there’s a place here that does them almost like slush grin
especially the chutney
lets do it next weekend–sat afternoon?
i really feel that we are more african than indian… or that the indians from africa are distincly different than indians from india..whether it be thought, word, deed…
don’tcha agree?
Totally agree. Maybe its because when we think of Indians, our frame of reference is “rocket” (slang for recently immigrated Indians in Kenya). As all mwaninchi know, rockets look different, speak differently and pretty much do everything differently. You can identify them in 2 seconds.
No way!!! Someone does slush maru na bhajias here?? For that…I am free even this weekend!!
You got that right Rajesh, about the rockets. I thought I’d die before I heard that term in the states!
I think people like us (not to sound elitist) have a good blend of it all. I mean, I grew up in a guj household and went to indian schools but feel a stronger loyalty for Kenya then for India. India is cool but I am more kenyan then indian. India to me is a place where my great grandparents were born and is a place where we used to have relatives. I speak gujrati and swahili fluently and love watching indian movies but I do not consider myself as Indian as someone who was born there.
Like any place, even east africa or even England for that matter has a divide between the rockets and the rest of us. All someone has to do is to drive around Highridge in Nairobi and make a visit to Diamond Plaza.
hahahahahahha…i knew that one would get you going….but it’s in bmore…do you have a car?
If not I can see if I can pick some up on the way to dc, but they are best eaten hot!
but alas I am not in town this wknd 🙁
(if you want to get to them it’s the kaboobi stand in fells point.
in our family it’s the celebration food, we get fresh homemade maru bhajias on bithdays and anniversaries
I just emailed you Kenyandesi…
Rajesh, do you live in the metro dc area?
Wow…slush like bhajias. You really got me on this one kenyandesi.
By the way, we had a guju neigbour who totally killed me when she spoke swa. This is what I herad her telling her driver one day..’John, enda kwa agasi, toa nguo, ngoja mimi’. The poor chap didn’t get that she wanted him to take the clothes off the line and fold them. He quit in a few days…
ohhh I just read that msichana…and I nearly fell out of my seat laughing….for non kenyans this literally translates to:
“John go to the rooftop, remove/take off clothes and wait for me”
AHAHAHAHAHHA!!! can you even IMAGINE an auntiji meaning that!!!!!
RE: Rockets: i think the comparison is to FOBs here, except that the reason we called Indians from the desh rockets is because they mostly used Kenya as a launching pad to the UK/USA/Australia etc. I didn’t like them because the whole time they spent in Kenya they dissed it and went around thinking they were better than those of us who were “native born” They incidently called us ABCDs (Aphrican Born…). But I don’t think it’s only because we compare ourselves to rockets that we feel different. it’s more than that, almost an intangible
I think we feel different because we are flexible when it comes to different cultures. We grew indian in an african country and a lot of us are now based in other places totally different from good ol Africa. Most of us, the younger generations anyway, do not think that people from other backgrounds are inferior or superior to us. I think that all of us get along easily with people from all over because we don’t dig our heels in and refuse to accept change.
A friend once told me that Indians are like ‘makaai’…we grow everywhere!
And as sad as it sounds..yes, the rockets make indians look bad. Being proud of your heritage and dissing everyone else are two distinctly different things.
Regarding inferiority/superiority vis-a-vis rockets, I think wealth is the main ingredient in the mix. Kenya Indians are generally way more prosperous than the rockets. Class distinction inevitably breeds envy or condescension.
I am based in wine country, California, where, sadly, there are few desis of any ilk.
Kenyandesi: unbwogable! That’s hillarious … nice grab too … (the question is, which version of the song do you like the best?)
From this response, I take it there would be interest in more photos from Africa / stories about desis in Africa?
Lastly, I’ve now linked the photo in this post to my flickr account where I have a handful of photos public. Because of my anonymity, I tend to make very few snapshots available to all, but there are some that you might like …
I take it there would be interest in more photos from Africa / stories about desis in Africa?
you put up a picture and we took it from there, so I would say yeah 🙂
Do you have an East African connection Ennis?
