it? Did you get the MASSAGE?” Even the most back of the back benchers woke up and gaped “what massage, what massage, who is giving whom a massage?” There was a buzz of excitement. Seeing the expectant face of TFM, it slowly dawned on them “Oh he meant the MESSAGE or the Learnings from the lecture!”

Another time TFM was counseling his mentee. The mentee was worried and wanted to go home. TFM asked “where is your house, is it the side town of Bahirdar?” The term “Side town” confused the girl. TFM meant the adjacent town! In Telugu we say Pakka Vooru and dutifully TFM translated it and it became SIDE TOWN. TFM was relentless. “What does your dad do, is he working or is he vacant?” TFM meant “is your father employed or unemployed?” We Indians can decipher what TFM is trying to say. But for Ethiopians who learn English during their graduation, TFM was an uncrackable Enigma!

Once TFM showed me his resume. It was written “last worked – Principle of XXX College”. I was totally confused. Then it struck me “He meant, Principal and not Principle”. He was fond of saying ‘Sexson instead of Section”. Whenever he said Sexson, my stomach would rumble complainingly! But there was no getting away from the omnipresent TFM. He was also fond of saying “I said you” and “you said me” instead of ‘I told you’ and ‘you told me’.

Once in a pep talk lecture TFM was waxing on eloquently. Most of us were bored to death. But what he suddenly said woke us all up with a jolt. He said “you should all be carrier oriented (I told myself which carrier, cycle carrier or tiffin carrier?)” He meant CAREER ORIENTED. 

TFM finished off in a flourish “Dear students, what I want to say in the end is, you should all be carrying!” The girl students looked horrified. Luckily it was my turn next and I adroitly said, “What TFM meant was that, you should all be CARING and take care of each other” and I saved the day for the Indian teachers! 

54 - "My Name is Bond, Dr.Bond" Our Own Poor man's James Bond - Ethiopian Journey - Blog Post 54

The days were slipping by and we got into a daily routine. Wake up in the morning, go to the University, rather walk to the university and take classes. Back in 2002 it was quite normal for faculty members to go back home or do whatever fancies during their free time.

In very clear terms, it meant that once you do your teaching effectively you are left very much to yourself. Most Ethiopian teachers took off and came back to take their classes whenever they had a class to take. But most Indian teachers stayed back in the university. They simply did not have much to do at homes. Many of them were forced bachelors and for all others, sitting all the time at home was quite alien to their work ethic.

Amma and Nannagaru had called. They said that a Telugu faculty member (hence forth called TFM) was coming over to Bahirdar. I was told that Global Placements had given my name as a reference for new contract holders. Nannagaru said that TFM and his wife had called him and asked many questions. They had pried out lot of information from an otherwise reticent Nannagaru. TFM had infact even promised Nannagaru that he will come home and pick up a small package for Pranav and Sahithi (some sweets and chocolates for sweet starved grand-children).

The next day Nannagaru called. He sounded disappointed. TFM told him that he could not come as HE WAS BUSY and that they were already carrying LOT OF WEIGHT! Nannagaru was taken aback. But being a very polite person he wished TFM all the best.

A week later, Padma and me met the illustrious TFM. TFM was a diminutive man. Fair and chubby he and his small framed wife were a sight to behold. TFM greeted me "Anil garu, I heard so much about you, Ela Vunnaru (how are you)?" Not taking a step back I said “Hope you have heard nice things” I added blithely “I am fine”.

Mrs. TFM piped in “Sorry andi, we could not go to your house and collect the package” Padma, a naïve and innocent poor lady was all sympathy “that is all right, I am sure that for places like LB Nagar and Vanashathipuram, Banjara Hills (our locality in Hyderabad) is very far away”.

“Oh No” giggled Mrs. TFM like a teenager “we stayed in Erramanzil (hardly a kilometre away from our house in Banjara Hills). We did not have time”. Padma was stunned. She could not recover for nearly an hour. She was fuming “They had all the time in the world to bother Nannagaru and pester him with doubts and details, but did not have time to go to Banjara Hills.” She said HUU, HUU, HUU gutturally. Her grunts made Sahithi and Pranav erupt into uncontrollable giggles and howls of laughter.

