From Nepal to The Gambia and Beyond...

When I heard from friends in Conakry, that a Cyclist from Nepal with origins from India was there and his next destination was The Gambia, I didn't really think of it in terms of the magnittude of the effort. The thoughts bordered around possibilities of where I was to house him and what his agenda would be.

That was a few weeks ago. Four days back I received a call in the evening, in typical Gorkhali / Nepali accent. I'm aware of the accent with several members of the family having and currently served in the Army in the 2/8GR and thus my sister and neice too speaking the language fluently.

'Mein Lok Bandhu Karki hoon sab', he announced his arrival in Hindi over the phone. 'On cycle' he added . Ending the announcement with a 'sir' at the end. Probably a reflection of his upbringing in Indian Army environments.

We met at my office the following day after he spent the night in a Hotel in Banjul ( about 10 KM away). Dressed in a typically Nepali cream coloured cross breasted kurta pyjama, very neatly, with the trademark Nepali topi (cap) he entered profusely sweating and yet not giving one the impression of having cycled all the way from Nepal.

Over the last four days he has given us glimpses of his journey. Methodically collecting newspaper cuttings, photographs and testemonials from each of the 64 countres before arrivng here in The Gambia, he has recounted stories of his endurance, troubles, and successes during his 75,000KM journey from Nepal, India through Asia, South Africa upwards through the East Central and West Africa - all by bicycle except for one or two flights over continents or Island nations. He aparently left Nepal on the 7th of December, 2004 (an anniversary of Peral harbour if I'm not mistaken)

Stories on how they were Four at one point of time - two of whom passed away duing the journey - with illnesses and one accident in Laos. He has voyaged alone for the lat two years or so, dealing with weather, bad roads, governments, rebels, battle zones, rivers, Visas, accomodation , thieves, punctures etc - he has made his way exhausting 4 bicycles during the process. Near death experiences in Sudan, where he didnt know that he couldnt use the national Flag in the rebel areas, and thus almost was executed to brief meetings with Kofi Annan. At 130KM per day at his best, he stops in the evenings at the best possible place that he can sleep - petrol stations, homes, huts, bus stations... to make a few friends, exhibit his ever growing album and distribute his leaflets on pease and harmony - then he moves on.

The message he gives though sounding like a memorised mentally recorded message - is of spreading peace and harmony among people of the world. He similarly rattles out the names o 65 sountries in succession reminding me of our prose recitations in school.

He has no sponsors per say but at each destination, a majority in which he has found support of Indians - he now is accustomed to approachingh Indian associations or Consulates for assistance and says that he has never been turned away. We have done our part and given him 1500US$ from the Indian Community here to carry him to the next stage of his journey. We have also given him a solar torch ( ZonLight ) which will hopefully brighten up his nights and also help him charge his phone while he cycles on - adding to his zero carbon footprint trip.

He moves on to cover the 113 countries he has targetted till 2013. Tomorrow through Senegal then mali, Guinea Bissau and Mauritania and then he intends to 'hop' across to South America and finish his tour with Europe provided he is able to get a Visa.

Questions float around my head - Why does one undertake this voyage. Was it for fame, money or just an experience. Doesnt one lose heart half way through the journey. Someone once said that life was itself a journey. Perhaps this is his life.

Tiger - Tailing my Tales

My dear friend John Santosh Rao - dit 'Tiger' - a nickname that we dont know where he picked up from or acquired, but need no 'elementary' sleuthing skills to attribute it to his now-famous silent, nocturnal sorties.
He has been 'prowling' around this blog recently and has unsuccessfully tried posting comments on some of my twisted tales'. Thus before 'tiger' snarls, I'm pasting a few of his responses to selected 'preys' in my blog.

ON THE DEBATE - BUMSTERS OR BOMBS
Hi Ram,
Tried posting this comment on your blog but couldn't, so here goes....

Me being me, I'll limit myself to the practical and give the metaphysical, existential, moral and other facets a miss.

