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Issue 00525 |
July 5 - 11, 2008 |
issn 0856 - 9135 |
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Trade |
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Nana Laxman Linking up Tanzania with Australia By Lily O’neal
Mr Laxman is a man whose life story incorporates much of the promise and upheaval of the twentieth century. He also epitomises one of the most promising, if inconsistent, aspects to come out of that tumultuous century – that of the increasing awareness that humanity has far more to unite it than to divide it. His work, both as the Honorary Consul and for the India Trade Centre, is geared towards increasing goodwill and fellowship between people of different nations. On a personal level, he is very proud to be a man of Indian extraction, representing a predominantly black country in a majority white one. Mr Laxman was born in Tanga, the son of sisal plantation owners, when Tanganyika was still a British colony. His parents had migrated to the area from India in the early twentieth century, first to Zanzibar where they were jewellers, and then to Tanga where they ran the Twiga Sisal Plantation, one of the largest sisal growing and export companies in the country. One of the six Laxman sons died in a car accident while still young and the family founded a school to be opened up in his name; the Popatlal Secondary School was opened up by President Mwalimu Julius Nyerere in 1968. Mr Laxman left Tanzania with his wife for India at the age of 25 and worked in the family business there until he came with his family to settle in Australia in 1988. Mr Laxman’s job as consul is to help Tanzanian citizens with problems – though there would be very few in Australia who are not also Australian citizens – but also to help Australians planning their business and holiday trips to Tanzania. Mr Laxman says that most tourists that he deals with land at Kilimanjaro International Airport, and then spend their time in Manyara, Ngorongoro and the Serengeti. I ask him about the feedback that he gets from tourists returning from Tanzania and he says that he has processed, on an average, 4,000 visas a year over the past 7 years, and has received not a single complaint. In particular he notices that many of the visas that he issues are repeats – that Australians are returning to Tanzania again and again. Many of these people go to volunteer their time, a trend that clearly touches him. He also gets a few strange requests – one from a mother who wanted him to ensure that her daughter staying in Tanzania would receive the parcels that she sent her, and others from people keen to marry in Zanzibar and not sure whether they would need a separate visa for that island (though I am sure that Mr Laxman did an excellent job of explaining the union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar to them). He says that it is a job that gives him a great deal of joy. His love for Tanzania is palpable and he speaks enthusiastically of the country’s great potential: resources, tourism and agriculture. He also points to the country’s national character as being a huge asset: the peacefulness of the transition of the country to independence in 1961 is a trait that continues, he believes, and makes Tanzania a good place to do business. He would also like to aid any Tanzanians who would like to do business in Australia – he believes that many business people look only to the US and European markets and should also consider Australia. If any readers would like any help from him on that score, he can be contacted at tanzania@honconsul.com.
Email: lily.oneill@gmail.com
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Mr
Nana Laxman is the Honorary Tanzanian Consul for eastern Australia. I
meet with him at lunchtime in central Melbourne, in his office three
streets away from mine. Being an honorary consul means by definition
that Mr Laxman does this job for the love of it – his business interest
is the India Trade Centre which facilitates trade between Australia and
India.