Indians, Education and Bahirdar University – Ethiopian Journey - Blog Post No – 34

Indians are among the most ardent travelers in the world. They have traveled to Africa too, but the reception and reputation that the Indians have got for themselves has been a mixed bag. The Indian freedom movement started in South Africa and Indians are admired and Nelson Mandela has been a follower of Mahatma Gandhi and his non-violence movement.

Both Great Leaders Dr.Abdul Kalaam and Nelson Mandela

But everything is not honky-donky about Indians in Africa. Most Indians have prospered in Africa and have made a name for themselves as traders and as businessmen. But the Indian way of frugalness and uncanny skill of making money in any situation is not very much liked by the easy going Africans. In some countries Indians were seen as exploitative and not assimilating enough with the local community.

Indians leaving Uganda in 1972

This antipathy and resentment sometimes had taken an ugly turn and Indians have been thrown out quite unceremoniously in Uganda where Idi Amin dumped almost the entire Indian community. Indian businessmen are not very much liked in Kenya and even in Zimbabwe.

But luckily, in Ethiopia most of the Indians came on teaching assignments and Ethiopians proudly say that they have been taught by an Indian some time in their life. The last Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie had been a friend of India and he was the person who encouraged Indians to come and teach in Ethiopia.

Last emperor of Ethoipia Haile Selassie with Mrs.Indira Gandhi

For a long time there were very limited number of government universities in Ethiopia and in early 2000, the Federal government of Ethiopia started many new universities and one of the newly set up university was Bahirdar University. Bahirdar University was not a new university. It was coming together of two institutes POLY (the polytechnic institute that imparted engineering education) and PEDA (the pedagogical academy that taught  Arts, Science and Commerce streams).

The new university was set up in 2001 and we were among the first foreign faculty who were specifically recruited for Bahirdar University.

Ethiopian Students

I belonged to the Faculty of Business and Economics and specifically to the Management department and there was another called the Accounting department.  The Management department’s head was Addis Gedefaw and we had another Ethiopian Teacher, Abraham. We also had a Nigerian teacher by name Ibrahim. The Management department had as many as four Indian teachers; Mansoor Ali Khan, Chidambaram, Dr. T. N. Murthy and myself.

Typical batch of Ethiopian Students 

At that time in 2002 the management department had a couple of diploma programmes, one in Marketing Management and another in Sales Management. The duration of the diploma programme was two years. In 2001 a four year course called ‘B.A in Management’ was introduced. It was quite strange to be asked to teach diploma and degree students as I was already teaching Post graduate students of Management. In India BA is not associated with management and at that time BBA was not in vogue. .  But I cheerfully accepted the challenge.

Ethiopian education system follows the American pattern which is credit based. The entire focus is on picking up credits and the credit weightage. For Example the subject ‘Introduction to Management’ could be a 1 credit, 2 credit, 3 credits or a 4 credit course.

So a one credit course is allotted 10 sessions of one hour each and a four credit course is given 40 hours. And correspondingly a student taking a four credit course in ‘Introduction to Management’ shows more interest in the subject and more respect to the concerned teacher. This was puzzling to the Indian teachers who are used to the system of standardized subjects without any difference in weightage.

The grading is based on the normal curve distribution. Students are given grades according to their position in the normal curve. ‘A’ grade is worth 4 points, ‘B’ grade is worth 3 points, a ‘C’ grade is worth 2 points and a ‘D’ grade is worth  1 point.

To pass and move on to the next semester a student has to have a minimum of 2.0 CGPA (Cumulative Grade Point  Average), which means that a student can actually get a D  (a fail grade) in a subject and still progress. All this was quite new to us but we quickly got into the flow. 

Our Garden in Bahirdar "without Hard work nothing grows but weeds" - Ethiopian Journey - Blog Post No - 33

Padma next attacked the garden. The garden can’t be called a garden at all. It was a front yard full of pebbles, stones and rocks. Padma was heartbroken looking at its state. It had construction rubble too! The soil was very powdery and she doubted if anything would ever grow in it. Padma tried taking the stones away but it was a back breaking job.

Seeing her toil without much success, I hit on what I thought was a great idea. I asked Padma to ask if Mulugeta’s (The Kable’s watchman) son could help. When beckoned the young man appeared. Padma asked him “Clear the stones?” The boy looked on impassively. “Clear, Clear” Padma was getting desperate. The boy could not comprehend what Padma was asking.

