Nigeria - Thank You

I have recently completed my 2+ year assignment in Nigeria. Many of my friends congratulate me on moving out of Nigeria and welcome me to what they think is a more desirable world - Europe. I politely reciprocate the gesture but through this page which I think belongs to me (google doesn't think so by the way) I want to admit that I miss leaving Nigeria. It was a comfortable life as a Shell expat. Nice house, cars, travel services etc did have their charm and I hate to say that I had begun to enjoy it. But more importantly I miss the people. I have made some great friends on the island who gave me so many opportunities to develop myself and become a better human being while at the same time giving me a feeling as if I was contributing to their efforts.

I got a chance to work with local school students and college graduates on things like preparing for exams, writing CVs, preparing for interviews etc and it was a very welcome change from an Indian rat-race life that I have been a part of for quite sometime now. It gave me a chance to express myself in a way I had never done before. I recall an incident where my colleague Eju took me to speak to a class of 150 Secondary school students who were preparing for their board exams. My other collegues started taking the students through things like how to keep time in exam, how to prepare a night before etc etc and as per the script I was supposed to talk on the same lines. But when my turn came I felt as if I was having a moment of inspiration. I had not prepared any of this but I started taking them through a ritual which was coming to me as I was talking. I asked them close their eyes and visualize things and say things out loud - it almost looked like a rehearsed HR exercise except that i couldn't recall having done it anytime before.

I made them open their heart to the room. Shout out loud things which I thought were suppressed in their minds. The atmosphere almost felt divine and after a while the room was completely silent except for my own voice which I felt I was listening to as a third person. And at some point I just ended my discourse. I dont remember with what words, i dont remember anything I had said. I felt I was under a spell which was broken by a thunderous applause in the room and as I turned around to look at the teachers and my other collegues who were sitting behind me I was almost in tears. These people had given me a chance to express what was probably suppressed in me for a long time. The students were feeling grateful to me for having taken them through a moment of cleansing what they did not realise was that if there was one person who was feeling more pure in that room then that was me. That experience forever changed the way I looked at life. I went back several times and did several such sessions with many other schools but by my friend's acoount (Eju) none of them were half as transforming as the first one which I had conducted without any preparation or script.

I once went to a local Church for the dedication of one of our collegue's daughter. I was the only non-Nigerian in that Church and as expected I was getting some glares. It wasn't as if people had not seen foreigners but because of security situation etc not many had ventured into the town before and certainly not in churches. So people felt a bit odd seeing me in a place like this. Now I have never attended any services in Church before and never prayed with people in the way they do in Church. But that day I did and I felt great. Cleansed again! When I was leaving an elderly woman gestured me to come to her and gently rubbed her palms on my head and face while saying a few words which I did not understand but the emotions were very familiar and the gesture too - something my grandmother did everytime I met her. Oh what an incredibly small world this is.

By far the most humbling moment was were during my farewell parties. There were many organized and at the end of two of those they prayed for me. 10 people standing there with their eyes closed saying prayers for me. What enormity of the human spirit!

I know this all sounds too incoherent and I probably did not say what I had set out too but I think this is good just as it is. I am not going to edit this or make it more readable because for me this  not a blogpost for people to read but a moment that I have lived.