This did not sway the young lady from what was high rebellion in those days. She would meet her beau in Forodhani Park in front of the Palace of Wonders. One day they were seen touching hands. The family was furious and locked her In this room for a full year.

Her tutor came to the room for lessons, her ayah brought her meals, and she was escorted to the bath down the hall. She was not even allowed to go out for the festival at the end of Ramadan. But what the family did not realize was that through her barred windows she could see into the soda factory next door -- a view currently obscured by a new partition. Daily, her beau came to while away the hours, making moony eyes and sending love notes to his damsel, locked in the tower of Green One.

At the end of the year, the family asked If she'd come to her senses and would relinquish this misplaced liaison. She refused! Their love was so strong, she said, she could never marry anyone but him. And finally the family relented and, after a long rigmarole of courtships and ceremonies, permitted them to marry.

The couple had four children who are all successful in their chosen professions, and they remained together until his death in the late 1970s. The damsel now lives in Dar es Salaam with one of her sons and makes the best mango pickles in East Africa.