TFM was a freshly minted PhD. Like all new PhDs he was very conscious about his degree. One week into his contract an Ethiopian student appeared in the faculty room. Ethiopian students are quite informal and address their faculty members by name. I believe he went up to TFM and said “TFM?”. TFM gave him a stare and said “not me”. The student was taken aback. He went back to the door, checked the roster (that displays all the faculty names) came back and said “It is written there; you are TFM!”

TFM got up and tried to appear as tall as his Five foot four-inch frame could afford. The Lanky strapping Ethiopian (well over six feet in height) was not impressed. He looked on impassively. TFM thundered “I am not TFM, I am Dr. TFM!”. In his own mind TFM thought he sounded like James Bond who says “My name is Bond, James Bond!”

The student went out and tom tommed this in the entire university and the legend called TFM started to make his presence felt. TFM had a very prominent telugu accent and a very peculiar way of speaking. Once I was rushing to my class. He waylaid me and said nasally “Going to class aa”. I almost fell off the second floor balcony. He spoke in English but it sounded like Telugu. That comment some-how got etched in my mind and I am sure that all my Ethiopian students would have wondered “Why is Anil’s face sporting a permanent silly grin!”

TFM was our scapegoat in the canteen. Once he was being ribbed. He retorted “why are you climbing me up the drumstick tree?”. The telugu teaching faculty members were stunned. He true translated the telugu idiom (meeru nannu Munaga Chettu ekkisthunnaru).

Later during the same conversation, TFM looked at the Injira very critically and remarked “Injira is very fragmented”. Now it was the Ethiopians turn to look confused “Fragmented, what do you mean?”. I climbed into the conversation and said “what he means is ‘Fermented’ and not fragmented”.

TFM was getting fed up. He got up in a huff and announced “I am a big bore. I would like to leave now”. There was a pin drop silence. Even the Ethiopians got the joke now. One of them said “Yes Dr. you are; why don’t you go home”. TFM made a grand exit. All us were laughing like mad men. TFM meant that he was getting bored in a big way but he managed to convey the exact feeling of all the other people around him. I thank my stars for giving us TFM who made our days lighter and merrier with his butler English, Butler Telugu and later even Butler Amharic!  

Reluctant Technicians - Mayabazaar and Padaiyappa - Shocker! - Ethiopian Journey - Blog post No - 53

I bought a TV and a VCD. It met the approval of our expert, Dr. Azaz Ahmed. “Why don’t you buy a 2.1 stereo system”? It was a logical suggestion. In a place, starved for entertainment, it is better to have a stereo system that will enhance the viewing experience.

I went to the market and bought a 2.1 stereo system for around 400 birr. The next day I went to the market to get a technician to get it installed. This is where the trouble started. First of all it was like an Italian talking to a Greek. What I said was Latin to the guy and what he said was Greek to me!

Out of sheer frustration, I took my stereo system to the market. The technician’s face brightened, He gave a winsome smile and nodded his head. At last, there was bright light at the end of the dark tunnel! I fired “Sintenum (how much)” “Sidisiti meto (six hundred)”. My mouth fell open. Six hundred birr for a stereo system worth 400 birr!

My selling and convincing skills were futile. The entire batch of Bahirdar technicians had ganged up on me! A small urchin dragged me by hand to a dilapidated shop. My hopes were rekindled. The old technician in the shop nodded his head. His quote, “ Set’enyi meto (nine hundred) birr”. I almost tore my hair out!

Azaz Ahmed had a laugh, when I recited him my experience. He told me what to get and from where. And he illustrated how to get the stereo system installed. The total material cost incurred by me, 15 birr! The technicians, Padma, me and ably assisted by Pranav and Sahithi. To date I wonder! Was there a cartel formation, or was I the goat (bakra) about to be taken to the ceremonial sacrifice?

