THERE IS A MINI-INDIA IN NAIROBI!
Finally, here I was with my feet firmly placed on the African land. The curiosity to explore the unknown land and realise my dreams of wandering through the wilderness of Africa was beginning to become a reality. After a long wait for over two hours, we were put through the `visa on arrival’ process at the Nairobi airport. After all the necessary clearances, we stepped out.
As soon as I was driven out of the airport, the first sight was that of the Mahindra and Mahindra factory. Then the slow moving traffic and hawkers at traffic signals – trying to make a quick business with coolers, watches, newspapers, paintings and so on – baffled me. The scene was no different from what I experienced back in Bangalore/India.
Lot of faces looked familiar, looks were similar – people on road and bus shelters, except for much darker skin colour and dressing sense. However, I should mention that the roads are not as crowded as in India. And what catches your attention is that most men here like to wear suits or odd coats as their daily dress. Well maintained gardens, skyscrapers in the heart of the city, reminds one of New Delhi or aamchi Mumbai. Though the surroundings are clean, the traffic and narrow roads reminded me of Bangalore. You can find good roads in the central part of Nairobi.
Tata trucks are a common sight on roads here as most of the construction industries rely on these trucks. Among the Toyotas, Nissans, Mitsubishis and other Japanese cars that zip around the roads, you will also spot our desi Maruti Omni. “These are all old models. We get these vehicles here only after eight years of its launch elsewhere in the world,’’ said Michelle, my cab driver.
Feeling at home
Once you enter the Parkland area, there is no need to think that you are in a foreign country. Names like Maharaja Hotel and Dinesh Chandar hospital, huge apartment complexes called Narayana Block, Swamy Block and so on leaves you wonder where you are! And, all the business establishments in the central point complex belong to Indians. I was surprised to see that houses here replicated Indian architecture.
“This area is dominated by Indians. They are well qualified and fit into any job. They prosper well and we have many Indian companies established here,’’ says Cyrus, another cab driver who drove me around the place.
As we both spoke a lot about the local place, tradition and culture, my curiosity to know about the city’s crime scene grew higher. How’s the crime scene here? I asked Cyrus. A grim smile on his face clarified that he did not want to elaborate on the issue. As we exchanged the looks, I was thrown in for a surprise. Cyrus cross checked if the back door of the car was locked as my bag was placed on the back seat. He just leaned over and locked it on both the sides. This time I smiled back at his reaction.
Everything is available here while Zain and Safaricom are fighting with each other to provide mobile phone services to people. Calls made from cell phones are pretty expensive here, especially while making overseas calls. So is Internet browsing.
News for you
To keep abreast of happenings around the world, you are at the mercy of Al Jazeera and SKY News, who seems to be fighting for top slot among the English news bulletins. Al Jazeera was impressive and the narration is good. Though I was thusand of miles away in a foreign land, what I din’t miss was news on the aftermath of Mumbai terror attack. News on Indo-Pak relationship, Gaza strip, Indo-Russian issues, issues relating to Latin American countries – a perfect bulletin for a third world country as the eports seemed to be unbiased. A story on how 20 young doctors graduated from civil war ravaged Somalian University was simply mind boggling.
Obamania
Any common Kenyan in Africa takes pride in Obama getting elected as US President. Apart from Michelle and Cyrus, every employee in the hotel I stayed had a long explanation on how Obama put Kenya’s name on top of the world map. The innocence sparkled in their eyes, when they spoke as if they had conquered the world.
Active night life
The music refused to die till 3 in the morning at the hotel. The revellers slowly started moving towards their cars at around 4.30 am. Striking similarities with India, while the rich kids party through night poor ones are seen at signal lights, hawking flashy cheap goods. One thing is sure. Despite the fact that African cities are crime-prone, people seemed to enjoy a better night life.
06-12-08
4.15 am, Nairobi.
