The streets of Dar

"Polepole" is one of the first words you will learn while on a visit to Dar es Salaam. On t-shirts, souvenirs and the on lips of people all around you -- this word, which means "slowly" in Swahili, is everywhere.  If you get out onto the streets of Dar, you will see why.

From the immigration desk at the airport to the road-side grocery store, you will find yourself puffing with exasperation at your inability to get anything done in under five minutes. The locals will look on amusedly at your worried countenance and simply say "Don't worry. Go polepole."

The infinite patience of the people of Dar poses an existential dilemma to those used to the mad pace, noise and general chaos of India's cities.

The day begins early in Dar es Salaam. Most shops open by around 8 a.m. Vendors go about carrying kettles of chai (tea)or black coffee and selling vitungo (small rice cakes). The hustle and bustle of a typical city is in full swing soon. Children would be off to school and office-goers on their way to work.

Traffic along the main roads moves at snail-pace.

And yet, the vehicle-horn is something rarely heard in the city. The joke among local Indians is that if somebody does honk, its probably an Indian. People calmly wait for the traffic jams to clear, politely giving way to other vehicles (something almost unheard of in our cities).

What you do hear on the streets of Dar is the chattering of a handful of coins that boys selling peanuts and assortments in little baskets use to attract customers. Throw into this the din of street vendors shouting "jambo" at passers-by, men holding animated discussions in front of shops; and you get a rough idea of what the busy Morogoro road would sound like around 10 in the morning.

Towards noon, the streets are lined by the same groups of men, who seem to have nothing else to do except chatting up random people on road-sides,  this time eating ugale  -- a sort of steamed dumpling made of flour of cassava, maize or millet. Ugale is accompanied by kichungo,  a sauce made of boiled vegetables, mchicha (boiled spinach), boiled beans, or meat and fish dishes.

(to be continued...)