The Sunday Mail
After successfully applying for a bank loan during my prime years, I invited a coterie of friends for a night of booze and braai at a classic joint of the time.
We waltzed, munched and shared exciting moments until I decided to visit the toilet to check what remained in the purse.
To my horror, less than a third of the loan remained and I automatically knew I was in trouble.
I was going to spend the following 24 months paying back money that had not benefited me in any way.
“Varikutetena finance machinda ayo. That is a good life,” I could hear mesmerised patrons saying.
However, when I returned from the lavatory, the mood had changed.
I got angry each time a friend asked for another round.
I actually abandoned the party, yet I was the host.
In my brief experience as an educationist many moons ago, I had grown accustomed to seeing learners running away from class each time we tried to discuss exam papers after they would have performed dismally.
A good number feigned illness, while others bunked the lesson without excusing themselves.
“Chimudhara chinosvota ichi. Kuda kutidyoresa mvura yakarasika kare,” I would hear them say while I was busy scribbling the word “revision” on the chalkboard.
Little did the learners know that revision is a necessary part of life.
This is the situation we find ourselves in as we wade through November, the “month of the goat” in Shona.
November is regarded as a sacred month during which no rituals are made nor marriages solemnised.
Should you discover that your daughter is pregnant, you have to swallow your pride and let her live under the same roof as you until next month.
Sadly, this month is the same month when people literally run amok after getting their bonus payments and do all sorts of silly things, which they later regret.
Yours truly was born in November, and that is the only positive thing he has to say about the month.
It is the only month learners discover they are ill-prepared for an exam.
Given that there is only one month left before the year draws to an end, most people rush to make up for lost time, while others postpone their plans to next year.
“I never managed to achieve anything that was part of the resolutions I had made for the year.
“The year was extremely tough because of the coronavirus pandemic, which made me spend the greater part of the year at home. I think I only managed to remain alive, and thank God for that,” one drinking mate told this writer.
“It was a very tough year and one I want to quickly end and forget about. Pakange pakaipa! Akange ari matsurundundu,” he continued.
The year was admittedly tough for most people and brought to the fore societal challenges such as prostitution, teen pregnancies and drug abuse.
Many parents are still reeling.
“It is unfair to want to know what people achieved this year because it was a complete write-off for many people. Children left parents crying because of mischief involving drug abuse and pregnancies. Are you aware that as parents we bear the brunt of our children’s misbehaviour?
“If my daughter is impregnated and the guy disappears into thin air, I am left without a choice but to look after her and the child. This is the situation at the moment,” said Hilda Manokunga of Mbare.
She said she was simply glad to be alive.
Fungai Tawengwa of Glen Norah, however, hates November for a totally different reason.
“This is not a good month at all. Very soon the rains will be falling and we will need to be at the farm ploughing and tending crops. It is the month when thieves go wild as they try to make as much money as possible at our expense. Tiri munhamo vadikani,” he said with pain written all over his face.
Inotambika mughetto.
In my brief experience as an educationist many moons ago, I had grown accustomed of seeing learners running away from class each time we tried to discuss exam papers after they would have performed dismally.
