My friend Mr ELUVA (Friday C); incident 4: My farewell from Nigeria

after three out of many incidents with my Nigerian friend, Mr Eluva;
 https://shubhkamna-davendra.blogspot.com/2019/09/my-friend-mr-eluva-friday-c-incident-1.html
https://shubhkamna-davendra.blogspot.com/2019/09/my-friend-mr-eluva-friday-c-incident-2.html
https://shubhkamna-davendra.blogspot.com/2019/09/my-friend-mr-eluva-friday-c-incident-3.html,

here, I am describing very interesting and emotional incident.
In September 1988, I was leaving the University and Nigeria for good to join my new assignment with Addis Ababa University, Addia Ababa, Ethiopia.
My friend Mr Eluva was very sad for my leaving him, the University and Nigeria. One day, he came and cried aloud and sad that my dearest friend is leaving us and he and Victoria are very sad as they even do not have money to give a suitable gift to our departing friend; said further that Victoria is really very sad and does not even dare to come and see us. My friend and his wife are so sad and emotional, I was also shocked , went to his office and gave him enough money saying that being his good friend, I have the right to share his responsibility and feelings. He unwillingly accepted the money and I gave him a condition that he will not tell this to Victoria. This is just between us.
Victoria and Eluva came after a few days, they were very happy especially Victoria that they could manage some money and the gift. This kind of happiness can not be bought with money.
This was the kind of relationship we had; I think this was as per our prarabhadh that we met and enjoyed such kind of friendship.
Accompanied to the airport that evening were Mr. Eluva, Prof. PBL Goel and Godwin ( our house help, very quiet, sincere and hard working; I shall write about him separately).
Mr Eluva was almost crying. The biggest mistake, I did that I did not transfer my bank balance to Eluva as it was a waste after my departure from Nigeria. One of my regrets.

My friend Mr ELUVA (Friday C); incident 3; Photocpying Machine

In my two previous blogs, I described two incidents involving my Nigerian Friend, Mr Eluva and about his care and concern about us;https://shubhkamna-davendra.blogspot.com/2019/09/my-friend-mr-eluva-friday-c-incident-1.html;
https://shubhkamna-davendra.blogspot.com/2019/09/my-friend-mr-eluva-friday-c-incident-2.html

This is another typical happening , I would like to describe here;Mr Eluva had a big family with several growing children; His own income - salary from the University was not enough therfore, his wife, Victoria has been doing some petty business to supplenent the income  to support the family. It was very hard way to earn some little money. As a friend,  I wanted to help him some easy way to earn more money to supplement his income and hence I got a business class, a big Photocopying machine for Mr. Eluva which he kept in one of the office of the Faculty of Education ( as he knew The Head of the Dept  and other people in the office); His sister-in-law was taking care of the work and business on the machine. I was taking care of the material - paper and ink etc.and keeping the account of income and expenditure etc.
It was doing good business as there was a great demand of photocopies by the students and the faculty on the campus. There were not many machines on the campus even in some of the departments as the machine was  new of its kind and quite expensive.
Some people got jaleous of Mr Eluva that he has been making good money out of this machine. One night those people broke into the office and stole the machine. Poor Eluva was lost, he was shocked and could not bear the loss , cried a lot. In fact the whole family was sad and shocked. Certainly, it was source of their supplementary income and making life little more comfortable. It was a great loss to him. I was equally sorry about this terrible incident. Though we recovered the cost of the machine during these few months but now the real future gain was lost. His poor luck.

My friend Mr ELUVA (Friday C); incident 2; Snake in my Flat

In my previous blog, I wrote about Mr Eluva and his obtaining the travel passage as a special case for my daughter https://shubhkamna-davendra.blogspot.com/2019/09/my-friend-mr-eluva-friday-c-incident-1.html
Here, I would like to give the details of another incident . we were living in a flat on third floor. After the dinner, we went to sleeping room and found that there is a snake under our bed. it slowly creeped into the closet nearby , there was a small hole through which some rats used to sneak in. It was very scary  having a snake in the closet of our bed room. I ran for the help and Mr Eluva came rushing immediately with a small matchet to kill the snake. We decided that we should wait till it comes out of the hole ( at one point of time it has to come out ). We can not sleep and have been watching the creature to come out. At about 2 AM in the morning , I saw its head out of the hole of the closet and called Mr Eluva again, he came rushing and saw the head of the snake and very carefully killed it. Took out the whole snake out of the closet .
When asked Mr. Eluva as how could he come so soon at 2 AM , Was he not sleeping. His answer was , whether I was sleeping. If not then how his friend can sleep in such  a situation. What a kind of wonderful, most trust worthy, caring and sincere friend.
Next day when I met Eluva to thank him for this incident , he told that he is so much scared of snakes that even if he saw a snake in front of his car, he will take his feet off the accelerator. Then he told, it was because of me, his fear was gone and he did the job. How should I appreciate such a person, nobody else could have done it for me. I can never forget this incident in my life and will remain ever grateful to him and Mr Eluva in our memories.

