Back and Next - Back and NextA Stranger in New Delhi
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Traveling to India after the infamous terror attacks on its financial capital, Mumbai, on November 26th, comes with it new opportunities and challenges.
Events on that fateful day were not only disturbing especially to the detached observer, the image once again clearly manifested that the world to some extent is being run by some evil cabal. Despite advances in science and technology, not to mention a sophisticated security system, ten men entered the city destroying one of the most expensive hotels in the country; of course there were human causalities. At least one hundred and seventy people died.
Like the United States, when they were attacked on 9/11, the authorities in India cannot come to terms with why it should happen in Mumbai? With all these issues at hand, the Indian Ambassador in Dakar had already written a note verbale, informing us (meaning myself and Pierre YS Sylva) that we have been accepted to study a diploma course on development journalism at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication.
The letter, written two months before the Mumbai attacks, categorically stated that we should be in India before the 12th January. However, when the terrorists hit Mumbai, some of my friends expressed concern about our safety while in India considering that CNN and AL Jazeera reports spoke volumes about the imminent war between New Delhi and Islamabad, after the later accused the former of having played a role in the Mumbai attacks.
Unfortunately the post Mumbai attacks witnessed the firing of top government officials in India, sporting events were abruptly cancelled. At some point, we were anxiously waiting to receive the bad news - that the journalism programme has been suspended due to security reasons. Somehow I said to myself the Indian diplomat in Dakar want to use the spirit of diplomacy; may be the air tickets were not going to come so that we will know the programme has been suspended.
On 16th December, 2008, I received a call from the Indian Embassy in Dakar that we should contact Satguru travels on Kairaba Avenue for our air tickets. Now we hoped that if nothing calamitous happened between now and January 9th we would surely be in Mahatma Gandhi's country.
A Setback
At a time when the authorities are paying colossal sums of money to advertise the country with words like 'incredible India', paradoxically some people bent on bringing the country to its knees were already hatching plans to destroy India.
In as much as the country's economy was booming, foreign investors and tourists would not come to a country which is about to go to war, a country whose airports are on high alert of a possible terror attack. These were some of the challenges the authorities in New Delhi could not over come, yet the international media like CNN and BBC were doing their best by inflaming the antics of war, the sound bites from the movers and shakers of Pakistan and India pointed out that war was imminent.
For God sake what are we going to do in a country that is about to go to war? On one occasion CNN's Senior International Correspondent, Nic Robertson, reported that Indian troops were advancing closer to the border with Pakistan, noting that it was a sign that two nuclear nations were perhaps bracing up for a military showdown. After a long and boring flight from Banjul, Dakar, Bamako, Addis Ababa, we landed in New Delhi, 10am local time. After settling down at the IIMC, I ran into a group of students most of whom were at the institute to study courses on media and communications.
A Tanzanian journalist shifted our discussion to the infamous Mumbai attacks. If I knew what he was going to say, I was going to change the topic considering the fact that memories of that attack was still new and fresh in the minds of many Indians. They say words are the trigger of a gun, once you release them they are bound to create an impact.
This is what the Tanzanian man said: 'Do you have terrorists here'? The Indian student was not happy with the question, and suddenly he responded; "don't you people have terrorists in Africa?" Thank God the question was never answered. Nevertheless the Indian man continued: "terrorists are every where." We had to disperse and join the other students going to the city. Enter Jesus Betancourt, (not the Columbian Ingrid Betancourt).
In the streets of New Delhi
If you believe in predestination then follow this story. While in class our course coordinator asked us to introduce ourselves. Of all those who introduced themselves, to me Betancourt's introduction was one of the most striking. This is what he said: 'My name is Jesus Betancourt, but you can call me G'. Little did I know that this man was also leo like I am, and by all indications it seems he has a thorough understanding of the art of astrology and metaphysics.
We went to the market to buy some food provisions and sweaters. Unlike me, Jesus was on the whole learning Hindi. So my partnering with him yielded fruits when we went to the market. An incident involving us and a rickshaw driver (Batch’s car) once again brought to mind the greedy taxi drivers in West Field who would want to rob you off your properties if you don't pay them double. The taxi driver thought we were 'wa cha bu bess,' so he can charge us double. Jesus told him that we can only pay thirty rupees because that was the actual rate.
Watch out for part 2.
