The nostalgia is overpowering, but nah!
Why East Africa is losing its charm for some Wahindis
Gosh! I have been away for far too long... I must write more regularly. My sincere apologies to at least one regular reader who complained today!
"The nostalgia is overpowering, but nah!" said my friend. " Who wants to go back to Uganda and why, tell me why, after those ------- threw us out of the country when we were doing our best".
Here in lies a problem. Who should be angry and with whom? It was Idi Amin who expelled the Asians- lock, stock and barell. It was "the Dada" who exercised all his powers vested in him by the State. It is likely, if you try to read Amin's mind as the events unfolded between August and October 1972, that Amin stood in front of a mirror and said," Look, you. I mean 'you'. You have axepelledd those muhindees single handed." Power can be very reassuringly sweet if you are an Idi. You can expell the Asians with no problem about accountability. The mind of the dictator works with alarming detachment, almost in the same way as you drive a car whilst you are drunk. You know where you are going but the detail does not matter. You do not even notice that the person who was trying to stop you was a policeman.
Idi looked into the mirror and saw a very hazy figure. "Noh, it kannot be meeeh", he reprimanded himself. He stood there for a while. Then he looked around and noticed that the lighting in the room was very dull. "Must get those fakking fundis to repair the lights" he thought. Fundi, the techie was the clever Asian who used to fix his lights. " I am telling you thees" said Amin. " I am telling youh, we kaynot be in the duck just becos the muhindi has goan" he reassured himself.
The axepelled Asians who went to make their homes in the UK, US, Canada and elsewhere have fond memories of Uganda. They remember their childhoods there. They recall how they had made so many plans to work there, make the best of their lives and their dreams. The entreprenurial ones think how the Idi-o-tic Amin robbed them in their prime. The older ones who did not know that they were 'pensioners' until they realised that Idi Amin had cheated them by defining them by their age. Also, looking after old parents was no problem for the average Asian family. In fact, there was an element of virtue attached to it old parents must be looked after. This was in the Hindu scriptures. No, you must not ever deny your parents. There was the story of Sarwan puttar, ie Sarwan the docile son who had carried both in his parents together during his journey through life. Sarwan was the model son that evry Asian parent wanted.
The East African experience does matter to the axepelled muhindis...they have not lost their love and affection for the people of those countries. They still remember their childhoods in those countries with a tear in their eyes. It is their children who were born and bred in the new countries of UK, USA and Europe who have no interest in Uganda. After 34 years, Idi's refugees who left in their prime in 1972 are dead, dying or getting old.
My friend concludes,"Uganda is history. Kenya is sunk with corruption. Tanzania made a mockery of itself by adopting those stupid doctrines under Nyerere."
I am lost. I must respond to this in the future.
By the way, my friend meant "buggers" when he referred to them as -------. Have you noticed how so many Asian people use this vocabulary without knowing its real meaning?
Gosh! I have been away for far too long... I must write more regularly. My sincere apologies to at least one regular reader who complained today!
"The nostalgia is overpowering, but nah!" said my friend. " Who wants to go back to Uganda and why, tell me why, after those ------- threw us out of the country when we were doing our best".
Here in lies a problem. Who should be angry and with whom? It was Idi Amin who expelled the Asians- lock, stock and barell. It was "the Dada" who exercised all his powers vested in him by the State. It is likely, if you try to read Amin's mind as the events unfolded between August and October 1972, that Amin stood in front of a mirror and said," Look, you. I mean 'you'. You have axepelledd those muhindees single handed." Power can be very reassuringly sweet if you are an Idi. You can expell the Asians with no problem about accountability. The mind of the dictator works with alarming detachment, almost in the same way as you drive a car whilst you are drunk. You know where you are going but the detail does not matter. You do not even notice that the person who was trying to stop you was a policeman.
Idi looked into the mirror and saw a very hazy figure. "Noh, it kannot be meeeh", he reprimanded himself. He stood there for a while. Then he looked around and noticed that the lighting in the room was very dull. "Must get those fakking fundis to repair the lights" he thought. Fundi, the techie was the clever Asian who used to fix his lights. " I am telling you thees" said Amin. " I am telling youh, we kaynot be in the duck just becos the muhindi has goan" he reassured himself.
The axepelled Asians who went to make their homes in the UK, US, Canada and elsewhere have fond memories of Uganda. They remember their childhoods there. They recall how they had made so many plans to work there, make the best of their lives and their dreams. The entreprenurial ones think how the Idi-o-tic Amin robbed them in their prime. The older ones who did not know that they were 'pensioners' until they realised that Idi Amin had cheated them by defining them by their age. Also, looking after old parents was no problem for the average Asian family. In fact, there was an element of virtue attached to it old parents must be looked after. This was in the Hindu scriptures. No, you must not ever deny your parents. There was the story of Sarwan puttar, ie Sarwan the docile son who had carried both in his parents together during his journey through life. Sarwan was the model son that evry Asian parent wanted.
The East African experience does matter to the axepelled muhindis...they have not lost their love and affection for the people of those countries. They still remember their childhoods in those countries with a tear in their eyes. It is their children who were born and bred in the new countries of UK, USA and Europe who have no interest in Uganda. After 34 years, Idi's refugees who left in their prime in 1972 are dead, dying or getting old.
My friend concludes,"Uganda is history. Kenya is sunk with corruption. Tanzania made a mockery of itself by adopting those stupid doctrines under Nyerere."
I am lost. I must respond to this in the future.
By the way, my friend meant "buggers" when he referred to them as -------. Have you noticed how so many Asian people use this vocabulary without knowing its real meaning?
posted by K Singh Ajimal at
8:14 pm
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