Ohh and I like this version of the lyrics:
What the hell is you looking for
Can a young Chuti* make money any more
Shake your feet baby girl enango
Majimaji nyakwar ondijo am a Chut but who are you?
What are you? Who the hell do you think you are?
Do you know me? Do I know you?
Get the hell out of ma face because hey
I am unbwogable I am unbeatable I am unsueable
So if you like ma song sing it for me I say
Who can Bwogo me? Who can Bwogo me I say who can Bwogo me?
I AM UNBWOGABLE!
hehe
*chuti is the term indigenous Kenyans use (sometimes disparagingly) to refer to EAA.
[Chorus]
Who can bwogo me,who can bwogo me,who can bwogo me
I am unbwogable
Who can bwogo me,who can bwogo me,who can bwogo me
I am unbwogable
You gujju-swahili people are cracking me up..Just because you are of Indian origin and have basked in the sun on the shores of Lake Victoria and know a few muzungu type words- that does not make you a true Muhindi from East Africa- the only way you can become part of the circle is if can complete this little gem ” Oh Uganda……..together we will always stand” [chickpea- ask your dad for help ]…while chomping down some fried “senane” [crickets] .here are some pics for all you wanainchi …http://www.pbase.com/tiggy67/uganda_2005
the only way you can become part of the circle is if can complete this little gem ” Oh Uganda……..together we will always stand”
I think that might be the test for Ugandans, but for Kenyans the test is whentha on not you rike nyama choma and can paty rike no atha…
Do you have an East African connection Ennis?
Since it’s the cradle of humanity, all humans (and therefore all desis) have East African roots 😉
Since it’s the cradle of humanity, all humans (and therefore all desis) have East African roots 😉
ahhh that’s my comeback when people say I’m betraying my “motherland” 🙂
better question: do you have recent (1-2 generations) connection with EA?
better question: do you have recent (1-2 generations) connection with EA?
I was personally born in the USA, and have spent much of my life here. Beyond that, I’ll remain coy so as to preserve my anonymity.
p.s. Do you know if Giddi Giddi Maji Maji have performed in the west?
they were here (DC) recently but I wasn’t able to go to the concert…
where the heck is the turkey weekend kenyan blowoout? will they accept a stray ugandan gal? hehe…
yeah, will have to ask my dad for help on that one…
will come to dc again soon, and look you guys up…
yup, i bond better with the indians who’s famililies are from east africa…than the ones in india..it’s just a different mind set completely… hehe…
chick pea, i’ll send you the info for the reunion, and I’m pretty sure they will not turn you away 🙂
The story of the reunion is quite amazing, it started out with a few people meeting every year in someone’s basement, and then more an dmore people kept coming (very kenyan to show up without invitations), so now thousands show up to heng and patay it up Kenyan style
Garbanzo- better break out those Swahili tapes, stat! There’s not much time between now and turkey day 😉 You know Kenyans, they think everybody speaks Swahili …
will break out the tapes stat, heck or order them on ebay 😉
and we speak more sheng than Swa…it’s those Tanzanians purists you have to watch for…
chick pea, say these few things:
when saying hello say: sasa? (it means wazzup?)
if you are on the receiving end of a sasa say: fiti! (like figi with a “t”) it’s swahilified fit! or great!
so it’s:
sasa?
Fiti!
and you’ll fit right in.
sweetness… thanks KD 😉
now looking forward to turkey wkend..
just email me the info when you get the chance to…this is too funny…cheers!
It occured to me that I should clarify something or Mr Small (my very very tall Kiswahili teacher) will haunt my dreams again….
the difference between swahili and kisawhili is the difference beetween hindu and hindi, the first references a group of people, the second a language…
that being said, the term swahili is often used to reference the language, especially in it’s contracted form “swa”
Man this brings back memories! I spent some awesome school years in Uganda and it was truly great fun. nothing can compare to East Afirca’s weather, lush greenery and delicious food. I miss it a lot – anyone going back there any time soon?
sasa? Fiti!