The bumster industry is one of the shining success stories in the otherwise dismal post-globalization economic scenario in Africa.

Post-WTO, Africa has lost out to Asia in manufacturing and to the Old World in services. This might erroneously lead one to doubt that Globalization Heaven - that place in the clouds where all countries have unique products to export and all other countries are tripping over themselves to buy these products - actually exists.

The success of the bumster biz puts paid to such heresy and renews our faith in the capitalist model, sundry bank failures and home foreclosures notwithstanding.

Consider : the old biddies get arm candy (and more) while the bumster gets to travel to Europe in a plane instead of a pirogue. If this is not win-win........!

Instead of thinking of bumsters as a 'menace', I think the authorities should treat bumsters as investors and give them all possible facilities and incentives. For starters, they can be given free gym memberships, german/italian language classes, dreadlock cleaning kits and the like.

After all, like foreign investors, they also wear suits. And unlike foreign investors, they atleast spend a good portion of their earnings in Africa.

Finally, do keep in mind that this is one product which the chinese cannot easily duplicate and flood the market with cheap ripoffs.

How's that for competitive advantage !

Do invite my friend AC to your blog. He's a well-informed and curious guy who lives in Texas. His id is acreddy@gmail.com.

AC, This Ram is Ram Mohan, the Hony Consul General of India in The Gambia, and not to be confused with Ram Saab, who visited with you in Texas last week.

Cheerio.

tiger


Btw, Ram Saab is back this evening and Mike and me are planning to make some meat pickle over the weekend (basically Mike does the pickling and we do the guzzling while occasionally cheering him along).

(My Comment : I added his post-script here as a little ingredient to exhibit the flavour in which he cooked his pickled response)

*****

ON SANCTIONS - Death Sentences for the Dying

Hi Ram,
Why is it so bloody complicated to post a comment on your blog ?

Anyways, here is my two bits' on the sanctions post...........


ram, as bertrand russell said, people have feelings, nations have interests.

western populations and as a consequence, their leaders, no longer have an appetite to receive their soldiers in bodybags. at the same time, they also reserve the right to pontificate to other nations. it maintains the illusion of empire/power, i guess.

how do you reconcile these two contradictory objectives ? simple. you impose sanctions ! so what if a hundred thousand iraqi babies die or thousands of zimbabweans waste away due to cholera. it doesn't cost you one soldier. but it puts you on the moral high ground.

in this game of sanctions, it is important however to make a difference between 'our' bad guys and 'other' bad guys.

imposing sanctions on remote leaders like mugabe or past friends like noriega and saddam is ok. doing the same thing to, say, a saudi arabia (which just today has decreed that a 70-year old woman has to undergo 40 lashes followed by 3 months' imprisonment because she was talking in her house to a 30 year-old whom she treats as a son), is a definite no-no. lest we actually start believing the moral rhetoric, let me make it very clear that human rights can never ever take precedence over oil or other such staples of western life !

tiger

********

Hey TIger - I especially like your take on the 'Bumster Industry'. Ram

Slumdog - Literary versus Celluloid

I read Vikas Swaroop's 'Q&A' couple of years ago. I must thank my dear friend Alok Jha - (who is also from the same corps as the now-far-more-famous-author of the story that Danny Boyle has twisted enough to take Indian celluloid to the Oscars) - for introducing me to the book. A book which I may have never picked up at all while rummaging through the shelves at Timbuktoo - the only English Bookshop here, frequented so often by our anglo-phone friends especially Alok on his then frequent visits from Senegal).

I recently saw 'Slumdog Millionaire'. We've heard so much about the film and I was all set to be disappointed... a disappointment that naturally occurs over over-hyped offerings. What would this offering by Danny Boyle do?