Padma showed him what has to be done by actions. The teenager slowly nodded his head. Padma heaved a sigh of relief. “How much?” she asked. The boy simply smiled. This was testing Padma’s patience. She said “100 Birr!” The boy looked on. “100 birr, 100 birr,” She remembered my bargaining in the market “Aend Meto, Aend Meto (one hundred in Amharic)” Padma was blabbering by now! The boy nodded and went off.

Padma waited for three days and later told me about her experience. “I don’t think the work is worth more, I don’t know what to do!” I went to my go for person when I have any issue – Addis Gedafaw.

Addis said “Anil, I am sure that the boy must have thought your wife was joking! I am sure that the watch man gets 25 birr (Rs 100) a month as salary. So when your wife said 100 birr he must have thought she must be joking. Being a kid and that too not being very good at English, he must have simply avoided the entire issue”.

Addis told me that typically most house owners would have offered 5-10 birr. Later I came to know that the Birr has tremendous intrinsic value and that most Ethiopians earned very little.

Ethiopian Maid 

Ethiopian maids were very famous. Most local Ethiopians would give their maids 30-50 birr a month (Rs 150 – Rs 250).The Ethiopian maids would come early in the morning and would stay back till late in the evening. Some of them are so poor that they would be happy to stay permanently in the Injera house if food and accommodation was provided.

They would do any type of work. Sweeping the house, cleaning the utensils, washing, drying folding and even ironing the clothes, taking care of the children, roasting, pounding and making coffee, preparing the dough and making Injira and the different varieties of wats.

In short they are super workers! And they would do it 365 days a year. Their washing of the clothes was a sight. They would wash the clothes in a small tub and they would bend and wash very slowly and very methodically. Padma remarked “no wonder they are so slim and agile. They simply can’t put on weight when they do so much hard work”.

The Ethiopian girls who worked in expatriate homes were super special. They could speak English and some of them could even cook Indian and European dishes. Most maids who worked in Indian houses would get between 70-100 birr (Rs 350 – Rs 500) per month.

These maids would be well dressed and were very stylish in behaviour. Most of them would address the Indians by name which the Indians found very disconcerting. Most would stylishly sit at the dining table and have tea and coffee along with the family. They considered themselves as working professionals! Some of them even pursued extension courses (distance education) at PEDA.

Pranav and Sahithi on the rocky mound that Padma created 

Seeing that help was not forthcoming Padma set to do the work all by herself. She worked like a lady possessed! I saw with astonishment as the stones and pebbles slowly disappear over a period of ten days. A small rocky hillock was formed at one end of the compound.  The garden had only two small saplings, one was a mango and the other was a guava. The rocky hillock would later take shape of a rock garden!

I went out and got some Cannas from the PEDA campus. We planted them on the either side of the pathway that Padma created. It was very difficult but slowly the garden started taking shape. Later we planted some marigolds, dahlias and Zinnias. We got some rose cuttings and planted them too.

Pranav and Mrs. Anasuya Devi, Padma's mother at the rock garden (earlier the rocky mount) 

What was surprising was the strength of the soil. It was the richest soil that I had ever seen. The soil although appearing dusty and lifeless was full of fertility. The plants would shoot up and in front of our unbelieving eyes would grow fast and start flowering in no time at all.

Zinnia plants and the garden 

In one instance I plucked out fully grown marigolds and replanted them in the path way. Padma was howling her protest “they are mature plants, they would die”. To our ever-lasting astonishment they not only survived but thrived and flowered profusely.

Sahithi in the front yard of our garden

The thrown away dried marigolds seeds resulted in literally millions of small plants. It was heart breaking plucking and throwing them away as weeds! Contrast that with what happens in India. Even a humble plant like the marigold has to be bought and it would cost at least 50-60 rupees a plant.

Our pathway and Panther the black cat that was incredibly tame!

We had bought sun flower seeds in the market and Padma planted them. We were eagerly waiting to see if the sunflower plants would come out! Seeing sun flowers in our own garden would be a treat in itself. 

Man Proposes and God disposes – Ethiopian Journey – Blog Post – No 30.

Many a times we plan and plan and then the event is snatched from our hand. That is what happened on 22^nd November 2002. I really don’t know what transpired, but I was called to the administration department and told that I have to take the pink house and I was given the TINA! Before readers jump into fancy visions of who or what is TINA, let me pour water on any fancy romantic theories. TINA stands for There Is No Alternative. I had to take the pink house.

