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Africa Moyo Deputy News Editor
When sungura ace Mark Ngwazi penned the track, “Nyaradzo Yababa”, which is on his 2022 album “Nharo Nezvinenharo”, many people might have danced to the beat without paying particular attention to the lyrics.
And if anyone listened to the lyrics, they may not have made as much sense of them as they will do tomorrow; Christmas Day.
It is not because Ngwazi’s music would be played all over the country all day, but because some families that ill-treat other people will be unable to feast as much as others, even when there are many people who are able to assist them.
Zimbabwe and large parts of the world, celebrate Christmas Day tomorrow, and since the start of December, people have been travelling from various places to be with their families, relatives and friends.
So highly revered is Christmas Day that people travel as far as the United States, United Kingdom and South Africa, among other places, just to be with relatives and family to enjoy. Those of the Christian faith say it’s their day, given that it is associated with the birth of Jesus Christ, who they believe is “Almighty, omnipresent and saviour”.
However, Christmas Day has a completely different meaning in the rural areas, compared to urban areas. In urban areas people know there is Christmas and from Unity Day onwards, you start seeing a lot of traffic into supermarkets and clothing shops.
However, the rural folk start planning for Christmas from January 2, and the planning includes saving money to buy a lot of bread, meat and more importantly, soft and/ or alcoholic beverages at the local township.
Some people, especially males, till their neighbours’ fields, grow vegetables and sell, fetch firewood and water for a fee, and mould bricks among other activities, just to generate some money to spend on Christmas Day.
Children sulk when asked to go out and herd livestock on Christmas, while those that fail to convince their parents or guardians to relieve them on the day, end up taking the livestock to paddocks where they abandon them until evening so they can enjoy the day either at home or the township.
If the herd boys are unlucky, the livestock will devour a neighbour’s thriving maize crop and the day ends with them getting a thorough beating.
Away from the tending of livestock, most families with parents and/ or children with well-paying jobs, will have unlimited quantities of food on Christmas Day.
Even children who usually get a tiny piece of meat and an ocean of soup, can have up to five pieces of meat on Christmas.
They say Christmas is a day of plenty and sharing, but some families will not have a lot of food because their children either died or are not hustling enough to generate money.
Some families that ill-treated their late relatives’ children when they “took care of” them, will also go with between little and no food on Christmas as the now grown up orphans “fight back”.
Ngwazi says orphans that were ill-treated by relatives as they grew up, have a dilemma on Christmas Day as they have no parents to buy groceries and clothes.
In the village they say everyone is your parent, including those that saw you grow, but when people recall their torture they went through at the hands of some “guardians”, they would rather hold a second or third memorial for their late parents, just to make them happy.
Ngwazi says an orphan could opt to hold their mother’s memorial on an aeroplane to please her, compared to providing food for the living who would have terrorised you as you grew up.
Such is the bitterness that some people have for those that cared for them.
The lesson from Ngwazi’s “Nyaradzo Yababa” is that people should not ill-treat each other, never mind their present circumstances.
As Ngwazi puts it: “Every pain teaches a lesson and every lesson teaches a person.”
He also believes that God is able to enable the unable to be able to do great things in life never mind their past that could have irritated their carers.
As people enjoy Christmas tomorrow, people should reflect on their relations with those they took care of in the past, and if the relations are strained, strive to mend them ahead of Christmas Day 2023 and beyond.
Online Reporter