The Next Phase in Masaka

Two years of hectic activity in Hoima after the exodus of Asians was a unique experience. To work there in the country with depleted work force and the absence or near absence of essential things was a great learning period for doctors like me who were there and had to see that the services continue as normally as possible. For that one had to be imaginative, learn to live with minimal needs and innovate here and there, not only at home with regard to food , and also in the hospital while dealing with the sick patients. Working to the maximum capacity under those trying conditions and achieving satisfactory or good results was there to feel rather than describing on the paper in a few words. One does get the feeling that a human being has a lot of potential. Sadly this potential is not exploited.to its maximum for fear of failure or lack of guts or incentive or all combined together.

Now, it was a time for me to proceed on vacation to India in January, 1975. I had to be home by the third week of the month in order to be able to participate in the marriage ceremony of my youngest sister, whereas the elder one to her had already been married in October, 1974 in my absence. I started my journey well in time for that. Boarded the flight in Entebbe and arrived in Nairobi. The connecting flight from Nairobi to Bombay was delayed from London by 7-8 hours because of fog and the inclement weather. On demand the airline put  us up in a hotel in the mid of the town,called Hotel 680. The nomenclature appeared a little odd. Our first question to the receptionist was about the name of the hotel..He clarified that there were 340 double rooms in the hotel , hence, the Hotel 680. After that the flight to Bombay and Delhi was uneventful. I reached home just in time to partake in the marriage activities, and everything went well as planned.

I had a few quiet days of rest and then feverish activity of search for a suitable soul mate started through print media, of course. The quest ended towards the end of February and I got engaged to my wife, Meenakshi, and the wedding was solemnized in mid April. She had just completed her M.Sc. (Hons. School) in Biophysics from Panjab University in January. 

As my leave was about to end, I left for Uganda five days after the marriage. My wife was to join me later. The primary reason being the fear that without visa she may be denied entry in the country. However, later on it was confirmed that she will be provided with visa on arrival at the airport. Meenakshi arrived in Uganda in mid July,1975. We visited Mr. DK Goyal, Chief Roads Engineer based in Entebbe. They were like our parents and welcomed Meenakshi like a new daughter in law, which gave her a very good feeling in that far flung country. We continued to be in touch with the Goels, who later moved back to Delhi and settled in  East of Kailash.

Meanwhile, I was posted to Masaka Hospital, eighty miles south west of Kampala. There Dr MK De, was the Medical Superintendent. He was one of those 20 or so doctors recruited from India in 1969, I being one of them.

 In the initial days at Masaka, I had to stay in Hotel Tropic Inn till my house was ready for occupation after a week. I understand this hotel got destroyed in the bombing raids of liberating forces in 1979. 

Masaka at that time had a motley of expatriates of various nationalities, comprising Bangladeshis, Canadians, Dutch, French, Indians, Pakistanis and Russians. In the hospital there we had two Russian doctors, Magomedov, a surgeon and his wife a gynaecologist, two Bangladeshi doctors and a young Ugandan doctor as well.  There was one Dr Ronald Schuurs from the Netherlands, who was working in the bush at the Villa Maria Hospital, half way between Masaka and Kampala. We had a great interaction with his family.

We used to mix freely with one another without any prejudices. We used to often visit a Pakistani Magistrate, Justice Mehndi. He had migrated from Meerut to Pakistan in 1950s and his wife was from Lahore, a Punjabi. Mrs. Mehndi's Punjabi was like music to our homesick ears! The Mehndis would take care to ensure that our meals would be without beef, in deference to our religious sentiments. How times have changed now - I wonder how difficult would be interactions between Indians and Pakistanis today!

Along with the De family, Meenakshi and I took a few memorable weekend trips, including a boating expedition to Lake Nabugabo, near Masaka. Mr. Reddy (from Hyderabad), who was working with Tata Motors, in Kampala, joined us for the trip, alongwith his family. We stayed for two nights in the cottages on the shores of the lake, where early each morning, the fishermen would bring their fresh, early morning catch alongwith with some fresh fruit. This lake had the distinction of being the only lake in Uganda that was free from Bilharzia. The interactions we used to have with expatriates in Masaka, helped Meenakshi settle fast in the alien land.

But we must say that even Ugandans went a long way in making our lives a lot more richer. While we were in Masaka, we met a Ugandan District Education Officer (DEO), Mr. Katende. While conversing he got quite impressed with my wife's credentials, he immediately suggested that she must teach and must not sit at home, as there was a shortage of teachers there. Later, he spoke to the Headmaster of Kitovu Senior Secondary School and asked us to go and meet him. The Headmaster immediately appointed her as a teacher, and she started her teaching career. 

As and when we met again the DEO, he was of the opinion that she would be more suitable for the University and not for the school. On his insistence, we went and saw the Head of the Biochemistry in the University of Makerere in Kampala. He kept her testimonials and thesis for M.Sc. (Hons. School) for study. Later she was appointed as a Teaching Assistant and later a Lecturer in the Dept. of Biochemistry., and joined there in February 1976. 

Before she could start working there in the University, Dr AJ Lutalo Bosa, Head, Dept. of Biochemistry, gave me a letter of his intention of appointing Meenakshi in the University. The Health Ministry was quite amenable to transfer me to Kampala, saying that to get the services of two expatriates they will have to provide only one house, and one set of family air fare to India and back. Thus Uganda was gaining by utilizing the services of two officers. This gave a good foresight to their very pertinent thinking beneficial to their own country. With time, we developed a very strong bond with the Bosa family that still continues on till this day.

Years later, our daughter Neelima undertook a journey back to Uganda and met the Bosa family - she stayed with them for a day and they did lay down an impressive feast just like one would do for the homecoming of a loved one. Through the pictures, we could gather, it was a lot like a big family reunion.

Perhaps it is true that bonds like these do not depend on how often you interact. These bonds are timeless and priceless!