2nd impression

My first impressions of Africa had more to do with the place, the people and the culture. But my second impressions went beyond that. They were the result of the questions i asked myself. Questions that arose as a result of the life i live out here. Questions that arose from my interactions with people and because of my job itself.

Its been two months since i came to Quelimane and these two months have definitely made me wiser. (I am not talking of white hair :-) ) When i first came to Africa, i was excited. A new place; new people; new culture. But this fascination slowly wore off as i got accustomed to the place. I settled into a routine. Life revolved around work and home. An occasional meting with an Indian family with whom i have made an acquaintance. A one off party. Trips to the market to make my purchases. Internet. Television. This is what life has been for the past two months.

And now i have begun to question this life. Fine, agreed i came here to work. But is this what i want?? Is this the combination of work & life i have been dreaming about? No way. I love my work. I love what i do because of the freedom and responsibility that i have. I have learnt a lot in the past 2 months and am sure this experience will be handy as i grow in my career. But i want to enjoy the journey as much as i enjoy the destination.

Imagine this - Its 6 pm and the roads are deserted. Very few people are walking on the road. An odd car passes you by. You get a feeling that curfew has been imposed in the town. You get home around 6 every evening and stay at home till you go to office the next. Going out of your house is not a comfortable feeling. There is a part of your mind thats scared every time you step out of the. You cannot just walk around the streets after work. You are advised to travel by car wherever you go. Socializing is nil. No friends around to have a cup of coffee.- So how does this sound??

On the materialistic front i have everything i could ask for as a bachelor. An independent house, a cook, a chafuer driven car, a dollar salary, my clothes get washed & ironed, my house get cleaned, etc etc. But is all this worth the description mentioned in the preceding paragraph? I still dont have a definate answer to this question, but i surely will have one pretty soon.

I would not want this to be taken as a cribbing exercise undertaken by me; but just as an outburst. If this place is in a certain situation today, there is a reason for it. Also, I would not want to generalize this situation for every place in Africa.

This, is not the end. Impressions change with time. And now i want to see what the future has in store for me.

The mystery of the burnt onions

My man Friday Mauricio is just amazing. He does the dishes, cook food, cleans the house, washes & irons my clothes and also folds them (EXACTLY the way i want them folded). The best thing about this chap is that he does things the way i want them to be done.

I love to cook and do try my hand in the kitchen whenever i feel like. I also showed Mauricio a few dishes, both veg and non-veg. One of these dishes was Pepper Chicken. A simple chicken dish prepared with onions, ginger-garlic paste, salt, chicken (obviously), pepper and some coriander for garnishing.

One fine day i showed Mauricio how to prepare this dish. And whenever i wanted it, i would simply point out to the chicken and pepper. He understood what i wanted. Its been 2 months since i have been here and he must have prepared this dish around 5 times; Each time preparing it EXACTLY the way i showed him. The first time he prepared it, the onions were burnt. I did not tell him anything assuming that it might have happened by mistake. The second time he prepared it, the onions were burnt again. I decided to mention this to him but forgot to do so. The same burnt onions appeared when he did it the last two times. Now i would have to talk to him about this.

Around this same time Rishi was leaving for India and was instructing me about how to handle these guys. He said that these guys are like robots. If you show them how to do something they will do it EXACTLY the same way. As he continued this explanation, i suddenly burst out laughing. "What happened?" he asked. "No wonder the onions were burnt." i replied. He looked at me quizzical expression on his face.

It struck me that the first time i cooked pepper chicken in front of Mauricio, i accidentally burnt the onions.

A glimpse of the other side

The other day, I had an interesting conversation with a colleague at work which was a result of a chap in my office asking me for an advance in salary.

It was the morning of 4th of July. I had just walked into my office. Into my room walks this chap and with a bowed head requested if i could give him a certain amount as advance against his salary. I asked him, the reason for the advance. He replied with a long face, that his mother expired in the morning. He wanted money for traveling to the place where his mother was residing and for performing the last rites. There was no question of denying him the advance.

After he left i pondered. "Today is the 4th of July. We just distributed staff salaries 10 days ago. And he's already asking for an advance??? Hmmmmm..... The amount that he requested for was almost two thirds of his salary. So what?? He must have had some savings and that along with his latest salary would be enough to cover his expenses. But then why still the advance??"

I turned to my colleague, who is a native, and put across this thought to her. Instead of answering my question directly this is what transpired in the next few minutes. This lady asked me, "Sir, my monthly salary is 3500. Could you please make a list of my possible expenses and prioritize them for me? I'll help you with it." I picked up a paper and started with the list. The first ones that struck me the basic necessities first - Food, clothing & shelter.

This is how my list initially looked like:
1. Food
2. Clothing
3. House: (Rent + Water + Electricity)

Looking at this list, my colleague commented, "I also go to school. I have to pay my fees." This added another point to my list and this is how it looked.
1. Food
2. Clothing
3. House: Rent + Water + Electricity
4. School: Fees + Books + Other expenses

I looked at this list and was wondering if i had missed out any point. At this juncture my colleague added, "I have three kids aged 5, 3 and 3 months." Imagining the expenses that are incurred while raising kinds i blurted out "No way. There is no way you are going to manage all these expenses within your salary. Its not possible." And then my colleague fired the final salvo, "I have not put savings on the list yet, sir."

This is what my list finally looked like:
1. Food
2. Clothing
3. House: Rent + Water + Electricity
4. School: Fees + Books + Other expenses
5. Children: Creche + School + all other expenses that you can imagine
6. Savings / Reserve

I looked at the list and said myself, "3500 and so many expenses!!" I thought I had received my answer regarding the advance when it then struck me that this lady was married and her husband earned too. On telling her this she smiled and said, "That's why I can manage my house." I was still wondering what this lady was getting to, when she pointed to another young lady colleague and asked me, "Do you know that she is a single mother of 3 and supports a family of 4?" All i could exclaim was, "What!!". My colleague went on, "Now imagine the same expenses & responsibilities on her with a salary of 1700, which is half of what i get."

I got my answer.

Dear Sudeep, welcome to the real world...