I rushed back to Ethiostar and told the breaking news to the bewildered and incredulous Padma. It almost broke her down!  She received the news with a wide opened mouth. “When do we have to leave?” she enquired anxiously.

“Anytime” I answered flippantly “the university bus has already started from PEDA”. Giving me looks that could have burnt a person to ashes, she rushed inside muttering something ominously.

The university bus landed at Ethiostar and we somehow rushed all our suitcases into the bus and off we went to the PINK house. PEDA staff had already put an eight seater sofa in the house. They also had given some very skeletal kitchen utensils, a huge centre table and two single cots in each of the bedrooms. There were light bulbs. But they were incandescent bulbs of very low wattage. Like the cane partition they seemed very tired and apologetic.

The Electric oven and the refrigerator were not delivered. The house had a wooden almirah but without any racks. The entire house was full of our suitcases. After dumping the luggage I rushed back to the university.

In the evening Annie Clara came along with me. She wanted to see our new house. She gave a start when she saw the house. “Sir” she exclaimed “this is the house that I wanted to move in. I am sure that I was not granted these houses as independent houses are not given to single employees”. Checking herself, she added “any how I am happy that it has been allotted to you”. Seeing that we did not have any appliance to cook food she generously offered us her electric stove.

Seeing the commotion our neighbour Chidambaram and his diminutive wife Usha came over. They invited us for dinner. Dinner that day was a gala affair. It was almost ten days since we had some genuine Indian food and the children enjoyed themselves immensely.

Once we got back home, it hit us hard. This is going to be our house for the next two years. We need to adapt and make it our own.    

That night Padma packed us off to the bedroom and started to write a letter.   She was sitting on the sofa in the drawing room. Bahirdar shuts down quite early. It was definitely spooky and it was hardly 8 p.m. but the night was loud with squeaky sounds made by crickets. The effect was accentuated by the huge glass panes and the cold wind that was blowing through.

Later she told me that it was very eerie sitting in the dim light and staring out into the darkness. Her imagination was playing wild tricks on her. She could almost see figures floating about in darkness. She could not shut out the view as curtains were not provided.

She wrote paused and wrote again. Next time she paused, she realized that it was not her imagination, there was something moving scurrilously about, very slowly and with very little noise. Shocked to the core, she tried to identify the source. To her horror she discovered that the noise was coming from the roof right over her head!

The more she wrote, the more was the noise. And after some time it became unbearable, the sounds were increasing in intensity and it was perplexing. What was causing the noise? Where there spirits that did not like people writing letters in the night?

Gathering all her wits, she mustered enough courage to switch off the light and rushed to the bedroom. She got into the bed and covered herself with a bed sheet. But the noises were relentless and some-how she lulled herself to sleep.

Injira the Ethiopian Dosa - Ethiopian Journey Part - Blog Post No - 17

Making the National Dish of Ethiopia, The Injira 

Next day morning, there was a knock on the door. I opened the door and standing there was a small, petite and bubbly woman. She barged in “My name is Annie Clara; I am from Tamil Nadu”. She announced, “I am a lecturer in the accounting department of PEDA, Bahirdar University. Addis told me that you had come and I came to welcome you”.

I was touched. Here we are, thousands of kilometres away from home and we are being received so warmly. Clara assured us that she would help us for anything that we need.   I thanked her for her visit and generosity.

The texture of an Injira 

We were not getting our food, so we volunteered to try the local food. The local Chapatti or the staple food is the Injira. Injira is like a huge flat bread or like a very gigantic dosa. Injira is made from one of the tiniest grain in the world. The iron rich grain is called Teff. Injira is a dough risen flat bread with a sour, unique spongy texture. Injira is the national dish of Ethiopia.

The first time we had Injira, it was a huge let down. It had a very sour taste and it was very huge. The quantity would be enough to make 6-8 Indian dosas. Injira is round and is twenty  inches in diameter. The interesting part are the side dishes that are put on the top of the Injira. The nearest Indian equivalent of the Injira is an Uttapam but fermented many times over.

Teff flour is mixed with water and the mixture is allowed to ferment for several days. As a result of this process, Injira gets a definite sour taste. The Injira is then baked into large, flat pancakes.

Injira is never eaten alone. It is always served with several kinds of wats (dals) or curies or stews. There can be two or three different types of wats made of meats (mutton, chicken or beef), egg, many types of salads and a little rice. The amount of rice eaten by an average south Indian would feed atleast fifty Ethiopians. Typically, spoonful of rice is served along with the Injira.

