Karibou Kenya

Perceptions are usually entrenched so deep in us that they can become a strong deterrent for us in discovering people, places, etc, especially the negative ones. The plus side of negative perceptions though is that when they get proven wrong they can come as a very nice surprise. I imagined Africa to be a little worse than the westerner’s view of India as the land of snake charmers and elephants; I imagined it to be wild, dangerous, possibly poverty/hunger stricken, hot/humid and even arid until I reached the shores of Nairobi, Kenya.

I guess I completely forgot about it being the cradle of entire humanity and bunch of other animals; the sheer audacity of my perceptions required them to be shattered in an equally dramatic manner and Nairobi did just that! 25 degree Celsius in the day and 10-15 degree in the night, greenery in the city that puts a Bangalore of 10 years earlier to shame, friendly people and scurrying Toyota, VW, Audi, Nissans, Mercedes and BMW Sedans/SUVs. The prices of things in the city were more expensive than Mumbai and the city was cleaner, greener, with better roads and buildings like no other city in India.

The Colonial outlook and customs were evident and were still ingrained in the people in their courteousness, their food and their customs. English was second language and was easily spoken and understood. They wear suits to office everyday didn’t see no flower prints in the office though I did see some radically cut dresses in the clubs! I also saw a few instances of extreme use of suits; I witnessed a hair stylist in full suit working on a clients hair, I am not sure if he had an engagement to attend immediately after!

The country was firmly on the path of progress and had an effective law and order system, the traffic sense and behavior of people on the road was in stark contrast to the raging madness of our cities. The country boasts of natural parks which are part of the seven natural wonders where you can watch the annual migration of millions of animals from the hotels along the river at $5000 a night or drive through the miles and miles of rose and coffee plantations. One has to partake in the fruits, vegetables and meats to get a taste of they were meant to be consumed.

For the people with more conventional tastes the land is of more liberated race than ours, the women are more liberated and proud the human watering holes are the proof, the clubs are open until the wee hours of the morning and the music, women and of course the alcohol are intoxicating. One finds women here working across the industries and you would see them as easily as bouncers/guards outside the clubs to being waitress in restaurants, in usual jobs and as management in professional companies. As a country they are multi-cultural with representation from different tribal zones and various African countries themselves. If you still don’t believe me ask the Indians settled here they choose to remain here for the good life! Of course everything is not like this across the country, there is poverty, hunger and disease outside the cities, medical treatment is exorbitant but we too have these problems don’t we?

The cradle of humanity did teach me a grand lesson on perceptions, humility and our place in the world and a PYT taught me four Swahili words Habari (hi/hey/helo/how are you), Emzuri (I am good), ashante (thank you) and kribu (welcome)!

Ashante!

Encounters of the wrong kind

I am still trying to get my head around the Ayurvedic massage, I mean around the concept not in the context of any physical contortion. Did Patanjali recommend it in his Ashtanga yoga or did Sushruta or Charaka mention it in their books on Ayurveda? What is the link between nasty warm herb infused nasty smelling oil being poured on you or being rubbed into you and healing? There were far too many questions and too few answers, so I took the explorers route and decided to try it out for myself.

The appointed day came and I walked into the center which was well lit up and friendly looking place with Ayurvedic powders, soaps, shampoos and oils lined neatly on shelves. I walked up to the counter not knowing what to expect, a wiry man greeted me asked me my name and made some officious looking entries in a register and asked me to step (was that a tarantula in the poem ‘won’t you step into my parlor?’) into this room with a complicated looking wooden table in its center. The room itself bore the look of having been drenched in oil while the table glistened with it. For some strange reasons the table started reminding me of medieval torture alters, but I dismissed the thought and got into the uniform (ahem .. I mean the loin cloth).

Lying motionless on the oily table with large quantities of oil on me I couldn’t but help noticing the extremely convoluted human psyche and the perverse sense of humor of our existence. Probably Freud attained enlightenment on a masseur’s table, but one can only guess who the masseur would have been in his case though. Here you are enjoying the de-stressing effect on you as the masseur works the kinks out of your body, but you are also uncomfortable with the experience all at the same time … ‘did he linger too long there’ … ‘damn can’t even move, least he thinks I am enjoying….’ … ‘this is very awkward’ …. If all of this wasn’t rattling enough I was trying not to giggle one because I am a little ticklish and two the entire irony of the situation (mine) was a little too amusing! Finally the hour was up and the masseur handed me a towel a bar of soap and pointed me to the nearest bathroom. Whew!

From a sheer scientific standpoint I feel that except for the very debatable medicinal qualities of the Ayurvedic oil used the technique itself is pretty mundane. A hot tub relaxes you to a large extent without jangling your psyche and if the kinks have not worked out yet, you can sit longer or even sip a glass of wine while in the tub. And if oil is the only difference than I know why the infamous Asian massage parlors do well, they have the oil, they have the table but minus the discomfort and awkwardness of the situation (if you catch my drift). Of course, there is a flip side to those parlors as well especially in case you have to deal with guilty conscience arising from happy endings J!.