Kiddaan? Thheek-thhaak!
Aterere? Nikuwega mno…
Pardon my bad kikuyu spelling..
As I was driving along Main street this morning, I realized that among the things that I miss most about K’la are the street names and signs…some of the names were amazing like Prince of Charles Drive and Accacia Avenue or Salisbury Road and the funny part of all this is that the names somehow made sense , they were suitable names to the street itself unlike the ones here in North America that seem to be pulled from a random street-name generator…oh well if I was back there I would have come across this quite often “HAKUNA KAZI”…
they were suitable names to the street itself unlike the ones here in North America that seem to be pulled from a random street-name generator
In planned development subdivisions, they almost are. They’re designed so as to be completely inoffensive, and therefore are completely unmemorable combinations of trees and geographical features: Oak Hill, Cherry River, etc.
In Seattle suburbs, you can get near-total namespace coverage with the following words alone: timber, lawn, silver, lake, forest, wood.
“Prince of Charles Drive and Accacia Avenue or Salisbury “
Totally agree with you “Wandegya Boy” – those names bring back so many memories!
And to think I held back on Africa stories before because I didn’t think there was an audience for them …
ennis:
thanks for bringing the africa stories up… as you can see you have a CAPITIVATED loyal audience among the SM crew… and now i even have awesome plans for turkey weekend…see you’ve done a lot for me and my buddies 😉
cheers!
the bean
Strange
I just made a funny
image about Idi Amin today
on my website
Its unfortunate that Idi Amin did not pay for his crimes and died unpunished
My understanding is Yuka=casava=mogo It is not jicama, which is not starchy. Jicama is used raw in salads. it has a bit of a apple taste.
I just bought a tuber called (name)with a ~ over the n, at Stop and Shop in Rhode Island. It looks like a starchy root vegetable…
Any ideas?
hi all, dont know how i found this site but its great. after reading it, it bought back alot of the memories. thanks for taking me home………
We’re having a VOGSS 1986-1989 get together close to London (4th June). Anyone interested?!!
Hi All this talk about mogo really makes me hungry i yearn for some deep fried mogo chips….and bhajia made from chora daal
AHHHH GAwad ! all u people id love ya meet all of you ! Iam an east african asian , dad born in kampala mum in mombasa but she was raised in nairobi , i personally was born in england but raised in uganda , iam a muhindi btw haha ! i love everything about back home and i will never feel indian or pakistani , iam african , and i hate idiots who say “you cant be african , you’re not black ” ignornant dipshits , anyways really cool forum and about the kisu thing , that is soooo true , i hate using anyother words
Randomly found this site as I am doing research for a paper I am writing about my identity- Kenyan-born Indian living in America. I go to school in New York, but am from Maryland- in between B’more and DC. We eat mogo and makai and dream about lighthouse in Mombasa all the time. My mom makes killer bhajias, slush-style every winter. I miss Kenya so much, and this site brought back amazing memories… btw I went to VOGSS and VOPS while I was there- best years of my life! If those of you that live in the DC Metro area read this, e-mail me- jrk261 -at- nyu -dot- edu, my parents would love to meet yours, they feel very lonely here and cannot mix with the Indian-from-India crowd… 🙁
damn yo, i got into Harvard u-grad cause I told ’em I was African-American. this kid is just another subpar desi with some Ugandan ‘rents. HOLLA.
I accidentally ended up on this site and boy the memories it brought up. I was born in Embu, moved to Nairobi for HS (parklands). Lived in Ngara (nagara as we called it). tarelo or sekelo Mogo and makai with mithu and marchu, to die for. Over the years I have brought Kenya with me. I have 3 different types of tava’s, sagdi and even a tandoor. We do the mogo and makai and yes the Maru/Slush bhajias at home. Jeera chicken on the Tava (my mouth is already watering).
