What Kind of an Indian are You?

Having lived in the US and India, I've meet quite an array of Indian people.

I've met Indians in the US who were born and brought up there. Some have never visited India. and don't really care for anything Indian. They're happy being as American as they can.

Then there's others who visit India every so often. They love the Indian movies, clothes, etc. but would never move to India. There enjoyment of India stops at visiting and being as Indian as they can outside India.

I've met Indian who've pretty much spent most of their lives in the US but came back to India to work. Some hated it, some liked it. Of the ones who like it, maybe they'll stay, maybe they'll move back a couple of years down the road. But as long as they're living in India, they're enjoying it.

I've met Indians who were born and brought up in India and then went to the US to study or work. Some of them continue to stay there and would never want to come back to live in India - they would just come to visit their family. Some came back to India to live because they wanted to be closer to family or they just like it better back in India.

Then I've met Indians who, for some reason like the recent economic downturn, were forced to come back to India because they got laid off or something. And they absolutely hate being in India. All they want is to figure out how they get back to the US. In the meantime. all they do in India is complain about India and it's many issues (I.e., pollution, population, inefficiency, etc.).

Of all the kinds of Indians, this type of Indian bugs me the most.

A person definitely has the right to not like India and prefer the US or another country . But whether they like it or not, they were born and raised here. And whether they like it or not, they're Indian.They don't have to like it. They don''t even for a second have to pretend that they would even consider living here. But at least respect and accept it.

Improving by Comparing to the Worst

In the apartment I'm living at right now, we have a care-taker who stays there. She old - at least 70. She used to live in one of the rooms in the house. It was a small room, but she had privacy. A couple of months ago our landlord decided to renovate that room and use it for other things. So the old caretaker was given a new place to sleep - the hallway. Her bed was moved there. A divider was put between the door entrance and her new "room" -so she would have some privacy.

Once when a couple of friends were over, I made a comment on the recent shift in her "room" and how it sucked for her.

One of my friends commented "Well she has it better than a lot of other people. She could be sleeping on the streets".

Made sense... but if you only look at the worst as a sign of comparison, then how do you ever improve?

Continent Pride

As I look around at hotel names, restaurant names, bill boards, etc. in Tanzania, I noticed that there's relatively very little reference to Tanzania, and a lot more to Africa. So for example, there is a hotel called New Africa Hotel. And a lot of products when they advertise say 'Africa's Best' or 'Made for Africa', etc. Below is one example.

I was only able to get this one picture but there were lots of them for different products. In most other countries you don't see such an affiliation to the whole continent. I hardly ever see signs in India that say's "Asia's best..." or in the US that says "North America's ...". Advertising has become so local.

Not sure if this sort of a 'Continent Pride' happens in other African countries - but would love to find out!

Understading Ones Culture

They say that to sometimes understand your own surroundings or culture better you have to immerse yourself into another surrounding or culture that's not yours.

(Not sure who 'They' is here... but I think it makes sense) :)

Secret of Happiness

As I've mentioned before, people here in Tanzania are extremely nice! And it's so genuine. Everyone is always smiling and saying Karibu (Welcome) - you get a very warm feeling. I see them and wish that I could be so happy and cheerful ALL the time. So I started wondering what it is that makes them this way?

As I've been meeting people for work, the one thing that more than one person said was that overall people are very content here and they only strive enough to survive. So for example if a farmer needs 10 bags of maize for him and his family to survive for the year, he will grow that much and sit back. (There are obviously always exceptions). Then I started thinking if not having competition and ambition is the secret to happiness.

When I went to UK earlier, I went to a small town about 2 hours outside London called Wolverhampton. I met some of the nicest people as well. Small town people who were very content and happy with their life. And you could tell they were genuinely happy. Again, you got such a warm welcoming feeling from them. It was such a great change from being in Mumbai - where sometimes finding that warmth is difficult (as it is in many big cities).

So does happiness lie in simplicity? Simplicity in the way one lives and in what one strives for?

Sorry, Only for Foreigners!

I went on a safari recently in Tanzania to the Manyara National Park and to Ngorongoro Crater. Both of them were awesome but VERY expensive!
A safari for two people for say 5 days is easily $2500 (including hotel and transportation and guide for the safari) - but this doesn't include any flight tickets to get to Tanzania or inland transportation. So a trip for two could easily amount to $6000 for about 5 days or so, which I think is quite pricey. There's a lot of places one can go vacationing and find cheap alternatives but definitely not on a safari. Even if you can find cheap hotels, the jeep rental and driver is expensive (at about $200-300/day).

After the safari I started wondering, what about average local Tanzanian? Do they ever go on a safari? I doubt that they can afford it so I decided to ask our driver in Dar es Salaam, Jonas. He said that overall, the locals would like to go on a safari but it is too expensive. But during low tourist seasons, the government does have 'free' days where locals can go and enjoy the safari. But that just takes care of the entrance fees - I'm not sure about the jeep and driver. Some of the safari's require a registered car and driver (including the Serengeti if I'm not mistaken).

