Opinion Rhythm under the African sky

Nobody knows how many Zambian natives had seen the falls before him. But Livingstone marked his discovery,the town got his name. On the banks of Zambezi River bordering Zambia and Zimbabwe,people told us that dangerous crocodiles and hippopotamus inhabit the calm 3,540-kilometre waters. If you fall in there,the crocodiles will not take more than seven minutes to put you in their stomach. Then suddenly the river’s beauty changed dramatically,tumbling headlong down 108 metres to become the gushing,misty Victoria Falls. Victoria is followed by Iguazu Falls between Brazil and Argentina,the world’s second highest at 82 mts,and third highest is Niagara Falls,51 mts at the US-Canada boundary. In worldwide fame,it’s Niagara’s majesty we’ve always heard of,perhaps because it’s part of the developed West. But the widest falls is Iguazu at 2,700 mts,followed by Victoria 1,708 mts,with Niagara the third widest at 1,203 mts.

Driving from the airport,Livingstone didn’t seem too different from an Indian C town. Except there were fewer people and tourist information in English indicated tourism to be the most important income. The good part of British colonisation is that it paves the way for livelihood of local natives. The few hotels and hired cars in Livingstone proved they were living off tourists. Election billboards had smiling mug-shots of the president,others of his opponent called for corruption clean-up. It didn’t look as if we had reached Africa—we had seen similar scenes in India. An insurance company hoarding displayed a big electric bulb,pointing out that you could die of an electric shock,so it was better to insure! This signalled to me that we were in Africa. Going forward,a man on a bicycle was overloaded with plastic cans. It seemed we were back in India again. But why was he nervously waiting by the roadside? Our guide Simon explained that he’d stopped for fear of crossing the elephant pathway. We gasped as we suddenly spotted several huge wild tuskers and baby elephants ahead. They were frolicking on both sides of the road,enjoying an afternoon’s picnic stroll. Simon halted for our obvious camera clicks,but warned us not to get off the vehicle. What I learnt is that if you are at ground level with them,wild animals can attack. But as they don’t recognise machines or read them as prey,you’re safe when inside a vehicle.

Behind the elephants we heard the thunderous rumble of Victoria. The African jungles parted into an unending chasm. We were awestruck as the sunlight created unimaginable colours,reflections and illumination in the mighty waterfalls. But when you look down,you could get vertigo. While our family members went to check Victoria from the Zimbabwean side,my wife and I decided to visit Simon’s village. Without understanding the social aspects of African life,this trip would have been incomplete for me.

Simon’s village folk lived exactly like they’d always done. The small round mud huts with low roof had a single door and no window through which animals can attack at night. Villagers perforce went far out for water and firewood. We met a 17-year-old girl holding a baby. Simon told us she was raped by a married man. For this abuse,the tribe’s headman obliged him to pay regularly for the child’s upkeep. Others from this small village were away to work in another village,a few children greeted us; they had goats and chickens for company. In such native surroundings,you see a different kind of life from the beauty of the jungle,river and animals that tourists get to know. You can ask whether its poverty or culture that makes people live like this without being eaten up by capitalism or digital world devils.

The open markets of Livingstone were gypsy-like with fruits,vegetables,dry fish,furniture,second hand apparel and the occasional touristic handicraft-ware,all hanging under temporary thatched shelters. By 7 p.m. everything shuts down. This is like the weekly bazaar (haat) on Indian village outskirts,but here it’s the main city market. So it’s easy to gauge that investors of different hues were yet to come to Livingstone.

Simon’s biggest crib was against the current president Rupiah Banda whose election slogan was “A President for all Zambians.” His party has been ruling for 20 years. Michael Sata,a former train-station sweeper nicknamed “King Cobra” for his rough-spoken ways,was his electoral opponent. He’d served in the ministry of Kenneth Kaunda,liberated Zambia’s first president. Aside from anti-corruption,Sata is against Chinese investment. China is Zambia’s biggest foreign investor with $2 billion in copper,cobalt,nickel and coal mines. The day we left Africa,we heard “King Cobra” had won. Even under the African sky,anti-corruption has become the contagious winning strategy.

Shombit Sengupta is an international creative business strategy consultant to top management. Reach him at http://www.shiningconsulting.com