Now the house looked like a home! We were hosting a small get together lunch. I dangled the ultimate carrot to the Telugus! I told them “I have Mayabazaar CDs”. Maya Bazaar is the best Telugu movie ever made and it was a movie that Telugus loved to watch again and again.

That was enough; the guests were very prompt in arriving for the get together! We had a great lunch. But trouble was brewing! Our VCD would not play Mayabazaar.

Bala and I went to the shop that sold us the VCD. There was no problem with it. The recording format was not compatible! We were thoroughly disappointed. Bala had a bright idea. “Why don’t we play it on Chidambaram’s desk top?” We gate crashed into our neighbor’s house, woke him up and requested (rather asked him) to see if the CDs would play on his desktop.

Luckily for us and unluckily for him the CDs did play. Bala took the matters into his own hands “Chidambaram ji, we want to see Mayabazaar and there are eight of us, is it okay?” Chidambaram was taken aback by this direct frontal attack.

He silently nodded his head and eight of us, four from our family, Bala and his wife, Suresh and Dr. Naidu piled on, crowded Chidambaram’s drawing room, watched and thoroughly enjoyed Mayabazaar. The puzzled, quixotic expression that Chidambaram sported on his face is still imprinted in my mind! He was totally clean bowled by the Mayabazaar googly!

Bala and Suresh even though Telugus by birth had spent considerable time in Chennai. They could speak Tamil quite fluently. They were huge fans of Rajanikanth. During a discussion, I told them that the Rajanikanth’s movie Narasimha was my favourite. “Ours too!” they squealed in delight. They told us that Nagappan, an Indian teacher in POLY had “ CDs of Padaiyappa the original of Narasimha”.

Nagappan was a strict person and more or less kept to himself. This time it was Suresh who tackled Nagappan. Nagappan told him point blank that he would not lend his precious Padaiyappa . Suresh was very persuasive. Somehow he convinced Nagappan to lend Padaiyappa movie CDs.

Very solemnly Nagappan gave Suresh, the precious Padaiyappa movie CDs. It was as if he was giving Rajanikanth himself. He had the look of a father bidding farewell to his loving daughter! There was a catch. Suresh had to return the CDs by 6 am, the next day. Suresh, Bala and Vasavi rushed to our house. It was a Saturday evening.

We saw the movie and it was over by 10:30 p.m. It was too late for Bala and Vasavi to go home. Padma, Vasavi and the kids retired and we saw the movie again. It got over by around 2 a.m. The three of us crashed into the sofa and slept!

Knock, knock! I jumped up! I looked at the clock. It was 7 a.m. The entire house was silent. But there was persistent knocking at the main gate. “Who could it be?” Our milk maid usually comes only at 8 a.m. and it was a Sunday. I opened the main gate and had a shock of my life! I would not have been more surprised if I had seen the Prime Minister of Ethiopia!

Standing next to his bicycle and impatiently banging the main gate was a grim faced Nagappan. I was dumb folded! I was speechless! His voice grated “Suresh and Bala are here?” I simply nodded my head. I was overawed. “I went to their homes. Their houses were locked!” He accused.

My head was spinning. This man got up and went sharply at 6 a.m first to Suresh’s house and then to Bala’s house. Not finding them, he cycled six kilometers to my house. No wonder he was impatient and on pins and needles!

I slowly climbed out of that awful feeling. I invited him inside. He was on tender hooks. I woke up the groggy eyed Bala and Suresh. Both could not comprehend what was happening. I ejected the second CD (at that time we had only video discs and a movie came in two CDs) out of the VCD and silently handed over the precious Padaiyappa movie CDs to Nagappan.

Giving us all a withering look that would have burnt lesser mortals to ashes, he left in a huff. The three of us slowly sank down heavily on to the sofa. We could have been statues for all that mattered. It was only after a couple of hot piping teas that we recovered and could talk.