As the Injira is spongy and granular, the wat soaks it thoroughly and that makes the Injira very tasty. Initially it was quite difficult to eat an Injira. But later on we started enjoying it and Padma often says that she misses an Injira. We did have Injira in California, USA. No doubt It was tasty but to experience an authentic Injira one needs to taste it in Ethiopia.

Usually Injira is eaten with different types of meats like Dora (Chicken) wat, Tibs (pieces of fried meat pieces). There are many variations of the delicacy, depending on type, size or shape of the cuts of meat used.

But during the lent and on Wednesday and Friday a vegetarian Injira is eaten, my favourite called the Beyeyanetu. Whenever I went to the restaurant in Ethiostar and proudly ordered a Beyeyanetu, the waitress would giggle. Annoyed and irritated, I complained to the Manager of the hotel. He came back to me beaming “Sir, the girl is actually very flattered that you are ordering an Ethiopian dish and that too in Amharic. But your accent is that of a very small child just learning Amharic. She finds it very cute”. I don’t know whether it was a compliment or an insult to be compared with a child.  

Fit-Fit or Fir-fir is a common Ethiopian breakfast dish. It is made from shredded Injira, stir-fried with spices or wat.

Another popular breakfast food is Fatira. The delicacy consists of a large fried pancake made with flour, often with a layer of egg. It is eaten with honey.

The Most Popular snacks are Dabo Kolo (small pieces of baked bread). Ethiopian Kolo (roasted barley mixed with other local grains). 

Kolo made from roasted barley, chickpeas and peanuts is often sold by street vendors wrapped in a paper cone. Popcorn is also popular as a snack. 

Surprise of surprises, a delicacy called Sambusa (Indian Samosa) is also popular in some parts of Ethiopia. But the filling is not potato, instead mashed lentil (green gram) is used! Talk of globalization of Indian food.

As the Injira is rich in Iron and not in Carbohydrates, Ethiopians are typically thin and wiry. African athleticism and high altitude climate, makes most Ethiopians have good physique. In 2002, it was very rare to see a fat Ethiopian. So whenever they see a very a large man or woman they would get fascinated and follow that person. Of-course the obvious ribbing and ragging would automatically follow.

Due of their easy going nature and their natural good genes and healthy eating, incidence of Heart attacks are very rare in Ethiopia (166^th rank out of 172 countries surveyed) whereas India is a high risk country with a global rank of 39.

One-day right in front of Ethiostar there was a head-on collision that involved two bicyclists. In India it would have led to an altercation where all the bystanders would join in merrily, create a huge ruckus and finally it would lead to a massive traffic Jam. The aftermath of the crowd disturbance in many cases would be many times more severe than the accident itself.

But here both the Ethiopians who were sprawled flat on the ground got up, dusted themselves and hugged each other. There was exchange of pleasantries and after checking each other’s bicycles they went on their respective ways. Such a charming way to solve minor problems.

Ethiopians tend to wear lots of clothes. A typical Ethiopian would wear many sets of clothes and wear a coat and cover their body with a white cloth. Most of the Indians were initially skeptical of this habit but quickly realized that it was a very wise decision. In a country where the climate is variable and the temperature fluctuates by as much as 20 degrees centigrade in a day, it is better to cover the body with protective clothing so that the body does not get too cold and suffer from debilitating diseases. Even in a city bus the locals would keep all the windows shut and would rather suffer the suffocation rather than let the cool breeze come in. Perhaps they were also protecting themselves from the dust rising out of the metal roads. 

Bahirdar - By the side of the Sea - Ethiopian Journey - Post 16

Bahirdar City, Gojjam, Amhara region, Ethiopia 

By the time we settled down it was almost 6 p.m. We set out for a walk. It was cold. We had taken precautions and were wearing woollens. Ethiostar was in the heart of the city. Right in front of Ethiostar was the Amhara Parliament building. It was an imposing building with many beautiful statues on the front facade.

Very close to Ethiostar was POLY, the engineering division of Bahirdar University. PEDA, to whom I belong was around two kilometers away. Walking on the roads was a very pleasant experience. Not many people but lots of love birds. We quickly came back. Dr. Naidu, Associate Professor from the Mathematics Department had dropped in for a visit.

Dr. Naidu was a legend in Ethiopia. By 2002 he had already finished three contracts. He could speak Amharic quite well and was quite adapted to the local culture and customs. He would become our community elder – someone like Peddarayadu.

