Conversations on the email

From: Chandrakant Patel <ckrpatel@gmail.com>
To: jamalv@yahoo.com
Sent: Thursday, 5 January 2012, 13:59
Subject: This and That

 

Hello Vali

 

Praful Patel (Jinja/Mumbai ) sent me your blog a few days back, with the news about a book on and about Uganda Asians that you have been working on.

 

I am truly gobsmacked! Such breathtaking ambition backed by so much diligence and discipline! Your wonderful blog is treasure trove of all things that glued us together (as in goondar), not least cricket and love of all things Gujju.Allow me to express my thanks and admiration for your efforts and , needless to say, I look forward to the publication and share it with my grandchildren!

 

In the meantime, I shall follow your blog to revive and bring back childhood memories of my schools-Old Kampala, Kololo and in 1958, Mbale. Truly miraculous to read about Premji, Salaudin, Noordin and Narottam and know that they are all well and united with each other and us, even if it is in the blogosphere.

 

Thanks to my mother, I met Narottam in Orlando in 1987: she took me ( but where else?) to a jewelry shop managed by Narottam! The Pattani's had very high reputation in Uganda (they surely would have earned the highest ISO rating even then) and Narottam carried it all the way to Orlando. Sadly, I lost contact with him, but was happy to learn that he is still active.

 

And who can forget the joy of watching Premji and Salauddin, respectively a gatherer and a hunter, pummel the Europeans! Premji dependable left-handed opener, complemented Salau, as elegant and stylish a batsman as one would ever wish to watch. But there were so many others (Kishore, Karamchand, Ramanbhai, Pinto, Gama, Maqsood and his gifted younger brother) who helped lighten our colonial burden by defeating them at their own game and on their own terms. Our cricketers in those blighted times were more than sportsmen: they surely were symbols of defiance and hope.

 

On a personal note, I must share with you my surprise that we managed not to meet! Our paths crossed but did not connect : schools in Kampala/Mbale, Cambridge (economics at King's '62-65), Uganda Civil Service (65-67 ), a US PhD in economics, international organisations (UNCTAD ), and Geneva!

 

So be it: but in case you are in Geneva, would be delighted to meet and catch up!

 

All the best, Chandrakant

 

Dear Chandrakant,

We did meet at Geneva! via my sister-in-law Perviz Mitha (UNHCR). Dharam Ghai was my mentor at ILO. Of course according to one anonymous poster on my blog I am a phantom person who claims to have degrees from good universities. Did you see his comments? He trampled on me for being a mere Bakuli boy as against his European-time residence on Kololo. He said he went to Winchester and sort of that he belonged to the Europeans' European-only club. A gate-crasher on my site mocking the owner. Nobody that he has mentioned could trace him. He's about 68. Hasn't posted for a while.

Thank you for reading my blog. I thought there'd be lots of interest, but from the number of visitors I may be wrong. That also augurs ill for my book. As you may see from my post today, I estimate there are only 40k of the pre-1972 Uganda Asian people left in the world - 8000 households. That's about the maximum readership possible. 4.8 years of work, 12/7, for just that? It was in me to do the book and if I didn't do it our history would be down the drain. The book should publish this year to coincide with the 50th/40th anniversaries coming up. May I invite you to contribute a piece on your life - say up to 1500 words, with pictures? Ancestors could be written up separately. More once I hear from you.

I'm ccing some of the people you have mentioned and some others in my book.

All the best. Quelle canton? Coppet, Communy? We lived right centre ville, rue Thalberg.

 

Vali Jamal, BA Cambridge, PhD Stanford, ILO economist 1976-2001. Kampala, Uganda. Uganda Asians: Then and Now, Here and There, We Contributed, We Contribute (1,111 pp; $71.11), forthcoming June 2012. Guaranteed to put you to sleep, except just don't read it in bed at the risk of abdominal hernia. visit
ww.vivaeastafrica.blogspot.com. No poverty equals ignorance, no support is greater than advice – Amir al Mu'minin (Commander of the Faithful) Ali ibn Abu Talib, 1st Shia Imam.