Nagappan gave us a scare of a life time. We vowed not to borrow from anyone who is touchy and possessive. One more such incident and it would be curtains for at least for one of us. We could die of a massive shock! 

Salary the ultimate seduction - Swift it came and Swift it went - Ethiopian Journey - Blog Post no - 52.

It was the first of December 2002, and we received our first salaries. For most Indians salary day was the day that they waited with baited breath. They had come to Bahirdar mostly for the salary and they simply could not wait to receive and send it off by SWIFT (a banking software that entailed faster delivery of Demand Drafts to India). Our bank was Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, whose office was at the market, next to Papyrus hotel.

The tricky part was instead of paying the expatriate teachers in dollars the university paid in Birr. So it was a double whammy. Our salary was first converted from dollars to Birr. We again converted the birr into dollars. This double conversion meant that we lost quite a lot, but there was nothing we could do.

If anything could make life miserable for the expatriate teachers, it was the sheer boredom of existence. Life was alright for people with their family but for bachelors and forced bachelors it was a painful existence. There were limited entertainment avenues and in 2002, laptops, mobiles and smartphones were unheard off.

So the triple whammy of being alone, limited food choice and lack of entertainment drove many to despair and tears. I have seen many a professor who broke down and wept copiously. A faculty member etched in my mind is Dr.Brahmaiah who joined BDU in the chemistry department. Dr.Brahmaiah was a government lecturer from Warangal. He came to Bahirdar only to have foreign teaching experience. He found life to be tough. He missed his family terribly.

He would come home and spend some time with us. By then we had started Thursday evening Sai Baba Bhajan programme.  Dr.Brahmaiah was one of our regular visitors on Thursdays along with Dr. Srinivas, Dr.T.N.Murty, Dr.Neelima and Dr. Kuldeep. After one session of bhajan, we sat down to have the Prasadam. Before we knew, we were all gossiping, about – what else?.... other Indian teachers, The students and everything else……..

Suddenly Dr.Brahmaiah got up. His face was flushed. He excused himself and left abruptly. We were all taken aback. His house was quite near. I went to his house. He was glum and quite upset “Sir, what happened. Did we do anything wrong?” I enquired.

He spoke. His voice was heavy and he had a faraway wistful look. “Ledu ledu (no, no) sir. You did not do anything wrong. For me  your house is a temple. You live there with your wife and children. I get solace in your house and I could not bear the gossip that was being thrown around, merrily. The atmosphere was getting vilified. That is the reason why I left”. I was touched. I rushed back home and told the others what transpired.

My colleagues too were thunder stuck. From that point onwards, gossiping at my house died down and Dr.Brahmaiah had a shine in his face whenever he visited our house.

My Mother's book of short stories - M.Hemalatha Kathalu

I gifted him my mother’s book (M. Hemalatha Kathalu). He once came home and his face was puffed and he was very teary-eyed. He congratulated me for being Hemalatha gari son. He found the stories to be excellent and down to earth.

Unfortunately he did not stay with us, for long. One of his prized possessions that he took from Bahirdar was the book - M. Hemalatha Kathalu. Our four years at Bahirdar gave us experiences that others would not even get in a life time.

Dr. Azaz Ahmed suggested that we buy a Color TV. Seeing my hesitation he added “Sir, don’t worry. There is a very good resale value for electronic goods in Bahirdar”. I bought a 29” SONY television set. It costed 3000 birr (16,500 rupees).   I also bought a VCD player for around 300 birr. I had a huge collection of Telugu and English movie CDs that I had bought from India.

But the VCD was not enough. The local television programmes were all in Amharic which was totally alien for us. Most Indians at that time bought INSAT satellite dishes. But the INSAT Satellite dishes were costly; around 3500 to 4000 birr and they could only beam down DD channels. 

So I opted for ARABSAT satellite dish. The dish was small and could be installed on the roof. The INSAT satellite dish was huge and needed a large area like a portico or a corner in a garden for installation. The ARABSAT satellite dish costed me 1850 birr and the installation cost would be another 150 birr.