I'm not sure how I feel about locals not being able to enjoy their own land - but there's definitely something wrong there.

Hakuna Matata!

I think most of us know what that means because of Lion King... (and for those uneducated few who don't - it means No Problem in Swahili). Swahili is the official language of Tanzania (and Kenya).

I thought I'd write about the whole 5 swahili words I have learnt during my 2 week trip so far!
Jambo, which means Hello
Karibu, which means Welcome
Dala Dala, which I've mentioned before is the Bus
Pole Pole (pronounced Pollay Pollay) means Slow Down
Twende, which means Let's Go

People don't really say Jambo here much (except in the tourist areas!). haha. People seem to greet each other by saying Karibu. You enter a shop or even the hotel, and usually people say Karibu. They also say Karibu Sana after you say thank you. It's a word they seem to use quite freely.

And oh, that reminds me of another word I know... Asante (which means Thank You). (So that's a total of 6 now)

Asante for reading my blog!

Magnitude of a Crowd

I think you just have to be in India to really know and understand the meaning of the word. Okay, so maybe not only India, maybe Mexico City, parts of China, and a handful of other cities - but honestly, not that many places will make the cut.

As I go through Tanzania, I find it almost strange how there's no people anywhere (relative to India). I went to an apparently really busy market in Dar es Salaam, and I was like - this is what they think crowded means? They need to come to India, especially Mumbai.

I was telling our Arusha driver (Thomas) the population of India and of Mumbai, and his jaws dropped.

I guess everything in life is relative. And someone who's never been to India (or another close equivalent), will just not know what the maginitude of crowd really means.

GOOOOO Indians!

Okay, there are Indians EVERYWHERE in Tanzania. Actually not just in Tanzania, its really an East Africa phenomana. While we're going on our meetings for work, 1/2 the people we meet are Indians. We walked into this fertilizer importer company, and 90% of the employees were Indian. The women there were wearing salwar suit, bindi, etc.

Even our driver, Jonas, told us how most of the businesses in Dar es Salaam are owned by Indians.

And this is not just in Dar es Salaam; even in Arusha, At the hotel, the were playing (really bad) hindi music in the restaurant! Even our driver in Arusha (Thomas) was telling us how many of the businesses are owned by Indians.

And this is not just about the businsess. They have the following in Tanzania that I thought was interesting:
- Bank of Baroda
- Delhi Public School + other Indian Schools
- Umm... there's more... will update list as I can think of it... it's been a long day!

More on the Master and Slave Culture

Earlier I had written about how people aren't as heirachical and there isn't such a 'master and servant' culture.

Over the past couple of days I have seen so many instances that just confirms my belief in that.

Example Number 1
We met with the Director of the Ministry of Exttension Services. As he pulled up in his car, he was sitting in the front of the car on the passenger seat, while the driver was driving. In India, 99% of the people never sit in the front passenger seat with the driver (unless the back seats are taken).

Example Number 2
As we landed in Arusha (about XXX miles from Dar es Salaam and a population of about 1.5 million people), the hotel car came to pick us up from the airport. The driver's name was Thomas. He took us to the hotel and we checked-in. As I was just wandering around the hotel I noticed that Thomas, the driver, was sitting in the restaurant and chilling. Drivers in India would never be allowed to do that!

Example Number 3
Again, in Arusha at the hotel, I was chilling in the garden with my coworker and our sales agent (Jonathan) who was organizing our safari, came over. He pulled a chair, ordered wine, and sat down and chatted with us for a good hours. Travel agents in India don't do that - not because they don't want to, but more because it's not acceptable. Johnathan was also very friendly with the waiters. There just didn't seem to be an air around anyone because they were poorer, or richer, or a manager versus a waiter. Very refreshing.

I'm sure I will see more examples, but for now, this is good. :)

Another Blog

A friend of mine blogged about my proj on his blog...So thought I'd put a link here!

http://bhavito.blogspot.com/2009/09/fertilizer-in-africa-dear-friend-of.html

Early Start

People start office here at 8 am! Basically early - at least compared to India standards! I found that a little surprising to be honest. I just always thought developing countries just started later... around 9:30 am or later. I know that's a HUGE stereotype... but that's what I thought! Clearly, i was wrong.

As a sidenote- people are very friendly here, it's awesome! EVERYone says hi/hello to you and smiles. It's really nice. I like!

The Sweetest Things

I HAVE to tell you about naturally sweet the carrots and watermelons are here! It's like someone put a spoon full of sugar in it. Its absolutely yummy! I have it for breakfast every day! (Yes, carrots too!)

New Hobby!

First of all, Happy October! :)

i decided to try the local beer of Tanzania so decided to order one of them (they have a couple). And while I was fidgeting with the beer cap, a brilliant idea struck me! (Or I thought it was brilliant anyways!) :o) Why don't I start collecting beer caps from places I visit from now onwards - and only beer cap of local beer (so having Heineken here doesn't count)!

I just started yesterday... and have 2 beer caps so far: Serengeti and Kilimanjaro. For those who care to know, I prefer Serengeti over Kilimanjaro. :)