Blogs

I have known the Kutchi family for years; indeed, I went to high school with Ameer Khuchi in Tanga, Tanzania at the Popatlal Secondary School. It was a family not unlike mine then, or any other middle-class family of Asian Khojas whose ancestors made East Africa home. Ameer Kutchi was an athlete, a good cricketer,…

My cellphone with Mullah Mchungu’s name flashes about a minute after CNN calls the duo of Kamala Harris and Joe Biden as victors of the 2020 US presidential elections. I am glued to the idiot box the last three days, breaking only for salaat, sleeping off and on, using the loo, or working out; I…

The Land Of The Imams – II Since my last Blog riled the fiery feathers of a solitary fan because I used a supposed curse word (shit), I have decided to be super-nice and script only the nicest of words for Sohail’s and my second leg of our current trip; from Afghanistan to Iraq via…

Sohail Abdullah, my colleague and Senior Trustee for CAI, and I are traveling to Afghanistan for our semi-annual compliance audit of the very many CAI active projects in the country. This is my 45th trip to this overwhelmingly depressing and very challenging country that albeit has a special place in my heart. Traveling long distance…

My Tears Of Blood – Asma’s Story – Lest We Forget. I circulated the following Blog in December 2018. I am republishing an updated version now to keep the Rohingya tragedy and genocide alive with us – lest we forget. Little has changed in the two years since, except the ‘temporary’ camps begin to look…

Mullah Mchungu is the first person I’ve come to visit since I fly in from Sanford, FL, so concerned I am about his health, what with the Corona Doodoo spewing death worldwide, especially to the frail and elderly. I am dreading the worst but Hameesi, the Mullah’s lifelong caregiver, looks cheerful and upbeat as he…

Muharram Amongst The Doodoos The solemn days of Muharram are fast closing in so I rush back home to Sanford, FL from Tanzania where I am for two weeks inspecting/auditing CAI projects. Why? So that I can avoid the crush of Khoja mourners making their way to Dar from all over the world. It is…

Officially, Tanzania has a policy that all travelers entering the country carry a COVID-19 negative certificate. Murtaza Bhimani, CAI’s Africa representative brings this requirement to my attention a few days before I am to take off, putting me into a tizzy, trying to arrange a test. This is not so easy in Florida where the…

I Remember I remember Mama giving me a sumni (half a Tanzanian shilling; worth nothing now) to go purchase a half loaf of bread; a whole bread was a shilling (about US$0.000043 today). It was a karak-crisp white loaf, still kiln-warm, emitting tummy-rumbling aroma, the only variety available for purchase. The bread aisle at Walmart…

Bollywood A lot of us Asians born in East Africa in the fifties, sixties, and seventies were shaped, rightly or wrongly, by Bollywood of India; our paradigms and lives were molded by the images on the large silver screens where actors impacted, to a large extent, our lifestyles and sadly, our family values as well.…

Eid Qurbaani – 2020 COVID-19 Aid In Yemen Made worse by the incessant war and wanton loss of innocent life, the COVID-19 situating in Yemen is horrible and daunting. CAI donors have been, since 2017, committed to food, powder-milk and medical aid for these hapless people. Aid has also been sent for the relief and…

Understanding Dudu Corona… Wash your hands is the default instruction to my daughter Maaha Zainab. Her eyes beseech the skies in farce frustration. Wash your hands, we tell Jae, Zainab’s best friend as she enters home and before every meal. She’s home with us at least three times a week, giving cheer to Maaha Zainab,…

Khojasville It’s been almost three weeks since I moved to Khojasville located in Magnolia Park, Sanford, FL. This alcove is where about 40 Khoja families either own or rent properties. These Khojas, whose ancestry can be traced to Gujarat in Western India but once made East Africa home, share a common religion, culture, and food.…

Do Black Lives Really Matter? – Looking Within Me. (Most) of the world watches in shock and repulsion as three indifferent policemen slowly, deliberately, ebb the life of a black man, George Floyd. Floyd has his hands handcuffed behind him, his face thrust and pinned to one side on a street near a curbside in…

Fataakro Our world of over 7 billion people is a series of stories that, like it or not, connects us. All of us have a tale to tell; me, you, the garbage man emptying my trash onto the waste-truck outside, the stern yelling maulana who I have just finished listening to on YouTube telling me…