I had enjoyed the book. The book was one, among others, that gave me inspiration - that it was possible for 'anyone to write' (Gousteau from 'Ratatouille' - made similar statements about people who could weave similar magic with culinary skills too. "Anyone Can Cook" - was the theme of that Celluloid drama). Can Anyone Write? Ofcourse, anyone can write, but getting people to read what they write is the challenge.

Vikas, Shah (The Caliphs House - A year in Casablanca) and Chetan Bhagat have done that to me and to a million other readers. Thus, here I too am, attempting to make people read what I write.

Vikas' book versus Boyles celluloid version - There is a mismatch. Authors have the luxury to be able to explain thoughts and imagination. Their celluloid-medium counterparts, however have to get the character to act and express imagination. Thus books seem to always be better than their films. I was surprised to find articles ridiculing Swaroop and his novel while at the same time Boyle was receiving accolades at making a superhit of a movie from a non-descript novel. THis is where I beg to differ.

I was disappointed by Slumdog. After having rewatched 'SlumDog' with an analytical mind - I am more or less convinced that Vikas' storyline makes sense. To a critical Indian, Boyles story has loopholes. I refer not to his genuine depiction of Dharavi life that has tickled the patriotism of many Indians ashamed of this indecent exposure of a real situation. I refer to loopholes that I list below in this 'budget' film that has made 'Crore-pathis' of most of the team within teh 'Slumdog Millionaire'. (I am also convinced that his budget film was budget because he probably didnt have to re-create sets and just let his 'child' artistes play around while he filmed them.)

Vikas cleverly used a plagiarised version of Kaun Banega C.. thus a cheap studio copy of a very successful show - explaining thus the cheap character exhibited by Anil Kapoor. The Studio running at a loss and unable to pay the winnings, explains the show hosts desperation to stump the candidate. Boyles KBC does not define it as a cheap version - only that the host is cheap. Unimaginable to an Indian audience in my opinion - especially after having had AB and SRK do the original shows.

Ram Mohammed Thomas wins the game show and then is questioned and tortured before he is rescued by the reporter following a story. Jamal is tortured before the end of the show and then is taken back for the final question. Tough to swallow that he would keep quiet.

Boyle has yet woven the tale with exceptional performances from the kids - almost as though they weren't acting - but the Inspector Irfan couldve been droning his Hutch pre-paid adverts and Constable Sreenivas isnt anywhere near a Dharavi Sreenivas. Anil Kapoor couldve been playing Mr India and is the Weakest Link. The technical aspects of the film are I guess what make the presentation beautifully brilliant. Rahmans' Music is superb - exhibiting the immense talent in this genius. I must admit that he deserves nominations for many more scores of his - but those didnt have the backing of Danny Boyle. ( Funnily, at the mention of Danny, I can hear Jim Reeves singing Oh Danny Boy in my memory - 'I love you so' he croons)

It's a pity that books dont have music.

The Reluctant Faithless Faith-Healer

I believe I'm agnostic. But I am too superstitious to admit it. For fear that, if at all this 'supreme' being, that I do in a way believe exists, actually does exist, then He could 'curse' me, a non-believer, and that would be quite an issue to handle in my head. Doesn't this smell like a Catch 22 situation. If I do not believe in the Supreme power, then I have nothing to fear. Yet I fear that he could use his power to destroy me for not believing. I don't believe he exists ( in forms propogated by rligions) yet I believe that he has the 'existant' power to destroy me!! Yossarian would have been proud of me ( Josef Hellers hero in Catch 22).

That brings me to a close line dividing faith and healing. Faith is the source of Misery. And yet we go to faith to help us heal our misery too. I'm sure, that is one reason, when one goes deep into Hindu and Buddhist mythology ( you may call it History or Religion), all the characters, be it the Gods or the Demons believed in meditation - thus peace of the inner mind. They believed that with complete relaxation and focussed thought, they could achieve anything. Including invoking the Gods themselves. ( Gods invoking other Gods - Like Batman seeking Spidermans help).

