The Little Sudanese Restaurant

The word Sudan, if ever, comes up in our day to day conversations, most people think of Darfur, the South Sudan crisis or some new sanction that the United States has imposed on the country. Sudan unlike its more famous neighbour on East doesn’t really get a lot of attention from people I know except for those who work in the UN. I for one was very curious about this country. And what better way to learn about country that to try out some of their national food!

Living in Addis Ababa gives me the chance to try out cuisines from several parts of the world. Being the political and cultural capital of Africa, Addis gets its fair share of foreign visitors and has a sizeable expatriate population. At any point in time, you have the option of eating at least 12 different cuisines. One on my favourite quotations on Addis is, “You’ll never eat alone”. So I put on my adventure hat and off I went to try out some Sudanese food in a local restaurant a few hundred meters from my hotel.

The entrance to the restaurant was quite interesting looking. There was a lady wearing, I am guessing, the traditional Sudanese woman’s dress and was making Sudanese tea. The restaurant was fairly simple looking. Comfortable and spacious but no real art, décor or interior design to talk about. I found myself a table in front of the TV, sat down and asked for the menu.

The waitress handed me the menu. I had no idea what was written in it. Even though it was in English, there was no description of the food in the menu and I was just expected to know what I am to order. So I asked for help. Called the waitress and asked her what each of the items in the menu meant. I realised a few moments later that she did not speak any English!! Using references to words like meat, bread and a lot of hand gestures I finally ordered an Arabic salad and a Sudanese meat dish called Goraso with Sudanese bread called weaka.

As I customary is many restaurants here in Addis, the customers get served some complementary appetizers. So my snack was snack version of Sudanese bread. It looked like a small thick pizza base but was nice and fluffy and tasted more or less like regular bread. As I waited for my dinner, I watched the show that was on TV. It was an Indian soap opera dubbed in Arabic. And all the waiters and waitresses seem to be glued to the TV set. It was hilarious! Some random boy and a random girl were doing the Indian version of courting and couple that with the Arabic dubbing made for some really good laughs.

Soon enough, my food arrived. So the Goraso dish looked something like boneless rogan josh. The weaka bread was like the Sudanese version of naan but slightly thicker. One is supposed to bread a piece of the weaka and scoop the goraso to truly enjoy the meal. The waiters gestured the right hand movement and man did I enjoy my first bite! It was the perfect meat gravy. Not too spicy and just meaty enough. The right amount of oil and with the right consistency. The bread tasted something similar to the Indian Kulcha and was just soft enough to absorb the gravy but yet tough enough so as not to break. The Arabic salad was a lot of vegetables cut and served on a bed of olive oil and a generous dashing of lemon juice. The combination of just spicy enough meat and the tangy salad suited my palate perfectly! On the next table, I couldn’t help but notice some gentlemen drinking a very delicious smelling tea. I am not a regular tea drinker but the aroma was so good that I ordered a cup.

By this time on TV, the girl managed to make a complete ass out of the boy and the boy as expected started to fall for her. The channel was changed to another Indian channel where there was a song sequence going on from an Arabic dubbed Aftab Shivdasani and Amrita Arora movie. So the dance sequence was something like Aftab was singing a lovely romantic song to Amrita full of passion, love and intensity with an US Aircraft Carrier in the background. I think the music director was under the impression nothing says “I Love You” like stealth fighter planes flying at mach 2 capable of carrying a nuclear warhead taking off and landing on a 65,000 tonne aircraft carrier. But who am I to judge. The waiters seemed to really enjoy it J

So my tea finally arrived. It was black tea with a leaf of mint next to it. It was recommended to me that I dip the mint leaf in the tea to get a full flavour. And it was delicious! Quite possibly, the best cup of tea I have had in my life. The warm tea and the cold mint leaf mixed perfectly well and gave a lovely aroma as I sipped the delicious black tea. I asked for the bill and this whole meal that stuffed me to the brink and in the process sent my new year’s resolution down the drain cost all of 7 dollars! Now that is what I call a steal!

So there you have it. My first Sudanese meal was a big hit. For those of you who do manage to get to Addis Ababa, do go to this Little Sudanese Restaurant that is just a stone’s throw away from the European Commission in Bole. Your tummy, your taste buds and your wallet will be pleasantly surprised J

Reviewed. Phew!

And done! Six very long months of systems, processes, roles, documentation, risks and reviews. For every young manager coming from b-school campus to Olam, completing the final review is a major milestone in his/her life. You have been "initiated" they say. Indeed. Feels more like a crash course in brain surgery but heck, what ever you say. "Now you know how Olam works". Well, i also know what does not work in Olam. "Now you are ready for responsibility". Ah! Now that makes a lot of sense.

I woke up yesterday and for the first time in many many weeks without currency risk, credit risk and roles of a BC running laps around my head. Without the constant anxiety of reviews taking up a lot of my mind space and without thinking about the boredom of redoing all that studying. I just woke up with a  feeling of being free and with a mother of all hangovers ;)

The last few months has been quite transformational for me. I am still the same guy in many ways. Still have the same enthusiasm for trying out new things, learning, meeting new people and exploring new places. But at the same time, feel decently mature and responsible. A bit more cynical about people and situations but it seems that in management, it is a good quality. I feel quite proud and humble. Proud of braving everything  thrown at me, staying in difficult places, the reviews and living with the sword of rejection dangling over my neck. "30% of you will not make it to the next round they say is how our induction began" (confused). But humble because now i know that there is so much that i do not know and need to learn. There is really so much that there is to know in terms on concrete and in softer skills of working. The Analog Communication and Digital Communication exams back in engineering were hard as shit and compared to them, these management concepts seem really simple. But the soft skills that one needs to implement them is what really makes one be successful or not.

I have also learnt to remove the word failure from my vocabulary. The last few months has shown me that any person, no matter how talented or smart does not meet success all the time. And it is when he is not successful that he learns and grows the most. Never thought that i would make friends with my work colleagues. Back at Applied Materials, i always maintained an arm's length distance with my colleagues. But that has definitely changed off late and the camaraderie i share with many of my colleagues is simply wonderful. I think the biggest learning for me in this training phase has been that in any situation or problem that one faces, go in with an open mind. Things change at a furious pace in our line of work and the more rigid one is, the harder it is to keep pace with them. Trust but verify, the famous three words that President Reagan used to talk about the USAs diplomatic principle is quite relevant here in Olam. Trust the information your colleagues give but verify it before using it in your work. And follow up. The onus is always on you!

The results are yet to be announced. A little anxious for sure but feel optimistic as well. Hoping that I get a week off towards the end of the month so as to go back home to India. Need to recharge my batteries and then hopefully begin the next phase of my life. In the mean time, i think i'll just enjoy the afterglow of the final review getting over :)