The
next day dawned bright and we got up to loud banging that jolted us from our
sleepy slumber. The banging was coming from the front yard gate. I opened the main
door and was bowled over by what I saw! Two impish eyes and one very cute nose
and a grinning smile peeping from under the space of the gate itself. I flung open
the front gate and was stunned by the charade.
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| Bottle Gourd container |
There
was a crowd of nearly four or five kids all trying their best to get inside the
house of the firanj! The head girl, the leader may be all of 5 -6 years, held
out her right hand. In her hand was one of the cutest article I have ever seen.
It was a container made of bottle gourd. She mimicked the action of milking a
cow.
Then
it struck me, the enterprising local milk man had send me home delivery of fresh
cow milk! I took the delivery of the cow milk taking care to ensure that the
herd (of children) does not over run our
new house.
Ethiopia
is a totally cow country and there were no buffaloes. It was quite tough initially
to drink tea or coffee with cow milk. Cow milk has a different colour and
texture and a slight smell. The curd too had a sticky feel and did not set into
nice chunks like the curd made from Buffalo milk. And yes like in many countries,
Ethiopians do not consume either curd or buttermilk. The cold climate made the setting
of curd, a culinary challenge in itself.
Even
after shutting the front main door, we could hear the children giggling and whispering
for a long time. It was daily chore for almost 15 to 20 days before they gave
up. They thought it was very unsporting of the firanj not to allow them a free
run of the front yard.
It
was a Saturday and a holiday. I took a leisurely walk along with Sahithi in our
new colony, Kable 7. Three houses away, I ran into my PEDA colleague, an Ethiopian
English faculty. He gave me a wide grin and said “Good morning Dr. Aneel”. I
wished him too.
“So,
How was your first night in Kable 7?” he enquired. “fine, fine” I assured him “but
the noises in the night were disturbing” “Noises!” His eyebrows shot up and
almost touched his fore head “what noises?”
I
explained the noises to him. He was silent for few seconds. Then he gave out a
loud shout “DR.ANEEL. You are totally mistaken. Let me assure you, that Kable 7
is very safe and there are no ghosts or spirits that dislike foreigners or people
writing in the night. I am sure that the noises were caused by tom cats
settling their arguments over queens (female cats) the only way they know, with
their claws and curses.
I
am sure that the local monkeys would also have participated in the argument and
added to the racket. As the roof was made of tin the sound would have been muffled”.
“Spirits” he roared with laughter “The only spirits that most Ethiopians love
is Tella (a locally brewed drink like our kallu) and Dashen Beer” he added with
an all-knowing grin on his face.
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| Tella |
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| Dashen Beer |
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