I remember a conversation that I had 'many moons ago' with a friend from the Bahai faith. She was explaining to me the advantages of the faith and I kept on with my standard diatribe about religion ' Religion is the cause for division among people and thus the cause for misery in today's world.' I said. She went on to try and convince me that the Bahai faith grew to cure this very problem. To unite people of different faiths. Another faith to reduce division among faiths. 'Their' prophet was preaching exactly that - the unity among various faiths - thus the recognition of each religion and their prophets. How religion has transgressed from being one about ones inner self ( Hinduism & Buddhism) to that of Family & Community( Christianity & Sikhism) to one of Nations ( Jewish and Islam) and thus Bahai was the first one to propose the religion of World unity. I continued to insist that another religion just was another slice and thus meant more division. When will we hvae a unity of reilgions from Earth with those of Mars? I must make it clear - that I criticize not the supreme - but his subjects who belive that unision begins with division!

Looking back once again, Meditation was the solution to any problem. What is prayer? It is a form of relaxation and focussing the mind away from the clutter of inconsequential thought to that of essential thought. This frees the mind from stressful thought. Thus meditation brought one away from stress. When one is relaxed and stress free, vital organs function normally. But the moment there is stress, various enzymes are secreted into the blood stream and it is my belief that these are the enzymes that actually do the harm. You could be a gourmet on food - and yet live a weighty but healthy life. Gourmet + Stress is an instant formula for a heart attack. Life spans are reduced due to stress. A hunter friend once told me that a swift kill is far tastier than one where the target has been subject to stress. An animal killed with violence I guess anyway has a shorter life (not related to cholestrol) but the vanquer of the prey too will suffer the effects of eating flesh with more adrenaline, and this once again has a chain reaction.

A simple inference from this is that those who live stress free lives, though need not neccessarily live longer, but could indulge in behaviour that stressed people shouldn't. I consume alcohol. Alcohol consumed for pleasure or habit, normally wouldnt harm you - in moderation of course ( My moderation is more than your moderation!!). Mix Alcohol with Adrenaline and is like an energy boost. If this boosted energy is channelised and burnt up - thats fine. But IF it is left to react with the rest of your system - disaster starts. And the same probably goes for all other maladies of the body. Eat well - Eat Gourmet - Let your inner body deal with the enzymes neccessary to digest and extract the maximum from your food. You may be overweight - but thats fine - Your Body knows you are overweight and thus treats anything that you injest as it should. Your mind is like a good manager - not formally trained but learning on the job - from within. Start worrying and have stress - then your mind has more to deal with. Enzymes for digestion mix up with enzymes for handling stress and THAT my friends is where the problem starts.

The Budhist chants, the Hindu chant of Om, the silent christian prayer and Allah ho Akbar were all meant to take your thoughts away - to let your body relax. These very tools of good health are today the cause of stress.

It isn't just religion that does this to you. The very doctors, entrusted with providng medical care, don't often realise that the very sight of their white uniforms ( or green uniforms) and the smell of formaldehyde and other disinfectants that make hospital smells so unique - get 'eveil' enzymes pumping into our system and thus act as the 'accelerator' of our ailments. A common headache - gets worse the more you think about it.

Eat Drink and be Merry - is just fine. Worry about it and the Chain Reaction starts. Each of us can become our own doctors for minor ailments. Hakuna Matata a phrase we call came to know so well after Disney popularised it in The Lion King. But its good for Monkeys and its good for us too. Dont Worry - Be Happy someone crooned. Do just that and live a stressfree life.

Maybe I should proclaim a new religion - a religion of the faithless faithfull.

Bumsters or Bombs! A debate

Thursday,5th February, 2009

Just back from The Gambia Business Forum at the Kairaba Beach Hotel. Today's guest speaker was Aliou Secka - the Chairman of The Gambia Hotel Owners Association - who spoke on Tourism matters concering The Gambia.