ARABSAT would give us mostly Arab and English programmes. We could enjoy American sitcoms like “Tele Tubbies, Full House, America’s Funniest videos and Tom and Jerry”. ARABSAT also was telecasting Hindi movies once in a while. 

Soccer too was popular but we could only watch La Liga, the Spanish Football league. English Premier League matches were too expensive and ARABSAT would not telecast EPL matches. EPL matches were available and they were telecast on Super Sports which had a hefty monthly subscription rate. We had opted for free channels and not for paid channels. 

Head and Toes - Ethiopian Journey - Blog Post no - 51

A fascinating aspect of the Ethiopian culture, was almost zero usage of dairy products. For a Ethiopian coffee Macato, a bit of milk is added. Ethiopians were not very fond users of milk. I am sure that children drink milk, but milk is not conspicuously consumed in the public places like restaurants and hotels.

Coming from a culture that puts so much emphasis on milk and milk products, that was definitely intriguing. Curd or Yogurt was totally unheard of. Butter milk too was an alien product. So Indians had to survive on self prepared curd (yoghurt) and the curd (yoghurt) starter culture was shared among the Indian community.

The cow milk in Bahirdar was slightly coloured and would set as curd (yoghurt) that had a sticky feel and a funny taste. Brought up on buffalo milk in India which would set as nice chunky curds (yoghurt) , it was difficult to get accustomed to the sticky and liquidy curd (yoghurt) in Bahirdar.

Butter was used for cosmetics. Ethiopians have wiry and strong hair. The girls were fascinated by braids. They would intricately braid their hair into some elaborate hair dos. These elaborate braids needed strength and stiffness. So the maidens of Bahirdar would apply enormous amount of butter into their hair and over a period of three to four hours’, braid their hair to some very stunning hairstyles.

They would decorate their masterpieces by adding shells and beads. After some time, butter would become dry and the girls would have a hairstyle that would last for the next three to four weeks. The girls would show off their hairstyles in the mango park or would promenade near the city centre. The most stunning hair styles would receive appreciative glances and whistles from the local Ethiopians and stares, gasps and whoops of surprise and awe from the foreigners.

But the only problem with the entire process is that at a close distance one could smell the butter from the hair. But somehow it did not bother the other Ethiopians. Once a particular hair style was in place the girls would sport it for two to three weeks before it was replaced with another one. It must be quite tough to sleep with a stiff braided hair but the women did not mind.  I admire the pains and trouble that women of the world take to make themselves more beautiful and appealing. 

Ethiopians are fastidious about cleanliness about another part of their body – their feet. It was fascinating to watch Ethiopians of all ages, hues, religions, and social status take tremendous care of their feet. The process of cleaning their feet is an elaborate process that started with the heels, a through scrubbing of the feet and followed by a very minute emanation of their toes and the entire feet. And it is done with tremendous concentration and focus. It they could afford most Ethiopians preferred to wear protective footwear like shoes or sandals.

As a student of sociology and anthropology I was very curious about this compulsive pedicure that all Ethiopians seem to indulge periodically. Why so much care for feet. A foot fetish? No chance, not by so many people. Even working class seemed to spend lots of time in cleaning their feet! A little bit of research threw up a logical reason.  Bahirdar, Ethiopia was infected by a deadly worm called Mujeli or Guinea worm.

Guinea worm is one of the most horrifying worms of the world. It can enter the body though impure water or though the feet. The almost daily inspection is to detect if the feet is infected. The worm appears like a small black wire in the toes of the feet. Most Ethiopians are experts in removing this small black worm with a very hot needle.   

If undetected the worm develops and grows in the body for over a year. After a year the worm creates a local ulcer and the worm emerges out. The worm takes ten days to completely exit the body. When the ulcer gets formed the person can’t move and there is excruciating pain. I have seen pictures where the patient is tied to a pole and the worm is slowly wrapped around a stick, one or two inches an hour. 