My friend Mr ELUVA (Friday C); incident 1; Sapna,s Home Passage

Mr Firday C Eluva was one of my very good Nigerian friend. He was our immediate neighbour on the ground floor in the block of flats on Amina Road on UI Campus, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria. It was a lovely family with several children, Rose one of his eldest child and Victoria his lovely wife. Mr. Eluva was the Private Secretary to the Vice Chancellor in the University .
My daughter, SAPNA was studying in Raghunath Girls College , Meerut in India during 1984-86. Once Mr. Eluva asked me about her and her coming to visit us over here. I told him that we are entitled our passages to India every four years and to UK every two years, so she can visit us once in two years. He said no, she must visit every year during her vacation ; He himself drafted the letter , got my signature and finally got the sanction for special priviledged passage for her every year from the Vice Chancellor ( Prof.  Tekena Tamuno ). He was happy more than me.
When I took the sanction to the passage office- a section of Bursary, Mr. Balugun, the Passage Officer  was looking at it surprisingly and simply said annoyingly , he (VC) must be knowing as what he is doing , otherwise, she is not entitled to this. She has no entitlement of her own except that she enjoys the entitlement of her father only - as UI faculty.
Thanks to Mr. Eluva. Any one will do such kind of favour taking personal initiative ?

. I am fortunate having such friends all over. 

EMOTIONAL Moment; Going to Nigeria

In another blog, I wrote another emtional moment of my parents.
https://www.blogger.com/u/1/blogger.g?blogID=7434278182063497637#editor/target=post;postID=8585261243208826873;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=3;src=postname

December 1976, I wound up my job with ONGC and my living from DehraDun. For winding up process, I was so busy and things were messed up that I could not call my mother to stay with us for some time. While going by train from DehraDun to Delhi to join my job in Nigeria, my mother came to see us at JWALAPUR railway station  ( she was living with my younger brother- Lakshmi Narain in Jwalapur that time ; perhaps, he was working in BHEL for HSCL ).
My mother was almost crying like a cow separated from  her calf. The train was moving and she was going along with it. It was very emotional event for me. It always remain in my memory.

MY CAR WAS STOLEN FROM THE UNIVERSITY CAMPUS

My Subaru Car was Stolen from the University Campus.

It was evening when I visited our friend Prof Patel near the University club. Left my family in their House and I went to the University club, parked my car and went to visit Prof Martha, our External Examiner from USA. just after a few minutes, when I came back , I found that my car  is gone. Dr Anil Jain was also there with Prof. Patel,s family. He took me to nearby concerned police station , filed the theft report. Police officer told us that forget about getting it back, it has already crossed the border to reach Ghana- a short distance and travelling time hardly an hour. Also that it is very common practice to take the stolen cars to Ghana and cannibalize them for spare parts - so they completely vanish.

It is normally done by auto mechanics as they get duplicate keys when some one leaves the car with them for repairs or maintenance services. Well, my friends and well wishers came to sympathize with me as it was a total loss  because of no insurance for theft ( I never thought that my old car would be stolen from campus) ; though I never felt about the loss- just a material loss ..

The Principal of Immaunuel College of Theology- Sushma,s Boss was so sympathetic that even without our asking he immediately granted the car loan and we bcould buy  another car just after a few days. In Nigeria also like USA/Canada , it is difficult to move around for anything, dropping children in their school, going for  job, dropping Sushma for her job, for shopping etc.

Great experience.

Robbers and their style of working in Nigeria

During my stay in Nigeria ( 1976-1988),  there were several stories of robberies in Nigeria, Ibadan and even on our university campus. This is one kind of story out of several kinds.The interesting part of it is that robbers will enter the house and ask for electronic gadgets like TV, Computers , Music system etc - the expensive stuff and then a question if those items were insured ? If not, they will ask them to get  insured soon , and that they will be back after some time . " Do not try to be smart to inform the police otherwise you have to bear the consequences "  after telling this, they will the premises without taking any stuff or harming any body in any way. Funny enough, they do not want stuff at your cost, they want that insurance should bear the cost of it.