A little country of 1.4 million people. I did find it very refreshing that the topics of discussion were on improvement of standards, the declining tourists, ways to improve arrivals including offering an all inclusive package, etc. However one important and pertinent point discussed was the so called 'menace' of 'bumsters' - a colloquially inheritted name for young Gambian boys who try to befriend tourists with the hope of being favoured by them - and eventually becoming guarantors of a passage to Europe. While this may be seen by many as an irritant - what strikes me in todays world is that in other tourist destinations, tourists are worried about the security, attacks, safety while walking the streets. Mugger, murderer, organ thief, con-man are the thoughts that pass through my head when a stranger approaches elsewhere - Here all theyre looking for is eventually a shortcut to a presumably better life. Dear tourists to The Gambia. Come on - The Gambia is trying to improve - Don't use Bumsters as the excuse to stay away. I'd rather be bumstered than bombed!

A short story on Bumsters - 

Seedy is 13 years old. He belongs to an extended family of 13. He lives in this extended African family with his mother, an uncle and about 10 half brothers and sisters in Latrikunda in Banjul. (I could easily write more about the extended family culture in Africa that is in a way similar to the Joint family situation in India - but that would require a whole new chapter. Moreover the reasons for the creation of extended and joint families are quite different - though their 'living' situation is quite similar.) 

Seedy goes to to the Latrikunda upper basic school but his mind is never on studies. He dreams to emmulate his older brother, Tche( short for Cherno - pronounced Chey - a name quite popular here, in honour of the famous South American 'Guevera'). Tche was the first in the inner circle of Seedy's family to successfully 'get away' 

to Copenhagen. Several years ago Tche, 18, met Isabel, 55, Scandinavian tourist in Banjul. Isabel was single, lonely, divorced,... (there are several more adjectives to describe cold life in cold countries) living off her state pension and decided to come to The Gambia on a whim. Her first visit was very memorable as she not only found warmth in the country, She found warmth with her guide too. Her guide, Tche, several years younger then, looked after Isabel in every way possible and their relationship had turned from comfort and lust, to love for her and from dreams into reality for him. They got married in The Gambia amidst traditional fervour of Tam-Tam drums, 'honking-motorcades' et al. For Isabel it was what she could have never asked for earlier. A devout companion willing to do anything - not just for money, but for a future. 

His future. 

What this future was, no one really knows. But what "key" did this gateway to this future need? To provide companionship? To meet the needs - both moral ,social & physical of the partner. This was and is an ideal Win Win. (My friend John Rao may accuse me of 'plagiarism of thought' and thus I shall give him credit here for constantly driving this into my head on several occassions when we discussed the issue in Banjul - over several bottles of Julbrew I must needlessly admit). The Win Win aspect. An elderly European lady - getting someone to look after her in the coldest years of her European life. And an otherwise disgruntled youth, who's immense energy was now being channelled towards achieving his dreams. What were these dreams. To travel to Europe. Why? For a better life? In a certain way to explore different lands - looking for treasures? Not much different from the dreams of Marco Polo or Columbus - and more pertinently - those of Mungo Park who died exploring the Niger river via The Gambia ( sans Visa sans Passport - as many modern African argue - 'He came with a Boat to explore our lands and we're just doing the same now - just a few years later!!' they say, indignantly justifying the 'pirogue' expeditions of african youth attempting to travel to Europe via North African seas - Sans Visas too - being objected to by the European Union! ( I must once again admit that there are a large number of Asian - Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Srilankan youth who make a fateful trip from home through west africa to attempt a similar voyage). Back to Tche and Isabel - they no longer live together. But that brief union sparked off a 'Tche-ain' reaction in Tches family. Tche visits every year bringing gifts for Seedy and all other cousins and members of the extended family. The gifts vary from mobile phones for the more dear or chocolates or trinkets or scarves for the rest. And in those gifts lies not only the surprise and pleasure of the gift. In it lies the dream. And the path to that dream as well.

Thus Seedy, on his way to school and especially after school, has his mind on every tourist bus that passes. When will Seedy find his 'Isabel'?

