Expelled by Idi Amin in 1972, Patel recalls fleeing brutal rule
Urmila Patel emits the kind of equilibrium that many people spend a lifetime seeking. Patel has just published her first novel, a non-fiction account of her family’s escape from Uganda in 1972.
“Out of Uganda in 90 Days: Her Journey from Kampala to India” is a powerful narrative. Yet meeting Patel in person, one would never guess this saga was part of her past. The surprise comes partly because Patel, of Asian Indian descent, is not someone most of us would expect to find living in Uganda. The other, and more revelatory piece, is Patel’s complete lack of rancor surrounding her experience with one of history’s most nefarious dictatorships. Her honed ability to remain strong amid great flux and her certainty in seeking truth for a higher cause suggest she may be uniquely suited to her new purpose, facilitating healing in others.
Patel, the owner of Postal Annex in the Clayton Station Shopping Center, is an elegant and serene woman with an easily accessible sense of humor that pleasingly balances her knowledge and seriousness. The mother of two grown children, she is a businesswoman, a notary public, and now a published author. While these accomplishments would be enough to satisfy most, Patel has recently added to her achievements receiving certifications in NLP (Neuro-linguistic Programming) and Reiki.
For Patel, publishing her story is not an epilogue, but a first step in opening herself up to a more purposeful life. Her book, dedicated to “all those who are still haunted by painful memories from Uganda’s upheavals under Idi Amin,” may be her best tool yet to connect with those who would most benefit from her healing and wisdom.
Paradise Lost
Patel’s book takes its title from a decree issued by General Idi Amin on Aug. 4, 1972, ordering the expulsion of ethnic Asians from Uganda within 90 days. The Asian Indian community in Uganda, originally brought there under British colonial rule over a century before, had become the backbone of the country’s economy. Not long after Amin’s military coup in January 1971, Asians in Uganda found themselves dwelling in a heavily Indophobic climate where they were accused of milking the economy of its wealth. Amin’s hostilities toward ethnic minorities grew to include the expropriation of property and funds, as well as ethnic cleansing.
Patel, whose family had moved from India when she was 18-months old, knew only Uganda as her home. In the book she describes the ordinary events of childhood so vividly they become delightful and enchanting. The richness of the lush equatorial countryside, the structure and responsibilities of family life, the quest for tropical fruits, and interesting local foodstuffs like Nsenene (grasshoppers) all come alive in Patel’s memoir.
Until one day when people departing their homes to an ordinary day of work and school suddenly find themselves running for their lives as bodies pile up in the streets. It is difficult to comprehend the depravity Amin’s reign would unleash upon Uganda, although it is well known that he fed his adversaries to crocodiles, buried people alive, killed many with his own hands, and even ate his opponents’ flesh. Amin’s regime would eventually claim the lives of between 300,000 – 500,000 people. The fact that Patel’s narrative is never consumed with negative thoughts or emotions makes it all the more inspirational.
‘Despair and Fear’
As the crisis in Uganda developed, thousands of families found themselves in the precarious position of being unable to finance their flight while simultaneously facing annihilation should they attempt to stay. Patel tell her readers that they were “living in despair and fear. Fear that at any time someone would come and loot or kill us. The soldiers watched the streets and the main roads like hawks, carrying machine guns to shoot anytime they wanted to.” Patel, never reduced by circumstance, takes strength in both the discipline and traditions of family life. Case in point is the family’s celebration of “Dusshera, the day when we observe that no matter how strong evil may seem, good always prevails.”
Since publishing her book, Patel has been contacted by people who have been touched and inspired by her story. That her act of healing could help mend others is in idea she finds pleasing and she seems humbled that her past could strengthen and give courage to others, especially to other women. Her inner truth-seeker delights in having the opportunity to connect with people in any way that may help free them from the spiritual and emotional weight they carry. Patel’s own capacity to forgive makes her more than an exemplary person; it makes her a role model. In this day and age, we could certainly use a few more women like her.