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Zimbabwe: Without Respect, You're an Outlaw!
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 Published by the government of Zimbabwe |
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The Herald (Harare)
COLUMN
10 May 2008
Posted to the web 12 May 2008
Harare
Parents and their children the world over are waging bitter struggles against each other with radios and television sets acting as catalysts.
Whether you like it or not, this is a war in which you clothe, feed and pay for the education of the enemy.
But, ukarera imbwa nemukaka inofuma yokuruma. Nguruve inozvikanga nemafuta ayo. From cold wars to open aggression the rifts vary, but that the conflicts indeed exist needs not be undermined.
Some children answer back while a parent is reprimanding them, while others walk away in a show of disapproval. They love ephemeral victory.
It is not unusual to see children either grinning or passing sick comments about their parents each time they hear the car making its way into the yard.
"Commander auya," "Gandanzara rasvika," "Vauya Vachidhakwa," "Chedumbu asvika," you hear kids saying.
"Kwauyiwa," "VaChibhanzi vauya," "Tight," "The vampire has landed" and or "Yowe-ee maiwe-e," are common lines you hear from children.
Gentle reader, the labels are many and varied while they also vary from place to place.
A parent's physical make up can also contribute to the nickname they get at the end of the day.
The vertically-challenged are commonly referred to as "Shorty Mubhawa" while those who are very tall can be called "Mulebelebe."
The skinny can be called "Dzaondera chikora nebhachi" or "Mabhonzo." The light-skinned are roundly nicked "Tsvukesto" or "Tsvuketsvuke".
The lion in some children seems to roar each time they treat their parents the way a character they saw on television treated his.
The cumulative effect of violent programming has also made some children generally hostile and abusive.
They have come to accept bad language used in the movies they watch as normal to the point of viewing women, including their mothers and sisters, as second-class citizens and sex objects.
Some movies give viewers a false sense of intellectual superiority and they end up looking down upon everyone, their parents included. Njere dzebenzi kuvanda mvura inonaya mutsime.
"Hie there," my son once shouted this excuse for a greeting to me.
When I asked what that meant, he pointed his small finger warning me against tapping into "old-fashioned norms."
"Daddy, you are barely 40 but you want to act as though you were born 19 those days," I was told straight in the face.
Kusawirirana vakuru nevadiki,
Mitemo netsika zviri kunetsa,
Tsika dzedu, pachivanhu chedu hapasisina,
Dzichadzoka here?
Rukudzo, rukudzo patsika dzedu,
Rwakayeredzwa nemvura hama,
Iko kukwazisa kwevakomana,
Mazuva ano, hanzi
Yes, yes mudhara, uri sharp here? observed Madzibaba Nicholas Zakaria and his Khiama Boys outfit. True to Zakaria's song, very few children still have respect for their parents and other cultural values.
But Madzibaba is not alone.
Self-exiled Chimurenga music king Thomas Mapfumo also did a song on the importance of respect in society.
Wakura iwe, wakura iwe,
Zvawakanganwa sekuru nambuya kumusha,
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Zvino uchaita sei midzimu yakurasa?
Wodzidzisa vana tsika dzevarungu,
Uchaita sei, mvura zvayaramba kunaya.
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