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Rosenthal Mutakati
IT was one hell of a Christmas; one that many people would want to quickly forget. Save for children who were born on the day, cash challenges and a liquidity crunch joined forces to spoil fun for many a family.“Mudhara iyi ndiyo inonzi Christmas yakadhakwa manje iyi,” one guy muttered, and his sentiments were echoed by many others.
“I am happy because at least I will not be going to work, but there is just nothing to smile about,” Richard Musara of Glen Norah told me straight to the face.
“Totongotamba ngoma iri kurira, but hapana, hapana.” Christmas is an annual commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ and a widely observed cultural holiday, celebrated generally on December 25 by millions of people around the world.
A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, it closes the Advent season and initiates the 12 days of Christmastide, which ends after the 12TH night.
According to researchers, Christmas is a civil holiday in many of the world’s nations, is celebrated by an increasing number of non-Christians, and is an integral part of the Christmas and holiday season.
While the birth year of Jesus is estimated among modern historians to have been between 7 and 2BC, the exact month and day of his birth are unknown.
His birth is mentioned in two of the four canonical gospels. By the early-to-mid 4th century, the Western Christian Church had placed Christmas on December 25, a date later adopted in the East, although some churches celebrate on the December 25 of the older Julian calendar, which corresponds to January in the modern-day Gregorian calendar.
The date of Christmas may have initially been chosen to correspond with the day exactly nine months after early Christians believed Jesus to have been conceived, or with one or more ancient polytheistic festivals that occurred near southern solstice (i.e., the Roman winter solstice); a further solar connection has been suggested because of a biblical verse identifying Jesus as the “Sun of righteousness”.
Celebratory customs associated in various countries with Christmas have a mix of pre-Christian, Christian, and secular themes and origins. Popular modern customs of the holiday include gift giving, Christmas music and caroling, an exchange of Christmas cards, church celebrations, a special meal, and the display of various Christmas decorations, including Christmas trees, Christmas lights, nativity scenes, garlands, wreaths, mistletoe, and holly.
In addition, several closely related and often interchangeable figures, known as Santa Claus, Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, and Christkind, are associated with bringing gifts to children during the Christmas season and have their own body of traditions and lore.
Because gift-giving and many other aspects of the Christmas festival involve heightened economic activity among both Christians and non-Christians, the holiday has become a significant event and a key sales period for retailers and businesses. But this year’s event, gentle reader was fraught with challenges.
A visit to the goat market in Glen Norah will tell the same story. The guys there are not smiling as before. They are making sales yes, but the numbers have dwindled.
Stewpots which usually had to contend with being washed and being thrust on the fire frequently this time had a rest. The brisk business transporters traditionally enjoyed during this time of the year was nowhere to be seen.
Whether this is because most families are down to first cousins and have no one to visit in the rural areas is yet to be confirmed.
To make money, these transporters had to illegally hike fares to cover up for the return trip on which they do not get passengers.
It’s time to enjoy yes, but gore rino chakabvondokera makudo, murimi akarima mhiripiri. There is little fun. Nhunzi ikagadzira uchi, tingafare,
Tingafare, tingafare, tingafare,
Tingafare, asi chekufarira hapana,
Nekuti kazhinji tinoiona patsvina,
Kwete paruva, saka tingafare,
Asi chekufarira hapana, sang Joseph Garakara and Mbama Express in this piece off their debut album “Tapinda Tapinda”.
True to the song, one can never expect honey from a fly and this past Christmas was meant to be a disaster as could be seen in a potpourri of problems experienced in the run-up to the big day.
There was little cheer on Christmas 2013 and accidents were the only constant. Most parts of the capital were without water, putting people at risk of contracting diseases on a day they are supposed to make merry.
Sights of women carrying all manner of containers in search of water were common in some parts of Harare. It was even tougher for families that were gathered for funerals.
Gentle reader, some families lost their loved ones on Christmas Day, taking away the glitter on Christ’s birthday. Others were injured in accidents that continue to dog the country during the festive season.
Friends and relatives plying their trade in South Africa were not spared. To put icing on an already poisoned cake, R100 was being exchanged for US$7 on the black market, thereby lowering their spending power.
In the past, people working in South Africa would fill Road Port Terminus in Harare, but the situation was not the same this time around.
A good number of them were simply priced out and chose not to come home for the holidays.
Our pricing models need to be looked into because they are scaring citizens of this great land from coming home. A person from the United States would certainly cringe on seeing the little a US$100 bill buys here when back there it goes much further.
Called Injiva, these people working in South Africa are already selling their cellphones to make the trip back to work. Locally-based guys are smiling because of these developments because their girlfriends are less likely to be snatched by the injiva as they technically have no money.
Many guys from South Africa, as I commit pen to paper, are stuck in Harare and cannot visit their families deep in the villages owing to the prohibitive costs.
It was a tough Christmas though there are prospects next year’s would be better. Inotambika mughetto.
Online Reporter