Finally, the January disease is behind us
EVERY battle, no matter how ferocious and intriguing, finally comes to an end.
War is bloody. It results in death, destruction and lifetime challenges, hence the need to avoid it at all costs.
Aside from creating heroes, casualties and villains, battles also often leave in their wake a lot of lessons which may serve as arsenal to conquer future wars.
The painful reality of war is that some casualties take long to heal or end up paying the ultimate prize, exposing to the world the pitfalls of going into battle without adequate preparation and ammunition to last the distance.
“Hondo ine ropa, rufu, kuparadza, matambudziko mukati mehondo. Musatange imwe hondo,” sang the legendary Simon “Chopper” Chimbetu in a piece called “Hondo.”
Gentle reader, no matter the challenges we faced, the month of January has slowly but finally come to an end.
People had to make do with all kinds of funny condiments like termites, flying ants, wild vegetables and pumpkin leaves, while others had to retire to bed on empty stomachs.
Others had to park their vehicles and make do with public transport, which is far cheaper than pouring a gallon of petrol daily to get to and from work. The pressing month of January saw some people shelving capital projects like building, choosing to resume later in the year when their economic circumstances change.
So difficult was the month of January that up to now, some characters are playing hide-and-seek with landlords, headmasters and loan sharks.
“I am fully aware of the fact that I did not pay my rent but I am working out something soon.
“My elder brother is in hospital so I have a lot of medical bills to contend with. Chingondizwisisaiwo vakuru,” I heard a workmate pleading with his landlord last week.
“Since you have been waiting for the past three weeks, you can as well wait for another set of seven days so that I make a double credit on the rent.
‘‘Life is difficult my brother but I am trying all I can to settle these arrears,” he said without caring to hear the response from the other end of the telephone. In an isolated case, a bloke came pleading with me to lie to a loan shark that he had been involved in an accident and plans were in place to pay off the pound of flesh he owed.
“Ingomusasa mudharikeni wacho kuti ndiri muzuva ndakapindana nematsurutsuru nejagwa saka ndozomusotera mushakorozi wake kana ndabuda muhositimbi,” the bloke pleaded, leaving me without an option but to do as he had requested.
So bad was the month of January that some people locked themselves inside their homes, not wanting to entertain visitors whose presence would mean extra tummies to feed and extra challenges to deal with.
I feel sorry for employers who had to put up with relentless applications for advance salaries and soft loans from brigades of their work forces who sought to even out on school fees, transport and other educational sundries for their children.
It was money, money, money everywhere. However, this being a vicious cycle, the matrix is likely to end with people seeking ‘loans to pay off loans loaned to them by individuals who had taken loans to loan out loans to people in need of loans.’
Adulthood has this unsavoury side of always making one the source of income to resolve life challenges even in instances where they are too financially embarrassed to play that role.
Just like in war, we should be mindful that the actions we take to extinguish a fire do not erode our capacity to defend ourselves fully when the need arises.
Now that January has come and gone, we now need to ensure that we prepare adequately for the months of January that will come in the future using this month as experience to tackle problems for the future.
Inotambika mughetto.