Finally, here I was with my feet firmly placed on the African land. The curiosity to explore the unknown land and realise my dreams of wandering through the wilderness of Africa was beginning to become a reality. After a long wait for over two hours, we were put through the `visa on arrival’ process at the Nairobi airport. After all the necessary clearances, we stepped out.As soon as I was driven out of the airport, the first sight was that of the Mahindra and Mahindra factory. Then the slow moving traffic and hawkers at traffic signals – trying to make a quick business with coolers, watches, newspapers, paintings and so on – baffled me. The scene was no different from what I experienced back in Bangalore/India.
Lot of faces looked familiar, looks were similar – people on road and bus shelters, except for much darker skin colour and dressing sense. However, I should mention that the roads are not as crowded as in India. And what catches your attention is that most men here like to wear suits or odd coats as their daily dress. Well maintained gardens, skyscrapers in the heart of the city, reminds one of New Delhi or aamchi Mumbai. Though the surroundings are clean, the traffic and narrow roads reminded me of Bangalore. You can find good roads in the central part of Nairobi.
Tata trucks are a common sight on roads here as most of the construction industries rely on these trucks. Among the Toyotas, Nissans, Mitsubishis and other Japanese cars that zip around the roads, you will also spot our desi Maruti Omni. “These are all old models. We get these vehicles here only after eight years of its launch elsewhere in the world,’’ said Michelle, my cab driver.
Feeling at home
Once you enter the Parkland area, there is no need to think that you are in a foreign country. Names like Maharaja Hotel and Dinesh Chandar hospital, huge apartment complexes called Narayana Block, Swamy Block and so on leaves you wonder where you are! And, all the business establishments in the central point complex belong to Indians. I was surprised to see that houses here replicated Indian architecture.
“This area is dominated by Indians. They are well qualified and fit into any job. They prosper well and we have many Indian companies established here,’’ says Cyrus, another cab driver who drove me around the place.
As we both spoke a lot about the local place, tradition and culture, my curiosity to know about the city’s crime scene grew higher. How’s the crime scene here? I asked Cyrus. A grim smile on his face clarified that he did not want to elaborate on the issue. As we exchanged the looks, I was thrown in for a surprise. Cyrus cross checked if the back door of the car was locked as my bag was placed on the back seat. He just leaned over and locked it on both the sides. This time I smiled back at his reaction.
Everything is available here while Zain and Safaricom are fighting with each other to provide mobile phone services to people. Calls made from cell phones are pretty expensive here, especially while making overseas calls. So is Internet browsing.
News for you
To keep abreast of happenings around the world, you are at the mercy of Al Jazeera and SKY News, who seems to be fighting for top slot among the English news bulletins. Al Jazeera was impressive and the narration is good. Though I was thusand of miles away in a foreign land, what I din’t miss was news on the aftermath of Mumbai terror attack. News on Indo-Pak relationship, Gaza strip, Indo-Russian issues, issues relating to Latin American countries – a perfect bulletin for a third world country as the eports seemed to be unbiased. A story on how 20 young doctors graduated from civil war ravaged Somalian University was simply mind boggling.
Obamania
Any common Kenyan in Africa takes pride in Obama getting elected as US President. Apart from Michelle and Cyrus, every employee in the hotel I stayed had a long explanation on how Obama put Kenya’s name on top of the world map. The innocence sparkled in their eyes, when they spoke as if they had conquered the world.
Active night life
The music refused to die till 3 in the morning at the hotel. The revellers slowly started moving towards their cars at around 4.30 am. Striking similarities with India, while the rich kids party through night poor ones are seen at signal lights, hawking flashy cheap goods. One thing is sure. Despite the fact that African cities are crime-prone, people seemed to enjoy a better night life.
06-12-08
4.15 am, Nairobi.
1 comment:
Very visual. I could imagine every single description you have stated about the place. I am amused by the fact that there are reflections of India in Africa. But, I think the crime rate is triple than what it is in India. They are consumed by horrid reality and people there have I guess become immune to it. However, I shall read the rest to get a clearer picture and I hope I would go there some day to explore all that you have :-)
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