Indian vision for Tanzanian student

The United Republic of Tanzania, the mountainous land is nestled in the cradle of East Africa. Sandwiched in the midst of amazing borderlines rimming Kenya, Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi and the Republic of Congo to the west and Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique to the south has its eastern border stretched out in the Indian Ocean.
The name Tanzania derives from the names of the two states “Tanganyika” and “Zanzibar”. It is one of the oldest known inhabited areas on earth. The fossil remains of human and pre-human hominids belonging to some two million years have been found in the area. The land is believed to have comprised of the populace belonging to hunter-gatherer communities.

Tanzania is habitat for Christians and Muslims besides followers of some indigenous religious groups. As English is no longer considered as the official language, the local languages of the few African states have gained importance in the area. However, Tanzanians see themselves as having two official languages, English and Swahili.
Swahili is a common language spoken by different tribes. It has been instrumental in connecting these tribes who have their own languages. Tanzania’s cultural and linguistic diversities are due to the various histories of migration.

Culturally rich Tanzania has its varied facets of tradition sand celebrations. The Tanzanian music stretches from traditional African music to the string based “Taarab” to a distinctive hip hop known as “Bongo Flava”. Besides, Tanzania has its own distinct African Rumba music known as “Muziki Wa Dansi”

Tanzania has five level judiciary combining the jurisdictions of tribal, Islam and British Common Law. Tanzanian economy is based on agriculture that accounts for more than half of the GDP. The nation is rich in natural resources comprising minerals and natural gas. The mineral sector has its major share in the economy besides tourism.  Tourism is gaining more potentialities year after year in Tanzania.

Tanzania is the home for world famous Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa and also it has many large and ecologically significant wildlife parks. Tanzania has two major rainfall regions. One during December to April in the form of uni-modal and the other in the form of bi-modal that is from October to December and March-May. The rains are referred as “Masika” and “Vuli”.

Here is Alina Nasser from Tanzania who has come to India to study under graduate course of Optometry at Manipal College of Allied Health Sciences. Excerpts of the interview…

What made you to come to India?
I had heard a lot of wonderful things about India and I wanted to get the experience. Besides some of my seniors who studied in India gave me the beautiful idea about India and also they told me about the good quality of education here.

How do you find the quality of education here and what do you feel about the fee structure?
It’s really worth studying here. Actually, we have good standard of education for a very reasonable price.

Tell us something about your experiences in India?
It is exciting. People here are very friendly and they help us whenever we are in problems. It is totally different. Moreover, people know little bit of English and Hindi that helps us to communicate with localities.  

Which are the other places you visited in India?
I went to Mumbai once and I feel it as over crowded and noisy. It is more polluted. I prefer Manipal to Mumbai as this place is less crowded.

What are the differences and similarities of cultural aspects you observed in India when compared to your country?
It is almost similar. People are conservative and less westernized. We have a strong family bond back at home which could be observed in India also. It is bonding of love and care.

How do you find the food and style of dressing here?
Some items are spicy and others are almost like home food. I like paneer as it is the new thing I tried here. Indian dresses are beautiful and a way of self representing that gives respectful look.

Would you ask your friends to come here for studies?
Sure. I would tell them to come to India rather then going to west for their higher studies. Here we get homely atmosphere with different experiences.