Foreign Folktales in Hindi Ready-2

Till recently most foreign folktales were available only in English language. Very few folktales have been available in Hindi language. This project has been initiated only keeping this in mind that foreign folktales may be available to our Hindi readers in India and at other places.
Under this project more than 1,100 foreign folktales have been written in Hindi after reading from books and Internet and by hearing from people. Indian folktales are normally available in Hindi language that is why Indian folktales have not been included in this collection.
Besides where folktales from European countries are easily available in English, the whole folktale literature seems to be incomplete without their mention that is why some folktales have been included from those countries.
The following books have been prepared as e-Books (on CDs) in which more than 600 folktales have been given. These folktales are available to our Hindi readers any time – to tell children, to be read by children and adults alike, for reference and for research purposes, or for any other purpose the people find useful. The rest of the folktales are also being organized under various titles whose information will be made available at time to time.
This project does not stop at 1,100 folktales rather it is a continuous process so expect more to come in future.
Till now no single folktale collection has been as large as this one even in English language. The two large collectors of folktales known in Europe are: Grimm’s Brothers and the Andrew Lang. But even their collections are also not so large as this in Hindi language.
We are pleased that we could collect so many folktales at one place in Hindi language. We hope that this valuable collection will prove unique and useful to our Hindi folktale literature.

AFRICA
Folktales from Western Africa – 15 tales, 154 pages
Folktales from Eastern Africa – 9 tales, 106 pages
Folktales from Southern Africa – 15 tales, 146 pages

Folktales from Egypt – 8 tales, 126 pages
Folktales from Ethiopia-1 – 27 tales, 126 pages
Folktales from Ethiopia-2 – 23 tales, 126 pages
Queen of Sheba Makeda and King Solomon – 212 pages
King Solomon – 11 tales, 164 pages

Folktales from Nigeria-1 – 20 tales, 170 pages
Folktales from Nigeria-2 – 20 tales, 178 pages
Folktales from Ghana – 14 tales, 172 pages
Cunningness of Anansi Spider – 15 tales, 112 pages
Cunningness of Anansi Spider – 20 tales, 196 pages

Folktales from Zanzibar – 10 tales, 164 pages
Folktales from South Africa – 18 tales, 194 pages

AMERICA, NORTH
Folktales from North America-1 – 12 tales, 124 pages
Folktales from North America-2 – 12 tales, 120 pages
Folktales from Canada – 17 folktales, 112 pages
Folktales of Raven-1 – 20 tales, 124 pages
Folktales of Raven-2 – 20 tales, 126 pages
Folktales of Raven-3 – 3 modern tales, 126 pages

AMERICA, SOUTH
Folktales from South America – 8 tales,

ASIA
Folktales from Asia-1 – 26 tales, 196 pages
Folktales from China – 8 tales, 80 pages
China: Myths and Legends-1 – 18 tales, 190 pages
China: Myths and Legends-2 – 20 tales, 188 pages
Folktales from Russia – 22 tales, 264 pages

EUROPE
Folktales from Europe-2 – 22 tales, 214 pages
One Story many Colors-11 – Cinderella – 20 tales, 272 pages
Folktales from Italy-1 – 18 tales, 194 pages
Folktales from Italy-2 – 16 tales, 200 pages
Folktales from Italy-3 – 12 tales, 200 pages
Folktales from Italy-4 – 21 tales, 200 pages
Folktales from Italy-5 – 15 tales, 210 pages
Folktales from Italy-6 – 18 tales, 220 pages
Folktales from Italy-7 – 22 tales, 230 pages
Folktales from Italy-8 – 13 tales, 122 pages
Folktales from Norse-1 – 8 tales, 148 pages
Folktales from Norse-2 – 11 tales, 120 pages

WORLD
Christianity in Folktales – 23 tales, 258 pages
One Story Many Colors-12 – Cinderella – 10 tales, 112 pages

The e-Books published under the Series “Foreign Folktales in Hindi” are available now on CD-ROMs. To obtain further information about them or a copy of any book :
Please Contact : drsapnag@yahoo.com

