Dear Wasu, this one’s for you

Perspective by Delta Ndou
MY first encounter with the ChiManyika dialect was when I shared a residence with a Mutare native at the University of Zimbabwe and of the many seemingly unusual words and phrases I picked up the phrase “hambai” (let’s go) stuck.

Prior to this encounter with Mwanyara (that was my college roommate’s similarly unusual name), I had assumed there was only one Shona language – what I now know to be “standardised Shona”. Since the UZ, I have neither encountered nor interacted with the Manyika dialect or been proximal to those who speak it.

So when I visited the Diamond FM radio website (www.diamondfm.co.zw) I had not anticipated that the station would be so richly and unapologetically steeped in the Manica lingual range. It is the norm for radio presenters, particularly in Zimbabwe, to strive to sound as Caucasian as possible – to sound “white” and strain their vocal chords aspiring for the nasal enunciation that is associated with sophistry and eloquence.

Many of us do have a deplorable tendency of mocking people based on their accents. I tuned into the station at exactly 11:56pm on a Sunday, May 1 (according to a time-stamped tweet I posted about the experience) to be exact. I was completely disarmed by the heavy accent of the radio presenter who made no pretence whatsoever of sounding anything unlike herself – an authentic Manyika girl whose radio name was just as unassuming – “DJ Puru”.

DJ “Prudy Puru” is Prudence Gwitira, one of the fresh new voices that Diamond FM unearthed and throughout her show she kept proudly mentioning that she was “that Puru” the girl from Sakubva. I was drawn to her – to her humility, to her authenticity and to that bold assertion of her Manyika identity articulated through her delivery. She embodied, for me, the vision of the Diamond FM radio station, which is to be officially launched tomorrow in Mutare.

On the surface of it, Diamond FM is a station that should not have much to do with me – a Venda girl (socialised Ndebele) hailing from Beitbridge, because it is a distinctly community-oriented station and is wholly tailored for the Manyika audience.

The station centres on its Manyika audience, to the unrepentant exclusion of all else -as it should – given that it’s broadcasting licence confines its signal to a 40km radius of Mutare. It is only through the technology of live-streaming -availed through the station’s website and its mobile app (available for download on Android and iOS devices) – that the station’s broadcast reach extends beyond the mountain peaks of Mutare to the rest of Zimbabwe, and indeed across the globe.

What appealed to me was the proud assertion of one’s identity, roots and belonging that seems so infrequent in the local broadcasting arena. Listening to DJ Puru (and we know that in all likelihood, Puru, is a petname dating back from childhood) felt like going “home” even though Mutare is not home to me. It felt like listening to a childhood friend, one without any pretensions, one with whom you could relate and one who sounds approachable.

I use DJ Puru as the anchor for my Diamond FM listening experience but there are other radio presenters, many of them effortlessly code-switching between English and local Manyika dialects to offer the novelty of immersing oneself into a rich heritage and culture as only language has the capacity to allow.

I imagined being a native of Mutare stuck in some far off land or even living in a different city tuning into the station and feeling like I had come home. I believe that this is the communal experience that Diamond FM offers to Mutare natives in particular and to the rest of us who enjoy learning new languages and new ways.

In a recent interview on the launch of Diamond FM, Zimbabwe Newspapers (1980) Limited Chief Executive Officer Mr Pikirayi Deketeke said the success of Diamond FM radio would hinge, to some extent, on the support it received from the people of Mutare and Manicaland.

This is a station for the people of Mutare, and with a staff complement comprising 99 percent local talent, it is a station by the people of Mutare -speaking their language, speaking of them and speaking to them – and projecting them to the world.

So dear Wasu, wherever you may be in the world or within the country – this one is for you.

Hambai! Tune in and enjoy radio kumakomoyo – izwa uzwe!