The author is a Senior Producer at GRTS, currently pursuing a diploma programme on development journalism at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi.
Events on that fateful day were not only disturbing especially to the detached observer, the image once again clearly manifested that the world to some extent is being run by some evil cabal. Despite advances in science and technology, not to mention a sophisticated security system, ten men entered the city destroying one of the most expensive hotels in the country; of course there were human causalities. At least one hundred and seventy people died.
Like the United States, when they were attacked on 9/11, the authorities in India cannot come to terms with why it should happen in Mumbai? With all these issues at hand, the Indian Ambassador in Dakar had already written a note verbale, informing us (meaning myself and Pierre YS Sylva) that we have been accepted to study a diploma course on development journalism at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication.
The letter, written two months before the Mumbai attacks, categorically stated that we should be in India before the 12th January. However, when the terrorists hit Mumbai, some of my friends expressed concern about our safety while in India considering that CNN and AL Jazeera reports spoke volumes about the imminent war between New Delhi and Islamabad, after the later accused the former of having played a role in the Mumbai attacks.
Unfortunately the post Mumbai attacks witnessed the firing of top government officials in India, sporting events were abruptly cancelled. At some point, we were anxiously waiting to receive the bad news - that the journalism programme has been suspended due to security reasons. Somehow I said to myself the Indian diplomat in Dakar want to use the spirit of diplomacy; may be the air tickets were not going to come so that we will know the programme has been suspended.
On 16th December, 2008, I received a call from the Indian Embassy in Dakar that we should contact Satguru travels on Kairaba Avenue for our air tickets. Now we hoped that if nothing calamitous happened between now and January 9th we would surely be in Mahatma Gandhi's country.
A Setback
At a time when the authorities are paying colossal sums of money to advertise the country with words like 'incredible India', paradoxically some people bent on bringing the country to its knees were already hatching plans to destroy India.
In as much as the country's economy was booming, foreign investors and tourists would not come to a country which is about to go to war, a country whose airports are on high alert of a possible terror attack. These were some of the challenges the authorities in New Delhi could not over come, yet the international media like CNN and BBC were doing their best by inflaming the antics of war, the sound bites from the movers and shakers of Pakistan and India pointed out that war was imminent.
For God sake what are we going to do in a country that is about to go to war? On one occasion CNN's Senior International Correspondent, Nic Robertson, reported that Indian troops were advancing closer to the border with Pakistan, noting that it was a sign that two nuclear nations were perhaps bracing up for a military showdown. After a long and boring flight from Banjul, Dakar, Bamako, Addis Ababa, we landed in New Delhi, 10am local time. After settling down at the IIMC, I ran into a group of students most of whom were at the institute to study courses on media and communications.
A Tanzanian journalist shifted our discussion to the infamous Mumbai attacks. If I knew what he was going to say, I was going to change the topic considering the fact that memories of that attack was still new and fresh in the minds of many Indians. They say words are the trigger of a gun, once you release them they are bound to create an impact.
This is what the Tanzanian man said: 'Do you have terrorists here'? The Indian student was not happy with the question, and suddenly he responded; "don't you people have terrorists in Africa?" Thank God the question was never answered. Nevertheless the Indian man continued: "terrorists are every where." We had to disperse and join the other students going to the city. Enter Jesus Betancourt, (not the Columbian Ingrid Betancourt).
In the streets of New Delhi
If you believe in predestination then follow this story. While in class our course coordinator asked us to introduce ourselves. Of all those who introduced themselves, to me Betancourt's introduction was one of the most striking. This is what he said: 'My name is Jesus Betancourt, but you can call me G'. Little did I know that this man was also leo like I am, and by all indications it seems he has a thorough understanding of the art of astrology and metaphysics.
We went to the market to buy some food provisions and sweaters. Unlike me, Jesus was on the whole learning Hindi. So my partnering with him yielded fruits when we went to the market. An incident involving us and a rickshaw driver (Batch’s car) once again brought to mind the greedy taxi drivers in West Field who would want to rob you off your properties if you don't pay them double. The taxi driver thought we were 'wa cha bu bess,' so he can charge us double. Jesus told him that we can only pay thirty rupees because that was the actual rate.
Watch out for part 2.
The author is a Senior Producer at GRTS, currently pursuing a diploma programme on development journalism at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi.
Author: By Ebrima Baldeh
See Also - See Also