And the patient keeps screaming in pain all the time. It is a torture of unbelievable magnitude. There have been reports of some 4 to 5 feet guinea worms! There is no cure for guinea worm infestations and many patients have got paralysis because of this deadly worm. That is the reason why Ethiopians are scared to death of the Mujeli. They hear the word Mujeli and the record of Ussain Bolt, the world champion runner for the 100 metres dash will be smashed by any average Ethiopian. They would run for their lives.

The Shock of a Life Time! The Case of the Tamarind Tragedy– Ethiopian Journey – Blog Post no – 50.

Indians who employed Ethiopian maids started teaching them the Indian methods, customs and culture. The POLY Campus of Bahirdar University had an English faculty named Sulochana Madam. She was irked at her maid. Her maid was stylish and hep but did not take a bath on a daily basis.

Sulochana madam kept on harping on the fact that it is essential to take a daily bath. There were two reasons as to why some Ethiopians in Bahirdar would not take a daily bath. One was the scarcity of water and second was due to the beautiful weather, people hardly broke into a sweat.  May be it was felt that taking a bath once in three days or once in a week was enough.

Sulochana madam’s maid listened to her in rapt attention. Sulochana madam was at her eloquent best “For the best hygiene you need to take a bath daily. Take me for instance, I bathe three times a day” 

To drive the point home Sulochana madam dramatically announced “In the morning, afternoon and in the evening”. Her maid’s eyes widened in surprise “Oh, oh, why so many times, madam? What is that you do, that is so dirty, that you have to take a bath three times a day?!” Sulochana madam almost fainted!

That weekend she was throwing a party. She carefully took out her prized possession -  The one kg of Tamarind that she had carefully brought from India. The same tamarind that she jealously guarded from the other Indian families.

The same tamarind for which there were impassionate pleas from other Indians. She had listened with an iron heart when reports of other Indian families almost breaking down and Indians almost quitting jobs due to lack of precious tamarind were recited to her.

Sulochana madam had a burning desire, she wanted to throw a ‘party of all parties’. Her party should be the talking point in entire Bahirdar. She got up early in the morning and took a bath (what else).

A surprise was waiting. Her maid too made an appearance and she smelt of Jasmine and roses. Sulochana madam was thrilled. She mentally patted herself on her shoulder. “I am a great teacher, see even my maid has started to change”. She wanted to sing and dance.

Checking her happiness and exuberance, she handed over almost a half kg of precious tamarind and told her maid “Here, this is the most precious ingredient of all. It is not available in Ethiopia. I want you to clean it. We are going to make pullihora (the yellow rice a Indian delicacy and mostly served only for festivals and in temples)”.

Her Ethiopian maid sagely nodded her head. She went to the kitchen and made herself busy. She made a thorough job of cleaning the tamarind. Infact, a too thorough job! She very meticulously washed the poor tamarind again and again and had repeatedly flushed the juice down the kitchen drain. What was left was a sodden pulp. Her maid wondered “Crazy Indians, what would madam do with this soggy pulp. No smell or nothing tasty”. Shrugging her shapely shoulders, she did what was told.

Meanwhile Sulochana Madam got dressed. She went to the kitchen and almost fainted (Sulochana madam was becoming quite an expert when it comes to almost fainting). What she saw was a scene from a horror movie.  Her precious tamarind was a soggy mess! The situation was beyond repair. It was simply a river too far across to cross. And the bridge across was washed away!

What went wrong? Unknown and unexplained to the maid it is the tamarind juice that is continuously squeezed out of the tamarind and the pulp is simply thrown away. The maid did exactly the reverse. Threw out all the juice and retained the pulp!

Sulochana madam was scarred for life. She served her contract and left. She was never the same bubbling persona that she was before the Tamarind Tragedy. She had a permanent hurt, bemused expression that never left her face. It was as if she stared at death and came out alive. Experiences of that sort either make a person enlightened or impact negatively. I am sorry to say that it affected Sulochana madam very deeply. She felt as if the entire world conspired against her! Madam, take a bow, you have become a legend among Indian Teachers in Bahirdar!