Anyway if any of your fellow wanainchis are anywhere near S. Carolina, let me know and we can do some serious Koroga.
msichana…care for some maru na bhajia?
there’s a place here that does them almost like slush grin
especially the chutney
lets do it next weekend–sat afternoon?
Totally agree. Maybe its because when we think of Indians, our frame of reference is “rocket” (slang for recently immigrated Indians in Kenya). As all mwaninchi know, rockets look different, speak differently and pretty much do everything differently. You can identify them in 2 seconds.
No way!!! Someone does slush maru na bhajias here?? For that…I am free even this weekend!!
You got that right Rajesh, about the rockets. I thought I’d die before I heard that term in the states!
I think people like us (not to sound elitist) have a good blend of it all. I mean, I grew up in a guj household and went to indian schools but feel a stronger loyalty for Kenya then for India. India is cool but I am more kenyan then indian. India to me is a place where my great grandparents were born and is a place where we used to have relatives. I speak gujrati and swahili fluently and love watching indian movies but I do not consider myself as Indian as someone who was born there.
Like any place, even east africa or even England for that matter has a divide between the rockets and the rest of us. All someone has to do is to drive around Highridge in Nairobi and make a visit to Diamond Plaza.
hahahahahahha…i knew that one would get you going….but it’s in bmore…do you have a car?
If not I can see if I can pick some up on the way to dc, but they are best eaten hot!
but alas I am not in town this wknd 🙁
(if you want to get to them it’s the kaboobi stand in fells point.
in our family it’s the celebration food, we get fresh homemade maru bhajias on bithdays and anniversaries
I just emailed you Kenyandesi… Rajesh, do you live in the metro dc area?
Wow…slush like bhajias. You really got me on this one kenyandesi.
ohhh I just read that msichana…and I nearly fell out of my seat laughing….for non kenyans this literally translates to:
“John go to the rooftop, remove/take off clothes and wait for me”
AHAHAHAHAHHA!!! can you even IMAGINE an auntiji meaning that!!!!!
RE: Rockets: i think the comparison is to FOBs here, except that the reason we called Indians from the desh rockets is because they mostly used Kenya as a launching pad to the UK/USA/Australia etc. I didn’t like them because the whole time they spent in Kenya they dissed it and went around thinking they were better than those of us who were “native born” They incidently called us ABCDs (Aphrican Born…). But I don’t think it’s only because we compare ourselves to rockets that we feel different. it’s more than that, almost an intangible
I think we feel different because we are flexible when it comes to different cultures. We grew indian in an african country and a lot of us are now based in other places totally different from good ol Africa. Most of us, the younger generations anyway, do not think that people from other backgrounds are inferior or superior to us. I think that all of us get along easily with people from all over because we don’t dig our heels in and refuse to accept change.
A friend once told me that Indians are like ‘makaai’…we grow everywhere!
And as sad as it sounds..yes, the rockets make indians look bad. Being proud of your heritage and dissing everyone else are two distinctly different things.
Regarding inferiority/superiority vis-a-vis rockets, I think wealth is the main ingredient in the mix. Kenya Indians are generally way more prosperous than the rockets. Class distinction inevitably breeds envy or condescension.
I am based in wine country, California, where, sadly, there are few desis of any ilk.
Kenyandesi: unbwogable! That’s hillarious … nice grab too … (the question is, which version of the song do you like the best?)
From this response, I take it there would be interest in more photos from Africa / stories about desis in Africa?
Lastly, I’ve now linked the photo in this post to my flickr account where I have a handful of photos public. Because of my anonymity, I tend to make very few snapshots available to all, but there are some that you might like …
you put up a picture and we took it from there, so I would say yeah 🙂
Do you have an East African connection Ennis?
