Mar 01, 2015: By T R Ramachandran for FPJ – Part memoir, part travelogue, part history, this book is an insightful and deeply moving meditation on the Indians of East Africa and what it means to call a place one’s home.
An Indian African born in Nairobi (Kenya) and raised in neighbouring Dar-es-Salaam (Tanzania) emigrated to Toronto in Canada but finds his primal home in East Africa irresistible. For acclaimed author M G Vassanji his home continues to be in Kariakoo.
He finds the temptation of travelling to his homeland irresistible. In his memoirs he views East Africa as a melting pot of Asia, Africa and Arabia. It is the story of the enterprising Gujarati Indians of that particular area in Dar-es-Salaam for whom it is both home and not home. It is a travelogue inevitably intertwined with history.
His narrative is simple, direct and uncomplicated. He regrets that from abroad “I often see Africa perceived merely as a place of war, disease and hunger, a sick entity deserving pity and sustenance and all help possible.” What he finds disturbing is people constantly asking: Is there hope for Africa as it seems it is the world’s perpetually poor relation.”
Click here to read more And Home Was Kariakoo | Free Press Journal.
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