Addis Gedefaw, HOD Management Department 

The next day morning, we decided to take things into our own hands. Dr. T. N. Murthy, Dr. Srinivas Inguva and me headed out to PEDA. The way to PEDA was quite dusty and we had to take a short cut to reach the University. It was a nice stimulating half an hour walk. We made our way to the Management Department/Accounting department.  Dr. T. N. Murthy and I, met Addis Gedefaw, the Head of the Department. She received us very warmly. She said “You came in quite early. We were not expecting you for atleast another week”. She told us subject allocations will be done shortly and that she will inform us when they are finalized. She directed us to the admin department so that we could get our University identity cards and start working.

We came back to Ethiostar and headed for lunch. It was more of the same! All Ethiopian cooks appear to cook the same way. We ordered for rice and after lots of gesticulations and mime asked for  some tomato curry. One hour passed and we were not getting any food! Luckily for us Suresh dropped in and went to the kitchen to investigate. He came back and told us that there was only one cook who could prepare ‘Indian speciality of rice and tomato curry’. He has gone out and there was nobody else who could prepare our dishes!

We either have to wait or lump it! Out of desperation we ordered Inkulal curry (Omelette) and Avocado juice. Avocado juice was tasty and very filling. Pranav finished the Avocado juice and wolfed down the Omelette. Suresh was watching on with his mouth wide open in astonishment “Sir” he whispered in a low tone “that omelette had six country eggs! It was meant for the entire family. Do you think, he can digest it?”

I assured “I don’t think we need to worry. He washed it down with avocado juice”. Suresh was almost wailing “that is the problem sir. Avocado juice is very filling. And your son had an ample dose of both. Avocado juice is not like butter milk that will lighten the stomach. It will make it even more heavy”.  I started watching Pranav from the side of my eyes. He did not appear any worse for the wear. He was happiness personified.  

I went out and ordered thumb nail photos for university ID card. “Mister” the owner told me “come at 12 o'clock in the evening to collect your snaps”. My Blood Pressure shot up "what do you mean 12 clock in the night. I will definitely not come at 12 o'clock in the night to collect my snaps’. I could picture myself sliding and shuffling along fugitively, giving sneaky looks on all sides and collecting snaps dead in the night.

The owner was puzzled. He gave a quixotic look “Mister, I said, 12 o’clock in the evening" He glared at me.

I gave up. As I was returning from the photo shop, I saw a poster “13 months of sunshine and below, it was written, welcome to 1995!”. Then it struck me. Oh yes, Ethiopian calendar was seven years behind the English calendar that we follow.

I burst into our hotel room. My family was startled at my excitement. “is everything all right” Padma enquired anxiously “rocking, rocking” I assured her. “Nothing to worry. Do you know Ethiopia makes you younger? Now both of us are seven years younger, and we are back to 1995!”. I Looked at Pranav, gave him a-all-knowing wink and added “Pranav you are back in 1995, that will make you a seven-month old boy. Better behave yourself kiddo”

I and Padma walked out to the balcony and were admiring the scenery. Suddenly we heard loud shouts and then a steady wail coming from the hotel room. We rushed in ashen with fear. The scene inside stunned us. Pranav was seated in a chair and there was a 'cat who had all the cream' look on his face.

He looked smug and contented. On the bed was my two-year-old daughter Sahithi. She was  sobbing inconsolably. After lots of threats, inducements and cajoling, she stopped. We asked “Sahithi, what happened?”. Still sobbing she replied “Anna told me that all our ages go back by seven years. I am born in 2000. What will happen to me? I don’t even exist. Will police arrest me? Can I ever go back to India? If I had known that, this was going to happen, I would have stayed back with nannamma and tatagaru”. She was hurt and disgusted!   We kept a straight face with lot of effort. We dare not burst out in laughter. The poor girl was already in lot of trauma.

I went to the hotel receptionist and complained that the photo shop owner wanted me to come at 12 o' clock in the night. “Oh sir” he burst out. But he must have said 12 o'clock in the evening”. I was getting fed up. “what 12 o'clock in the evening?  how can you have 12 o'clock in the evening”?

The hotel receptionist explained to me “Sir, Ethiopia follows the sun as the criteria for setting the time, Unlike Europe where the day starts at 12 o'clock at the stroke of midnight, In Ethiopia time starts with the sunrise. So when the sunrises it is zero hour. So when it is European 7 o’clock in the morning it is 1 o'clock for us Ethiopians. So when it is 6 o'clock in the evening for Europeans it would be 12 o'clock in the evening for Ethiopians”.

