Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Gujarat - Land of my forefathers...

Zee's Notes: As I ran across news and articles on India during the recent visit of MHI it was an eye opener to see what is happening in India - specifically the economic miracle of India.
A while back I featured a video which showed the history of the Ismailis in the Indian Sub-continent, most notably India and specifically Gujarat. For most of us who hail from East Africa our real roots lie across the Arabian Sea in the Indian State of Gujarat. I have listened many a times to my grandfather who spoke of his father coming to Tanzania in a dhow for a better life in Africa. In the course of approximately 60 years India has tranformed itself from a British Colony to a global industrial powerhouse courted by Fortune 500 companies. India today is changing as it's young people proudly shout out their Indian heritage - quite a change from 25 years ago. We've all heard of Indians being recruited by US Tech firms and interestingly enough 33% of all IT management positions in the US are held by these Desi professionals. India is now savvy enough to market it's talent to the world stage. Here is a couple of interesting videos (I love YouTube) of the land which is so deeply rooted in my history. Hope you enjoy them...




Nairobi Mitumba Market - report by CBC...

Zee's Notes: Here's an interesting Canadian take on Nairobi's thriving 'Mitumba' trade. Indeed there are many Ismailis involved in the market as suppliers throughout the world.


Astrophysicist awarded UVic’s highest academic honour


Dr. Arif Babul remembers the exact moment when his lifelong passion for outer space began. It was July 20, 1969, and he was one of millions around the world who were glued to their televisions as Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong stepped down onto the moon and into history.

Read the article here...