The third meeting
The third time I met Tuku was only a few weeks ago.
It was perhaps the first time that I actually got to understand his charm and the holds on the ordinary Zimbabwean, young and old.
Tuku had just finished another interview at a local radio station and was about to have breakfast at a local cafe, frequented by the well to do.
When he walked, it was with a sizable entourage which included a pair of bodyguards and a few journalists marching in step behind his heels.
The reaction of those at the joint told us all we needed to know about the celebrity of the man. One after another the older patrons would turn to each other, quizzing those next to them on whether they had seen the whirlwind that had just blew past.
A few young girls stood as if in a trance, with looks that suggested they had screams suppressed in their chests.
For this interview I came ready for a hostile Tuku and he did not disappoint, playing a game of cat and mouse with almost all the questions.
I asked him why people loved Neria and he answered indifferently “I don’t know.” I suggested that perhaps it was because of the emotional connection people had with the song and “Maybe that’s it,” is all I got.
For the most part however, the superstar was less guarded than he had been last time.
Ever since Walter Wanyanya has taken over, Tuku has been open, even opening a Twitter account that has made him even more accessible to his fans, especially his younger followers.
Perhaps he is not a perfect human being. Perhaps like other great men before him he has his flaws and having been stung once or twice by the media he can at times understandably be hostile towards it.
What he presents however, is a chance for Zimbabweans to present one of their own with the flowers while he can still smell them. As he celebrates his 66th birthday (Saturday 22 September), his life is a reminder that beautiful things can be said about someone great before we reach for our pens and pads to scribble their obituaries. Happy birthday Tuku.