Yaadaan De Parchhaavein: My Immigration to Kenya: A Perspective - 1967 HELEN: The HEROINE of my short story: HUM-CHHIN I boarded a ship, from Mumbai, India, on January 20, 1967 and travelled, for 13 fays, in the Indian Ocean, via Karachi(Pakistan) and Seychelles. I arrived at the Mombasa seaport of Kenya, on February 2, 1967. I did some sightseeing in Mombasa and then boarded a train on the 4th. of February, to arrive in Nairobi(Capital of Kenya), on February 5, 1967. Kenyan Punjabi writers Mehram Yaar and Ajit Sat Bhambra received me at the railway station. We had an exotic WELCOME JASHAN that evening, in Nairobi. On February 6th., I was interviewed by Mr. S.J. Katua(Recruiting Officer, Ministry of Education, Kenya) and was posted in Komothai High School which was about 50 Kilometres/24 Miles from Nairobi. I started teaching English Literature and English Language to Cambridge O Level students, on February 8th., in that school. I taught for almost 8 years, in Kenya and then decided to immigrate to Canada, in 1974. It was the 30th. of October, 1974, when Mehram Yaar, Ajaib Kamal, Raj Shergill, Jang Bahadur Gill, Harkanwal Gill and some other friends escorted me to the Embakasi airport, Nairobi. At that time the radio was running the commentary of the Heavy Weight Boxing Match between Mohammad Ali and George Foreman , from Zaire(Africa). ALI won the fight to regain his title and I boarded my flight to London, UK. I travelled in England, Europe and Sweden for a couple of months, before boarding my flight, on December 14th., from London(UK) to Vancouver, Canada. I met Helen, in Kenya. She is the Heroine of my short story: HUM-CHHIN(Kon Pratikon - 1971). I wrote this story, in an uninhibited manner, in 1970 and it created a stir in the Indian Punjabi literary circles. Pictures of the following are included: Kenyan Punjabi writers: Ajit Sat Bhambra, Mehram Yaar and Ravinder Ravi as well as Heroine of my story HELEN and Sculptor Avtarjeet(Dhanjal). S.J. Katua, (Recruiting Officer, Ministry of Education), Raj Shergill, Didar Bhambra, Masai women and others. Nairobi and Thika(kenya) and Arusha(Tanzania) - 1967, 1968, 1971 and 1974. Pics. by Harbhajan Marwaha, Ajaib Kamal, Ravinder Ravi and Raj Shergill.
Posted on: Fri, 17 Oct 2014 22:48:10 +0000