Category Archives: Society

Coping by copying

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If you want to cope in this rat race world of ‘education’, copy! Copy from your friend, copy from the Internet, copy from books, just copy. As a parent, I encourage you to do it, as long as you manage to get in to and graduate from a State Run University. As a private school owner, I encourage you to do it and bribe the officials so that my school will become reputable. As a friend, I help you do it as it is the shortest way to success. Continue reading →

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Pastors and Posters

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If one walks on the main streets of Addis especially when a main Christian holiday is around the corner, one cannot escape the rather chaotic view of colorful posters that are posted on poles, and on constructions site fences. The ‘pastors’, ‘prophets’, ‘apostles’ and the ‘anointed’ ones announce their upcoming ‘conferences’ or ‘miracle-filled’ services. Photographs will be posted as well. Continue reading →

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Book vendors in Addis

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I remember reading a fine piece on the book vendors in Addis a few years ago; it was on Addis Neger – a now defunct newspaper. The article mainly highlighted the plight of the vendors and how hard it was for them to make ends meet, as the market was not strong. Self help books were more popular then. They were also the ones that were more available and I presume no serious reader would buy such books.

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Knowing one’s stuff and shopping in Addis

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‘Emily really knows her stuff’ is one line in the lyrics of the theme song of Thomas and His Friends – a well written/made children’s TV series. Knowing one’s stuff is an amazing quality and which I believe distinguishes one from one’s peers. And more so if one is in business….

I had to buy some stationary for my office the other day and I was looking for a particular type of envelope in a certain colour. Knowing that it would be difficult to find what I wanted in the small stationary shops found everywhere, I went to Kazanchis – the stationary Mecca of Addis. I visited nearly 20 shops and half of them do not know what an A5 envelope is. That was shocking as I thought it was an elementary thing for stationary people to know. So much for knowing one’s stuff. I, though, found 2 or 3 people who knew their stuff well. And it was kind of refreshing.

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The Changing face of Addis

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Addis is plagued with housing problems. A friend of mine calls Addis a big slum. He lives in one of the impoverished sefers (who doesn’t?); he always says that he lives in a smaller slum located in the bigger slum (Addis). Well, it’s true (or has been true for many years).But now we can witness a wave of new constructions in Addis. Whenever I visit places where I haven’t been to for a while, I’m greeted with at least one new high-rise building ready to serve and another being constructed. The western style luxury houses constructed by real estate companies in the suburbs bring nostalgic feelings to returnees. The nouveaux riches, returnees and the upper middle class are direct beneficiaries of this economic surge. But for the likes of my friend who live in the slums, this means nothing. They even blame the rising cost of living in Addis on this economic surge.

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Leba Teyizo Dula Ayiteyekim (If you catch a thief, beat him up.)

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We Ethiopians may not see eye to eye on many things. But one of things we may agree about is the treatment of thieves. If you catch a thief, just beat him up. Beat him up more. And even more. And much more. He has to have his lessons – so that he wouldn’t come around again. Only few would mind if a thief is killed (‘murdered’ would be the right word) while being beaten – after all he’s a thief.I witnessed one of these thief beating ceremonies today. I heard some commotion going on the lane and I peered through my window. Some guys were chasing down a man. They caught him and immediately started beating him up. He allegedly stole two mobile phones from a computer store posing as a customer; it seemed that he was caught red handed. Others joined in the beating spree (just beat him up!). Nobody questioned if the beating was right. Then the building security personnel came out, took him inside. People were still beating him.

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The other side of Addis

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I heard a friend saying that a European colleague of his remarked Addis is a very safe city; her roads are better than most of the cities in East Africa. And that Sheraton Addis is one of the most luxurious hotels in the whole of Africa. And that people are friendly and polite.Well, this European’s image of Addis was quite different before he came here on business trips a couple of times. He thought of knife wielding muggers and hungry pedestrians, roads with potholes every few meters, expensive hotels with rats jumping around in the hotel room.

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The millennium craze and accommodation for the guests:

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Millennium Burger, Millennium Traditional Food Restaurant, Milennium…., Millennium….The list can go on. Entrepreneurs have already been making advantage of the craze to make some fortune out of it. Hotel rooms are being expanded; various committees are set up (with the way things are going, they will set up a committee that will oversee all other committees); NGO’s are getting pamphlets published; etc.

There seems to be an air of expectation in Addis. Of course, with celebrations poised to start as early as June 2007 (Sene 1999), a lot of us have something for diversion. Diversions from the housing problems, diversions from the water problems, diversions from the inflation…..

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Pollution and the environment in Addis – as seen by a driver

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Well, Addis may not be as polluted as Bombay or Sao Paulo or Beijing. I’m afraid, however, that pollution is on the rise. Going to work early morning, I have to drive along numerous Anbessa buses, inter – city transport buses, trucks and the like. When many of these vehicles shift gears or climb steep roads, the amount of smoke that comes out is horrible to see. A driver may escape the immediate effects of the smoke by rolling up his/her windows. Yet, it’s dangerous because the visibility will be threatened for some seconds – mind you an accident may happen. The smog seen in Addis (in mornings) is a witness to the long-lasting effect of the smoke.
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Fireworks and Commonsense

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Yesterday afternoon, I was sitting with friends in a café. The Addis Ababa Stadium was in full site and it looked like there was some kind of procession going on (it was the Ethiopian Sports Meet – we later learnt). We were chatting and suddenly one of us shouted ‘fireworks, fireworks!’ We thought it was on the giant LCD screen in the Meskel Square. No, it was not. It was being detonated from the inside of the Addis Ababa Stadium. It didn’t look accidental because it was repeated for some time.
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