My trip to the States was wonderful. The trip back home was smooth, but GOD, was it LONG! As I had selected Emerites as my means of travel, I transited at Dubai - a lovely airport full of all the fountains and fancy shops that you imagine the UAE's international airport would have. After enjoying around 3 hours of free wireless internet, I hopped on my last flight for the day - Dubai to Nairobi. My plan was to sleep the entire ride so that by the time I finally reached my bf's waiting arms, I'd be awake and coherent. Much to my chagrin however, the Indian Kenyan gentleman who was seated next to me decided my time was better served hearing him tell me his entire life story. I tried sending him hints like putting on my earphones, pretending to read my Nook, etc, but none of my tactics for peace and quiet worked. He was a nice enough guy, but I was just so bloody exhausted....in a vain effort to at least keep the conversation interesting, I ended up picking his brain about the "African Kenyan"-"Indian Kenyan" divide. As I expected, his opinion of the African Kenyan population was not pretty yo say the least. He described a deep mistrust by the Indians of the African Kenyans. He bragged that, unlike his fellow Indians, he was "good" to "the Africans," but added the caveat that this was because should he not be, "they'd stab me in the back." "If you're bad to them, he explained in a matter-of-fact tone, "they remember, you know. They'll never forget the unkindness you showed them. And one day, they will get back at you. You know, those people, they never separated completely from the animal. They act first and then, only after they have attacked you, that is when they will think about that action that they have taken. They can be very dangerous people." He went on and on...I just looked at him dumb-founded, wondering what he would say if I told him I completely disagree, that I have numerous African friends who are perfectly lovely and trust-worthy, or how I've fallen in love with an African man (oooh, God forbid!) and couldn't care less if anybody disapproves of the relationship we've formed. My Indian seatmate, however, interpreted my dumb-struck expression as portraying "interest" and thus went on to tell me how one of his distant family members "actually married an African." I'm surprised they are still together," he remarked, "because most Indians who try relationships with Africans don't see success. Yet those two have made it so far and they even have a kid! But what a funny-looking kid it is. I always laugh when I think of that funny looking kid..." And he went on and on...
I never did get any sleep and as a result zonked out in my bf's arms at the early hour of 8 in the evening.
Every other country I've visited, I've observed interracial relationships between the local populations, be they different colors, ethnicities, what have you. In Kenya, it is common enough to see "African Kenyans" forming relationships with wazungu (whites), but I have never seen a couple made up of a "African Kenyan" and "African Indian." It just doesn't happen. And the divide seems to go further than that. I never see the two populations mix and there seems to be a bitterness between the two. "Indian Kenyans" have been around for decades, if not generations. Many have Kenyan passports, speak fluent Swahili, and feel more comfortable in Kenya than they do in India. Indeed, many young Indian-Kenyans have never even been to India at all! And yet, despite all the years they have lived here, Indian-Kenyans still somehow manage, and seem to prefer, to keep themselves separate from the African majority.
