Return from the Vacation

Arriving in India after 27 months was a real excitement, and meeting my own people at home was a sheer pleasure.Sharing my experiences of Uganda, the social life, climate, living conditions there, the simple folk, food  habits and the life style was of great interest to all. It was just a happy reunion with people at home. Life in India was simple as usual. Having landed in India during summer months, the sweltering heat of north was quite an experience after the pleasant cool climes of Uganda. Nothing unusual for me though.

Time was flying. Then got a breaking news and shocking indeed. In August, 1972, President Amin declared that all Asians (Indians) especially with British passports had to leave the country within 90 days. Nobody could believe it. The Indians were taken to Uganda Protectorate by the British in late 19th century, as labour was to lay the railway lines from the coast to the interior for the haulage of the produce from the country to Britain and the finished products from there to Uganda. It was to open up the interior, when the roads and communication were almost non existent. Those early Indians in Uganda and elsewhere did pioneering work. They constructed rail lines, maintained the services and run the rail traffic in an efficient manner. Later they diversified into small businesses, starting dukas in the remote areas in the countryside. As the time went on their progeny went into various professions, like medicine, teaching, nursing, engineering and accounting etc. Still later they started cotton and sugar cane production. Then gradually went into industrial processing of cotton, sugar, beer and glass etc. This is all well documented in the early history of East Africa. With the stroke of a pen, all this was to come to an end. Most of the Indians had to be out of Uganda in a period of three months. There was a lot of turmoil in Uganda.

As my time for return to Uganda was approaching, my apprehension was growing. I got in touch with Uganda High Commission in Delhi. I wanted to make sure whether the Ministry of Health in Uganda still required my services. So there was a correspondence in this regard and I was assured that my services were very much needed by the Ministry. I was of the opinion that I should not embark on my journey before the deadline set for the exodus of the Indians lest I land in the already troubled waters. Once the deadline had passed, I started my journey for Uganda by taking the Air India Boeing 707 flight from Bombay-Nairobi-Entebbe on 30 November. The plane was almost full and to my great surprise all disembarked in Nairobi. On the next leg of journey to Entebbe for one hour, I was the lone passenger in the flight. This gave a little uneasy feeling. The crew were also showing a surprise that I was heading for Uganda from where the Indians were fleeing from the torture of Idi Amin. It was on  that day that I had a queer feeling of a lone Maharaja travelling by the Air India flight. 

The plane touched Entebbe at about 4 in the afternoon. As expected, the airport was being manned by the young Ugandan soldiers, who wouldn't allow any Indian entering Uganda. There was an official from the Ministry of Health, Entebbe to receive me at the airport with a letter from the Ministry.  The soldiers were in no mood to listen to any argument to allow me in. The officer called the Ministry of Health from the airport and Dr. SLD Muyanga, Chief Medical Officer, rushed to the airport to solve this tangle. No amount of explanations or arguments could cut the ice with the soldiers. I was not one of those Indians affected by the expulsion orders of Amin, not being one of the old settlers, a businessman nor with a British passport but  an expatriate on contractual terms with the Government of Uganda. 

The plane was to head back at 5 PM. I was told by the purser on the plane that once I arrive in Bombay, they will have to keep my passport till I paid for the travel from Entebbe to Bombay for which I had no ticket. That done, the flight took off with a few Indians who were on their way to India. I was in a mental turmoil while on journey of one hour to Nairobi. As the plane touched the tarmac in Nairobi and we were proceeding to the transit lounge, somebody was asking for Dr. Gupta. I wondered I had no acquaintance in Nairobi and yet somebody is looking for me there. He was one Mr Kapoor, Airport Manager, Air India. He told me that he had received a telex message from Uganda to contact me and to issue me a ticket Entebbe-Nairobi-Entebbe if I am willing to go back to Uganda. I was in a bad state of mind and very furious and on the spur of the moment refused to go back. Mr.Kapoor was very cool, and offered me coffee and requested me to calm down and reconsider the proposal of the ministry of Health. The plane was to leave for Bombay after one hour. He asked me think about it  with a cool mind, and he would return in half an hour. Thinking with a cool mind about all the aspects, I decided to go back to Uganda and Mr Kapoor  gave me a ticket for a flight back to Uganda by an East African Airways flight to London via Entebbe at midnight. Again everyone on the plane was surprised to see me entering troubled waters.

The same official from the Ministry was there to see me through. This time there was no checking at all and the soldiers waved me on. I was lodged in Lake Victoria Hotel,  and in the evening Dr Muyanga came to see me and explained the whole affair how the problem got solved. After failing to solve the issue at the airport and as my plane started for Nairobi, he went back and contacted the Minister of Health, Dr Gesa who was in a cabinet meeting, among them one the Minister of Interior, who allowed my reentry and saw to it that the same soldiers remained on duty so as not to repeat the problem, and also got in touch with Air India officials there in Nairobi to authorize the issuance of the relevant ticket. It was a great relief for me with all that was going on in the country at that time. Brisk consultations and quick action on the part of various officials could solve this tangle to a satisfactory level. My own state of mind was in turbulence those days when I was resting in the Lake Victoria Hotel and waiting for my unaccompanied baggage to arrive. It took about a week, good for me to have a relaxed period and meet people of various hues and exchange views on very hot topics of those days. In the hotel, I met Dr I. N. Bhatia family who were leaving Uganda for good.. He left Hoima Hospital, where I replaced him.