I'm sure that the above scenario can be debated for long. Is this an ideal situation for every tourist or for that matter and more importantly - for every Seedy? The answer is No. Certainly not. But as is with the issue of child labour and those seeking to forcefully arrest and stop it or ridicule it, remember that those children are bread winners (for themselves and thier families too).They should be given another channel, well prepared to ensure that it is not a stop gap solution. Pick up a child from a factory and send them to a remand home, where they could be equally exploited. Those championing the cause against child labour should have not just a solution, but a lasting and more rewarding solution. Take a child away from a labour situation only if you can provide the child with an alternate souce of income and more importantly - find a reliable source of income for the family. Else the child will be pushed back and probably into a more perilious and denigrating source of remuneration.

I'd suggest that, rather than hounding the factories with sting operations, use the funds spent on such operations together with funding from organisations that spend billions oon ineffective monitoring - to improve conditions in every factory employing children - and for free. Provide a system of education for all employees. Thereby the owners of factories will be productive and protected and money will be wisely spent. Win Win again. Of course there is no parallel between Tche's 'employment' and Child labour. But there lies a similarity between Seedys aspirations and of children in those factories.

The European Union, Ive often repeated, would have had far less a problem of the 'backway' syndrome had they spent some efforts developing industry and civic amenities in the lands they colonised. 

And in the case of Seedy's and Tche's, we must make sure that, while we curtail the present key to their aspirations, they do not land up on the streets, using methods far more sinister than soliciting friendships for their gateway to Europe, methods like peddling drugs or mugging tourists in an attempt to find shorter short-cuts to their aspirations in life.

Ram Mohan, Banjul,THE GAMBIA

Eight Days a Week

All we need is Love Babe - The Beatles sang.

All WE need is TIME Guys
Just you wait and see
Eight Days a Week? "Get up dust yourselves and lets Get America working again" - Obama appeals to the American people in his National address.

All He needs is Time to get the turn around done. He now has the power, the money, the support, the ratings of the US People, the Veto and everything else that 'desire' could name on Mother Earth. Everything - except the one thing that his predeccesor, George W Bush was able to take away from Obama and the American people - TIME. Time wasted for 8 years. Time is overtaking the Americans.

For those who haven't read Ryszard Kapuscinski's 'Shadow of the Sun' - he has a wonderful bit on Time and Africa. He implies that Westerners are slaves of Time while Africans have conquered Time. A European would run to the Bus station because the Bus leaves at 10.32 or for a meeting that would start on time (even if the passengers or people were not there, he implies) - thus becoming slaves of the clock and not of the purpose. Time in Africa is a slave of the People and thus is 'people centric' - Get into a bus and ask the driver when the bus would leave - the obvious answer (after your silly question has been ridiculed) would be 'When the Bus is Full'!!!. When does the meeting Start? Of course stupid! When the people are all there!!!

President Obama! The bus is full and the people are all here too! But do you have enough TIME???

On what's special about Obama's Election

I don't think that the euphoria over Obama's election should be about an African American making it to the Citadel of American Power and thus exhibiting the triumph of Civil Rights. America in my opinion overcame those barriers quite some time ago. The African American community have had several members rising to high offices in American politics and governance - Senators, Governers, Secretaries of State as well - exhibiting that African-Americans who had it in them, could make it. Obama had it in him. He became President. Of course an African American becoming President makes excellent story and nostalgia material - a story of triumph of the Blacks - from abject Slavery to ultimate Power - but this could have happened many many years ago too. They just didn't have the right candidate.

Why I think Obamas election is special - is because he did it with backing from the people. It was his ability to get the 50 cents and the 5US$ contributions to count that makes it truly amazing. The parody is that small things like chads (dimpled and hanging ones equallly) brought George Bush into power. Small things magnified a million times, brought Obama and a new era in. Arundhati's 'God of Small Things' has a new significance here.