Sushma Gupta
http://sushmajee.com/folktales/index-folktales.htm

Introduction; Blogging course; Assignment #1

I am Davendra K Gupta, now a retired person live in Canada since 2000.
I was born in a small town , JHALU (Bijnor), Uttar Pradesh, India in 1938. My town is a kind of village with a population of about 8,000 then in 1930s with meager facilities of basic things like education, health , transport and infrastructure.Had a junior High School with Hindi and Urdu Language mediums only ; no health facility of any kind; no good roads in the town and connecting town with other towns and hence no road or rail transport facilities for traveling; no electricity.
It was really hard to live and get education or to do anything meaningful over there. From this town to another town ...., I have been going to various places for my education without any guidance and mentoring as what to do in life. I was not alone in this situation , this was the fate of all the children born in this town; almost no education for the girls except for a few up to primary school only. Any how I completed my education from the most prestigious University in India , Banaras Hindu University in 1961; I got my M.Sc, Degree in a very special subject in those days- GEOPHYSICS;
I started my career as a teacher of a secondary school, then as a Chemist , later as Geophysicist and Documentalist with ONGC ;  , finally I retired as a Professor teaching Library and Information Science  courses at various levels in Nigeria (West Africa) University of Ibadan , Ethiopia ( East Africa ), Addis Ababa University,
Married in 1961 and I always moved with my family ( my wife, son and daughter ) to all the places of my working; I got vast and varied experience of living and working in various places, situations and communities in India and in Africa, Later , after my retirement, living in USA and Canada.
I got opportunity to interact with different people all over.
Traveled to Singapore, Indonesia, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Lesotho, France, UK, Switzerland, Italy, Canada, and USA ,  
During all these years of my life, I have gathered very rich experience from various communities, cultures, places and situations. I wish to share this with my friends, relatives and others who may benefit from it.They may learn from my mistakes and from experience and knowledge , can easily apply in their practical life.
I especially want to cover topics on Social Capital and Spirituality and Destiny etc. I have already written some of my blogs on these topics and got good feedback. I hope that people will certainly benefit from the writings in my blogs.
I look forward to write more and more and expect good feedback from my readers and followers.

My Education

My parents did not plan or looked after my education; also for my brothers and sisters; never knew as what we were doing in the school; never knew about our home work or helping us in any way; They did not do about our education right from the primary school till we finished our education. Surprisingly, it was not only my parents but the parents of other students in the school were also not involved in the learning process of their kids. Perhaps, teachers were taking enough care about it.

I had my primary education in the village primary school run by District Administration with bare minimum facilities but with very good school teachers and good curriculum to teach various creative and learning skills.
Middle School in the town was also run by District Administration. Did my middle school education also in Jhalu ; school had even lesser facilities than primary school but good dedicated teachers. I did my primary and middle school education in URDU language medium ( Urdu was most popular language in our region ; our teachers were also mostly muslims ); English learning started in middle school and I learnt just elementary English ( though my grand father gave me at home English tuition with Shri Bharat Singh ji- a very strict teacher); In the school, I had my very good English teacher from Haldaur- Shri Chandra Pal Singh );
In 1950, I moved to Chandpur to live with my nani and to join Hindu Inter College as there was no further education facilities in my own town .HIC was one of the best known Secondary School in our region with good facilities and teachers. I finished my High School and Intermediate education there with science background- Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. ( with a short break of a few months at DAV College, DehraDun ). As there was no Urdu medium in the college and Hindi was compulsory language, I have to do rest of my education here only in Hindi medium; With Elementary Hindi in High School and Hindi in Intermediate Examinations.

Virendra Singh NEGI

Mr. Virendra Singh Negi was our good friend almost from the beginning we landed in Ibadan , Nigeria. He paased away in November, 2010 after a brief illness of two years; lungs and urinary problems; He was a mechanical engineering graduate of Roorkee University of 1950s. He belonged to DehraDun where he had his lot of property in Karanpur and on Sahstradhara Road - worth crores of Rupees now. He was very hard working, sincere and humble person . In Ibadan, in that Match Factory where he was the Chief Engineer/Head of Technical services, was running the factory almost alone in all capacities. He had very few friends among Indian community but we had very close relationship with him.. He very affectionately cared for us. He had a son, Rajendra, two lovely daughters , Lakshmi and Rukmini; Mrs Negi was very simple and modest lady. The whole family was very nice and caring. We had lots of mutual visits to each others places.
I have been searching him through all the possible sources for years but fortunately, I found Rajendra on Linkedin social network and I was reconnected to his family  just a few days ago. I feel sorry and sad, knowing that Mr. Negi passed about two years ago.I miss him a lot. I wonder he must be passing his time in his retirement without any work.
This morning, I called Rajendra, talked to him and his mother and expressed my feelings about our friend.