Bengaluru 25 October (H.S.) :
At times , the perception about East Africa is far from truth . It takes efforts to report the ground reality . Tanzania in particular commands special attention.
Dar Es Salam the commercial capital of Tanzania is a glaring example of the see it to believe development not only in terms of Standard of living but also Infrastructure.
Dar Es Salaam is well connected by Air from India. It’s about 6 hours journey from Mumbai via a direct flight.
From Bengaluru Dar Es Salaam is about 12 hours by Air . One has to travel to middle East around three and half hour flight , two hours lay over and then take a connecting flight of around five and half hour to reach Dar Es Salaam.
The International Airport at Dar Es Salaam is a modern Airport capable of handling large aircrafts as well as small turbo prop aircrafts. The commercial business district of Dar Es Salam is around 35 kms from the airport.
Dar es Salaam is a beehive of Commercial activities . It houses MNCs, Media Houses , Tech Companies, Infrastructure Development Companies and Real Estate companies.
India has huge representation of Business houses like TVS Motors, Tata Motors , Mahindra Auto mobiles, Airtel Telecom , Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda and a host of other companies.
It is worth recording that , India and Tanzania have had great bilateral relations over the centuries. Dar Es Salaam is a home to Diplomatic Missions of major countries of the world including India. The city is Cosmopolitan in nature . Indian Diaspora is a well knitted community in Dar Es Salaam and are very progressive in the field of trade and commerce.
The city boasts of multi national cuisines and Indian Restaurants like Chapan bhog, Chowpatty, Delhi Darbar , Sampan serve Indian Food . Most of the eataries seve North Indian food as well as South Indian delicacies.
South Indian foods like Idli, Dosa , Sambar , Rice are very popular not only amongst Indian diaspora but also locals. Tanzanian local delicacy like Ugali is very similar to Ragi Millet Ball of India . It is served with Chicken or fish Curry .
Temple Street is the citadel of Hindus of Tanzania. Temple complex of Swami Narayan, Lord Siva , Shirdi Sai Baba , Lord Ganesha . Organisations like Hindu Council, Patel Samaj have been doing great service to Indian diaspora in terms of providing religious Events and pooja rituals.
Lord Venkateshwara temple has priests coming over from Tirupati during special Festive season. It is worth noting that rituals like Hindu Marriage , Kalyanotsava, Satya Narayan pooja are conducted at the request of Devotees.
Each festival is held with utmost devotion and the Indian Diaspora assembles in large numbers thus representing the unity of all regions of India.
Indian School is one of major institute to impart CBSE Syllabus to the expat community children .
Dar Es Salaam city boasts of great residential zones and Masaki region is one of the best places to live .
Slip Way area in Masaki is touted as the most beautiful and expensive residential zones. Is the most preferred zone for Ambassadors , High Commissioners , Top Diplomats from Diplomatic Missions , thus making a statement of the importance of Dar es Salam in the land scape of World order.
HS Report
*R Manjunath Chavan
(The author lives in Dar Es Salaam and Bengaluru )
Hindusthan Samachar / Manjunath Chavan