Ohh and I like this version of the lyrics:
What the hell is you looking for Can a young Chuti* make money any more Shake your feet baby girl enango Majimaji nyakwar ondijo am a Chut but who are you? What are you? Who the hell do you think you are? Do you know me? Do I know you? Get the hell out of ma face because hey I am unbwogable I am unbeatable I am unsueable So if you like ma song sing it for me I say Who can Bwogo me? Who can Bwogo me I say who can Bwogo me?
I AM UNBWOGABLE!
hehe
*chuti is the term indigenous Kenyans use (sometimes disparagingly) to refer to EAA.
[Chorus] Who can bwogo me,who can bwogo me,who can bwogo me I am unbwogable Who can bwogo me,who can bwogo me,who can bwogo me I am unbwogable
Speaking of photos, here’s the mother lode of Kenya photos. Enjoy.
You gujju-swahili people are cracking me up..Just because you are of Indian origin and have basked in the sun on the shores of Lake Victoria and know a few muzungu type words- that does not make you a true Muhindi from East Africa- the only way you can become part of the circle is if can complete this little gem ” Oh Uganda……..together we will always stand” [chickpea- ask your dad for help ]…while chomping down some fried “senane” [crickets] .here are some pics for all you wanainchi …http://www.pbase.com/tiggy67/uganda_2005
I think that might be the test for Ugandans, but for Kenyans the test is whentha on not you rike nyama choma and can paty rike no atha…
Since it’s the cradle of humanity, all humans (and therefore all desis) have East African roots 😉
ahhh that’s my comeback when people say I’m betraying my “motherland” 🙂
better question: do you have recent (1-2 generations) connection with EA?
I was personally born in the USA, and have spent much of my life here. Beyond that, I’ll remain coy so as to preserve my anonymity.
p.s. Do you know if Giddi Giddi Maji Maji have performed in the west?
they were here (DC) recently but I wasn’t able to go to the concert…
where the heck is the turkey weekend kenyan blowoout? will they accept a stray ugandan gal? hehe…
yeah, will have to ask my dad for help on that one…
will come to dc again soon, and look you guys up…
yup, i bond better with the indians who’s famililies are from east africa…than the ones in india..it’s just a different mind set completely… hehe…
chick pea, i’ll send you the info for the reunion, and I’m pretty sure they will not turn you away 🙂
The story of the reunion is quite amazing, it started out with a few people meeting every year in someone’s basement, and then more an dmore people kept coming (very kenyan to show up without invitations), so now thousands show up to heng and patay it up Kenyan style
Garbanzo- better break out those Swahili tapes, stat! There’s not much time between now and turkey day 😉 You know Kenyans, they think everybody speaks Swahili …
will break out the tapes stat, heck or order them on ebay 😉
and we speak more sheng than Swa…it’s those Tanzanians purists you have to watch for…
chick pea, say these few things: when saying hello say: sasa? (it means wazzup?)
if you are on the receiving end of a sasa say: fiti! (like figi with a “t”) it’s swahilified fit! or great!
so it’s:
sasa? Fiti!
and you’ll fit right in.
sweetness… thanks KD 😉 now looking forward to turkey wkend.. just email me the info when you get the chance to…this is too funny…cheers!
garbanzobean@gmail.com
Mambo?
Poa.
It occured to me that I should clarify something or Mr Small (my very very tall Kiswahili teacher) will haunt my dreams again….
the difference between swahili and kisawhili is the difference beetween hindu and hindi, the first references a group of people, the second a language…
that being said, the term swahili is often used to reference the language, especially in it’s contracted form “swa”
Man this brings back memories! I spent some awesome school years in Uganda and it was truly great fun. nothing can compare to East Afirca’s weather, lush greenery and delicious food. I miss it a lot – anyone going back there any time soon?
Kiddaan? Thheek-thhaak!
Aterere? Nikuwega mno…
Pardon my bad kikuyu spelling..
