Beginnings in a New Land

ALL SET FOR CONNECTING TO THE MATRIX

To most of my friends, this will come as news that I am writing this post from BHEL's housing colony at Rabak, Sudan.
Just yesterday I finally got everything ready for setting up my own net connection. The Telecommunication network here is running 3.75G which means the speeds are not annoying...:)

MY LOCATION ON THE MAP

SUDAN- CONFLICTS AND HOPE

Sudan is a country in Northern Africa just south to Egypt. Its recent history in the 20th century has been scarred by the differences between the North and South. 
These are the differences which if left to their own, would only have been diversities but were aggravated by the policies of the British rule which has given the world some of the worst and most enduring conflicts of modern history.
The Israel-Palestine conflict, India-Pakistan partition are just a few examples of that legacy. There policies must have been adopted as a part of administering the diverse territories that the British held and its cannot be said with certainty that the English administrators could have foreseen these conflicts.


Coming back to Sudan, North Sudan came to embrace Islam following the Turkish Ottoman occupation in the 19th century. South Sudan, on the other hand, retained most of its indigenous semi-nomadic tribal identity. Both parts were administerd as separate provinces under the Anglo-Egyptian rule until its independence in 1956.
After independence, the country has undegone two bloody civil wars over the North-South conflict arising out of the desire to 'Arabize' the south. While Northerners favor the introduction of Islamic Sharia law in the country, it is stubbornly opposed by the Southerners.
The modern history of Sudan can be viewed as a classic case study of conflicts in the 20th century with the communist-capitalist divide, religion based divides, regional divides and parliamentarian vs dictatorial divide, all having played some role over the years.
You can find more information on the internet and is highly recommended.


Inspite of its bloody history that also involved the genocidal Darfur conflict, the country has been taken on a right path under the millitary based leadership. The referendum held in January 2011 showed that an overwhelming majority wants South Sudan as a separate country. It has been declared that July 9th, 2011 may well be the formation date for the world's newest country.
Already, migration has started between the two regions which, fortunately, has been bloodless unlike the 1947 partition of Indian subcontinent. Maybe, there is only as much bloodshed that a generation can take. But it is a hugely positive development.


While North Sudan will be a quite self sufficient country with dependable infrastructure, the South on the other hand, will be an impoverished nation with challenges similar to the ones faced by Nehru- Gandhi's India after independence. We atleast, had the physical and political infrastructure left by the British while the new country will have a plenty of work at its hand to ensure respectable lives for its citizens.
It is history in the making, and I wish that both nations will tread their separate path towards development.

THE DESIGNS THAT BROUGHT ME HERE

 THIS IS WHY I AM HERE....

Now coming to my presence in Sudan, I am posted here alongside 40 other BHEL employees who are bulding a 125 X 4 MW Oil based power plant. The major portion of the cost of this project is being shared by the Govt. of India. BHEL is the EPC (Enginnering, Procurement, Construction) contractor for the project. 

This basically means that the National Electricity Corporation of Sudan has provided us with a piece of land and all the other work for the project from Civil construction to Final commissioning is in our scope. A German consultant, Fichtner Stuggart Gmbh is providing know how to the Sudanese authorities.
The above shot of the power plant shows that its in a pretty skeletal condition at this time. It will take at least a few more months before my work can start in the earnest. Till then, I will be kept busy by other nuisances like planning, documentation etc. I haven't started enjoying this MANAGEMENT part of things yet, but this project will surely give me a taste of that.

A MAVERICK'S LIFE

I will update this blog with my experiences gradually. Today is a friday, and as this is an Islamic country, its a weekend here. My mind and body still has to work around the tedious job of not assuming Sunday as a weekend.
But I am doing most of my cleaning today.
There are local products available in the market here. The workforce mainly comprises of BHEL's Indian and Chinese sub-contractors. Shopkeepers are especially happy to recognize you as Indians here because they insist on Indian products which are sold a little costlier.

TIDE SAFEDI and CINTHOL..:)

Here you can see the good old tide and Cinthol Fresh that i  bought from the market. Tide for 4 Sudani Dirham..thats 76 INR and Cinthol for 2.50 SDG..thats around 40 INR.
A little extra cost I guess.

MY ROOM

Here's a shot of my room. We have office hours from 8 to 8 with a 2 hr lunch break. We come back and play a few games of volleyball in the evenings and at times basketball in the weekends. Basketball can only be played in the weekends as the court is at a distance from our campus. Me and a few other friends are planning to persuade our people to construct one right here..:) Life is pretty simple here. People around are simple minded and good to talk to. Maybe i can learn Arabic. Its not easy to learn but I so much want to. Lets see, maybe a year down the line I can speak some.

BHEL HOUSING...They're all meant to be temporary structures..:P

Life takes you to places and experiences you never imagined. Sitting with my college friends on the hostel roof at nights, back in 2008, I had never thought i would be in someplace like this. But as i say, I have had the privilege of living in some of the most non-descript places back in my country and i guess the pattern continues outside the border too..:)

But i am happy with things that have been happening around. Upheavals, traumas, travels, feelings, friends and goodbyes.
More on this sometime later. 
Till then....Goodbye.
Be well and healthy all of you..
Look for each and every opportunity of Peace, Adventure, Romance and Love. Pursue them with all your passion as best as you can..Life would be so much more exciting then.