“Oh boy” I said to myself “This really takes the cake. Now I have to struggle with three times. The Indian standard time which is 2.5 hours ahead of the European or GMT and also this new Ethiopian time”. I Sincerely hoped that I could manage so much complexity.

I brightened up and asked the hotel receptionist “I heard that there are thirteen months in a year in an Ethiopian calendar. That is nice. I can work for twelve months and get thirteen months’ salary”.

The receptionist gave me a strange look "oh, the thirteenth month is only a book adjustment. Those five or six days are only to bring the calendar back to normalcy” He gave a very broad and toothy smile “I assure you sir, you will only get twelve months’ salary”.  

The Take off - Ethiopian Journey Blog Item - 10.

The day of the journey dawned finally. We went to Begumpet airport. The luggage was quite heavy and after all we were four people. We were given vegetable biryani by Dr. M. Uma. Being practicality personalised, she packed it in reusable containers!

We landed in Mumbai and immediately moved from the Domestic to the International terminus.  My children were unusually subdued. Pranav being a seven-year-old could understand but Sahithi was too small. We waited in the airport and it was interesting to see the tapestry of foreign visitors leaving India. There was a panorama of facial expressions on display. Some happy, some sad and some pensive.

I could make out many Indians also waiting like me. Then the check-in announcement was made and we finished all the formalities. Then the actual boarding started. There were many Indians and an equal number of Ethiopians. The Ethiopians appeared to be bemused at the number of Indians. But there were knowing nods and smiles. The Indian diaspora is well famed in the world for their ability to travel, adapt and make themselves comfortable in any country of the world. 

Edmund Hillary was the first man to climb Everest. He was bubbling with excitement and was overcome with the adrenaline rush. First man, First man he kept muttering to himself. “Enna sir, ninnalkk teyila venam?” Translated it means “sir, do you want tea?”. Flummoxed and flabbergasted he jerked around. It was a humble Malayalee, he not only reached mount Everest much before him, he started and was running a flourishing tea business! Even though said in jest, it is typical of the Indians’ urge to travel and make themselves name and fame in even the remotest parts of the world.

India has the world’s largest diaspora. Diaspora is the number of Citizens of a country living in other countries. Over 1.55 crore Indians live and work outside India, a number greater than the combined population of Zimbabwe and Kuwait. Mexico has a Diaspora of 1.23 crores and Russia has a diaspora of 1.06 crores. Truly amazing!

We were flying Ethiopian airlines. We were warmly greeted by the Ethiopian air hostess. Standing next to her and wearing a beautiful Ethiopian dress was another girl. Both of them were strikingly beautiful. They did not look like the typical Africans that we see in the popular media.

We were seated and one of the air hostess came and said “fasting or non-fasting”. I was taken back ‘what does she mean?’. Understanding my confusion, she corrected herself “Vegetarian or non-vegetarian meals?”. I told her three non-vegetarian meals and one Vegetarian meal. An Ethiopian sitting next to me explained “Ethiopians love meat and meat products. So not eating meat products and having only vegetables and Injira (Ethiopian staple food) is allowed during fasting time. So all vegetarian food in Ethiopia is called fasting food”. I don’t know how the vegetarians would react! If veg food is fasting food, what is Vegan food? starving food! Your guess is as good as mine.

The Airplane was a wide bodied 787. Very spacious and very wide. I could make out a smattering of kids, most of them Ethiopians. It was a five-hour journey and we started making friends. A young man, Mr. Bala Krishna came up and introduced himself. Bala said “Sir, this is a very big contingent of Indian teachers. We are as many as 78 (including spouses and children). With you there are ten from Andhra Pradesh. Four from your family, me and my wife, Dr. Srinivas Inguva, Dr. T. N. Murthy, Mrs. Tasleem and her daughter”. I was thunder struck at his networking ability and ability to get data. “This man would be a great researcher” I told myself. 

He also told me that he belongs to POLY (the engineering division of BDU) and that the rest of us will be reporting to PEDA (Pedagogy Academy, the division for all other departments excluding engineering). I thought PEDA was a quite an interesting name, It means a sweet in Northern India!

Mr. Bala Krishna was a teacher from the Electrical department, Me and Dr. T. N. Murthy from the Management department, Dr. Srinivas Inguva was from the accounting department and Mrs. Tasneem was from the Law department. The five-hour journey was over in a jiffy and before we knew we were taxing down on the run way of Addis Ababa. We have arrived!!!