As I was driving along Main street this morning, I realized that among the things that I miss most about K’la are the street names and signs…some of the names were amazing like Prince of Charles Drive and Accacia Avenue or Salisbury Road and the funny part of all this is that the names somehow made sense , they were suitable names to the street itself unlike the ones here in North America that seem to be pulled from a random street-name generator…oh well if I was back there I would have come across this quite often “HAKUNA KAZI”…
In planned development subdivisions, they almost are. They’re designed so as to be completely inoffensive, and therefore are completely unmemorable combinations of trees and geographical features: Oak Hill, Cherry River, etc.
In Seattle suburbs, you can get near-total namespace coverage with the following words alone: timber, lawn, silver, lake, forest, wood.
“Prince of Charles Drive and Accacia Avenue or Salisbury “
Totally agree with you “Wandegya Boy” – those names bring back so many memories!
And to think I held back on Africa stories before because I didn’t think there was an audience for them …
Does anybody have any news about the riots?
ennis: thanks for bringing the africa stories up… as you can see you have a CAPITIVATED loyal audience among the SM crew… and now i even have awesome plans for turkey weekend…see you’ve done a lot for me and my buddies 😉
cheers! the bean
Strange
I just made a funny image about Idi Amin today on my website
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4279/1754/1600/Ronald%20McDonald%20final%201.jpg
Its unfortunate that Idi Amin did not pay for his crimes and died unpunished
My understanding is Yuka=casava=mogo It is not jicama, which is not starchy. Jicama is used raw in salads. it has a bit of a apple taste.
I just bought a tuber called (name)with a ~ over the n, at Stop and Shop in Rhode Island. It looks like a starchy root vegetable…
Any ideas?
hi all, dont know how i found this site but its great. after reading it, it bought back alot of the memories. thanks for taking me home………
We’re having a VOGSS 1986-1989 get together close to London (4th June). Anyone interested?!!
Hi All this talk about mogo really makes me hungry i yearn for some deep fried mogo chips….and bhajia made from chora daal
AHHHH GAwad ! all u people id love ya meet all of you ! Iam an east african asian , dad born in kampala mum in mombasa but she was raised in nairobi , i personally was born in england but raised in uganda , iam a muhindi btw haha ! i love everything about back home and i will never feel indian or pakistani , iam african , and i hate idiots who say “you cant be african , you’re not black ” ignornant dipshits , anyways really cool forum and about the kisu thing , that is soooo true , i hate using anyother words
Nakupenda Wa Kenya sana Kwaheri sayote ! 🙂
please check this site http://jinja-online.com/
Randomly found this site as I am doing research for a paper I am writing about my identity- Kenyan-born Indian living in America. I go to school in New York, but am from Maryland- in between B’more and DC. We eat mogo and makai and dream about lighthouse in Mombasa all the time. My mom makes killer bhajias, slush-style every winter. I miss Kenya so much, and this site brought back amazing memories… btw I went to VOGSS and VOPS while I was there- best years of my life! If those of you that live in the DC Metro area read this, e-mail me- jrk261 -at- nyu -dot- edu, my parents would love to meet yours, they feel very lonely here and cannot mix with the Indian-from-India crowd… 🙁
damn yo, i got into Harvard u-grad cause I told ’em I was African-American. this kid is just another subpar desi with some Ugandan ‘rents. HOLLA.
Karibu Kenya . . . The HOME of koroga!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2003/01/12/AR2005041501103.html
I accidentally ended up on this site and boy the memories it brought up. I was born in Embu, moved to Nairobi for HS (parklands). Lived in Ngara (nagara as we called it). tarelo or sekelo Mogo and makai with mithu and marchu, to die for. Over the years I have brought Kenya with me. I have 3 different types of tava’s, sagdi and even a tandoor. We do the mogo and makai and yes the Maru/Slush bhajias at home. Jeera chicken on the Tava (my mouth is already watering). Anyway if any of your fellow wanainchis are anywhere near S. Carolina, let me know and we can do some serious Koroga.