Face to face with the gods of India
The journey started from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja to the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport ,and to Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi via Ethiopian airlines Boeing 777-200lr and Boeing 737-800.
The trip sponsored by the Indian government through its External Affairs Ministry was for the coverage of the 12th CII-EXIM Bank Conclave on India-Africa Project, and to attend a workshop on “Writing and Reporting for print and Electronic Media” at the Jamia Millia Islamia university.
The first port of call from the airport was the Eros hotel in Nehrus place, New Delhi where 30 journalists selected from 23 African countries were accommodated for the 16 day programme. Right from inside the airport, a dog, referred to as a god was seen and that was the beginning of my encounter with a thousand gods of Indians.
In New Delhi, gods are everywhere including on the road. It’s a common sight to see cows competing on the road with motorists. It’s compulsory for motorists to slow down for the gods to cross the roads. Otherwise, the person will incur the wrath of those worshipping the animals.
This is not limited to roads alone. Everybody has his or her god in India. A tuk-tuk (Keke NAPEP) operator has a god in his tricycle, he worships it before the commencement of his daily business. It’s same with the operators of taxies and buses.
At hotels, shops, malls, markets among other places, gods are there in the form of statues, flowers and animals. Everywhere you go, there is a god being worshipped and revered by the owners . It’s common everywhere in India, especially among the non-Muslims and non-Christians in the country.
For instance, at the Eros hotel, two statues of elephants were strategically placed . Daily, our correspondent observed during his stay there that fresh flowers are hung on the gods as part of the activities for the worship of the non-living thing. It’s a no-goarea for strangers and patrons of the hotel.
Expressing shock on the numerous gods of Indians, an Ethiopian journalist, Asrat Seyoum Chefeke said,” It is perplexing to still see some Indians buying cow dung for worshipping in this century.
“One of the things I have noticed in my short interaction with locals is that they have become very complacent with sacred cows and their place in even big cities like Delhi. Without having any information people just conclude at the sight of any traffic congestion, that there is cow crossing the road or just resting there,”he said.
Ebonyi Gov, Nigerian rep sleeps at Conclave
After the performance of the traditional tika, a red dot on the forehead of the journalists by the hotel officials, Mr. Rajender Kumar, the publicity Officer of the External Affairs led us to Taj Palace hotel for the 12th Confederation of Indian Industry(CII)-EXIM Bank Conclave on India-Africa Project Partnership. That was the second day of our arrival.
Two Nigerians were on the programme of events made available to all in attendance. Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh and the Governor of Ebonyi state Governor, David Umahi were the Nigerian representatives.
While Ogbeh was conspicuously absent throughout the event, Umahi was there with the Speaker of Ebonyi state House of Assembly, the Secretary to the Ebonyi state government and two others. The Conclave was organized to stimulate the partnership between India and the Africa continent.
Our correspondent reports that Umahi who was to speak during a session themed, “Made in Africa: Is Africa on the threshold of a manufacturing Renaissance”. was conspicuously absent during the session. His aides said he was asleep when our correspondent contacted them.
For his part, Ogbeh was absent throughout the session and no representative of the Ministry of Agriculture was available. Daily Trust reports that on the programme of events, Ogbeh was to speak in a session on “Nurturing deep-rooted partnership for total food security”.
Speaking during the opening ceremony, the Indian President, Shri Pranab Mukherjee reiterated the commitment of his country to assist in accelerating the development of the African continent.
The President said that India has supported development in Africa through Lines of Credit estimated at over US$7 billion under the IAFS process. “Our collaboration extends across a wide spectrum. We have offered fifty thousand scholarships to our African brothers- six thousand Africans have since trained under IAFS-3.
“By 2050, India and Africa will be home to close to four billion people. Our combined GDP will be over USD thirty five trillion. We need to work together for the promise of a new tomorrow for the people of India and the people of Africa, “Mukherjee said.
