I come from India, born and brought up in the city of one of the two national universities, Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and Benaras Hindu University (BHU), located respectively in Aligarh,  and Varanasi, both in Uttar Pradesh (UP). I am from Aligarh and my husband got his university education from Benaras Hindu University.

Nigeria

I came out from India for the first time to Ibadan (Nigeria), a west African town, on my husband's job, in 1976. I earned my first foreign Master's degree there from University of Ibadan, and started my career in librarianship from a theological college where I worked for 10 long years. Nigeria is a tropical country, hot and humid. I spent a good time of my life there, 13 years, and enjoyed it. I wrote many professional papers during this period and created several reading lists and indexes for users' use.

Ethiopia

Then I came to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - the Horn of Africa, in the "Land of Thirteen Months of Sunshine". Why it is called "Land of Thirteen Months of Sunshine" because Ethiopians use Julian Calendar, and that calendar consists of thirteen months, not of twelve months. Their New Year starts from September 11. Most of them are Orthodox Christians, thus celebrate their Christmas on January 6, not on December 25. Their official language is Amharic. Ethiopia is the only country in Africa which has its own script and has never been colonized except for a short period of five years by Italians, 1936-1941.

Addis Ababa is situated on a top of a hill at the height of about 8000 feet. The whole city is hilly with highs and lows. Weather is superb - between 12 degree Fahrenheit to 22 degree Fahrenheit. Because of its height, oxygen is less there, so walking is difficult.

I worked here in the Institute of Ethiopian Studies of University of Addis Ababa for three years, and within these years I covered many topics about Ethiopian librarianship by writing many articles on Ethiopian librarianship. I prepared several indexes for their local journals for their users.

My Lesotho Stay

I got the opportunity to work in Lesotho, for one full year, in its University - National University of Lesotho, Roma. I worked there as a Documentalist in its Institute of Southern African Studies from March 1992 to February 1993. Here also, I was able to write something on Lesotho.

Lesotho is a land-locked country in a country, South Africa. Its latitude is 40 degree south. Being located in southern hemisphere, summer and winter seasons are in opposite months from northern hemisphere, i.e. summer is in December, January February; and winter is in June July August. When somebody goes from 40 degree north to 40 degree south for the first time, it really seems strange to him for some time. Lesotho is called the "Kingdom in the Sky" because the whole country is at the height of more than 6,500 feet, so weather is very pleasant there. Sometimes snow falls in June, while summers are not so hot. I enjoyed my stay there too.

Following are the places I have visited so far:

It is really very thrilling to see new places and be there. You see new people, their life style, their society, their towns, the nature, and some things do impress you.