Guest of Honour at the occasion, King Mswati III of Swaziland expressed satisfaction over the pledge by the Indian government to assist in fasttracking the development of Africa. Except for the two Nigerian reps, other African representatives invited graced the two day event.
The ceremony was climaxed with a cultural display that the master of ceremony described as the rope that ties India together. In her words, “this is the rhythm of the Indian bands, it joins the North, South, East and West of the Indian together”. Skyscrapers Vs makeshift houses, The two sides of India It was after the Conclave that we commenced our workshop at Jamia Millia Islamia University
which was established in 1920 during the freedom movement in response to Mahatma Gandhi’s call for boycotting educational institutions aided and controlled by the British.
The training held at the Anwar Jamal Kidwai (AJK) Mass Communication Research Centre of the University lasted for the remaining days of our stay in Delhi.It was like a refresher course. Even though the timetable programme was ‘overcrowded’ we had opportunities to explore New Delhi. We spent our leisure time going to places.
There are hundreds of makeshift houses for the homeless which are competing with skyscrapers on one side. It is not abnormal to see people living under bridges. The makeshift houses dotted the place.
From the makeshift houses, beggars, petty traders, artisans and others go out for their daily businesses in the Indian capital. The sight of makeshift houses is an eyesore,it defaced the city which is said to be housing close to 30million persons.
Also, roadside restaurants compete with KFC and other super eateries. While the poor go for the roadside restaurants which are most times on bicycle driven-carts, the rich patronize the big restaurants. The sight of locals eating on the roads abound everywhere.
It’s left-hand drive in India, yet the rate of accidents on their roads was low during the period of our visit. The steering of their vehicles are on left hand side.The drivers are reckless, hold-up was normal in the city and yet there was little respect for traffic. Tuktuk, popularly known as KEKE NAPEP in Nigeria and bicycle driven-cart are commercial means of transportation.
At markets, our correspondent had numerous encounters with Indian beggars who were firm in soliciting for money. In many occasions, the beggars were seen holding firmly on people seeking for alms. Always you will see the beggars running after people especially foreigners, saying, “give me money”, I’m hungry “and all that are regular on their lips.
Similarly, the four and a half hour time difference between India, Nigeria and other African countries was another memoir.The trip ended when the journalists were getting acclimatized to the variation in time.
Speaking on the makeshift houses, a retired journalist with Tribune of India, Robbi kashyap said the People are living under bridges because of poverty.
“In India, there are three classes. Rich, average and extremely poor people. Poverty is there everywhere. It is because of poverty and they get into the habit of begging even when they are physically fit. They get into the habit. You know when you get free money, you don’t want to work,”he said.
However, a top official of the external affairs Ministry said the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promised to provide houses for all in 2022. He stressed that in five years time, there won’t be people living under the bridge again.
Visits to Hindustan Times
To make the trip memorable, the organisers took us to the India gate, Hindustan Times,
CNN-News18 and Taj Mahal. Indian gate, On arrival at the India gate, tourists in their hundreds were seen taking pictures.
The gate which was built in 1921 by Edwin Lutyens was in commemoration of erstwhile British Indian Army. After India’s independence, the gate which is centrally located at the middle of New Delhi became the site of Amar Jawan Jyoti, the Indian Army’s tomb of unknown soldier.
The visit to Hindustan Times was memorable. We were received by Rajesh Mahopatra, the Chief Content officer of the paper. Established in 1924, the paper has a circulation strength of 1.7m and 6,000 staff, according to Mahopatra
“Aside from the printed version, people read us on Facebook, Google, twitter without being paid. Instead of photos, we do slide show and video clips are posted on our website. We engage our readers on 24 hours basis. We encourage our advertisers to patronize our online platforms, “he said.
The visit to Taj Mahal, built by Shah Jahan, the fifth Indian emperor for his wife Mumtaz Mahal at the cost of $1bn was memorable as the trip to CNNNews18, an Indian Englishlanguage news television channel based in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.