MY SAY.

OH, IT IS CHRISTMASS! By Jeremy Leariwala You can hear the carols playing everywhere and the bells jingling in every shop selling gifts. Soon, that all familiar old man in red will start shouting, ‘Ho, ho hooh… It is Christmas again and it is time to rejoice.’ Kids ask a lot of hard questions sometimes. Today I want to think of you playing Father Christmas with this little boy standing in front asking questions. ‘What is Christmas?’ The boy asks and his eyes tell you that he really wants to know what it is. Ho, ho hooh… Christmas is the birth of Jesus Christ the son of God. It is a special day observed all over the world on 25th December to celebrate the coming to the world of our lord Jesus. It is a festive season in which all Christians come together to pray and remember that day. It is a holiday period where you can travel to see the world and take a break. ‘What do people do on Christmas?’ The boy asks. Christmas is the time to share. It is the time to show our friendship b...

THE FINGER POINTING CURSE By Jeremy Leariwala A blame game circus is the most misused tool of evading responsibility. When somebody is tasked and fails to deliver results, he or she will mostly point a finger at someone or something out of his/her control. But one would ask, “do people really understand what pointing one finger away means?” A friend of mine shared the following two stories that I would wish to share with you too. First there are three men who volunteer to hunt down Satan and secondly there is a labourer with a flower shedding tree. Many years ago three men from a certain town volunteered to go out and hunt down Satan! Perhaps so many of their problems were blamed on Satan and everyone was tired of it. These three men wanted to handle the devil once and for all. They set out very early in the morning, walked for the better part of the day until they came across a bag full of money. Well, it is a long story but to sum it up, the three men ended up killing ...

PUBLIC READING TIME By Jeremy Leariwala One cloudy afternoon I found myself meandering through a crowded street in Nairobi. My intention was to reach Jevanjee Garden, chill there a little before proceeding to Alliance Francaise. On my back was a backpack with a few items among them Ifeoma Chinwuba’s Novel ‘Merchants of Flesh’. It had taken me long to read the book and I wanted to get over it and do something else. I went past the Dedan Kimathi’s statue, crossed onto Moi Avenue and headed up towards Central Police Station. I bumped onto a few pedestrians before I finally walked into Jevanjee Garden. The Garden had quite a number of people; some seated quietly on the benches, others crowded in small groups discussing politics while others sprawled on the grass. The usual preachers were present too shouting to no one in particular from several spots. Wise men once said learn to mind your own business. So I ignored the environment and got myself an empty spot on a bench, fetch...

STRAY SOULS By Jeremy Leariwala “ Your dreams are valid!” Lupita Nyongo once said so. I have no doubt that what she said is true. When we are growing up, we all have a goal in life, a dream to pursue and a desire to leave a mark. But somewhere along the way we stray and lose track or slow down our pace. Stray souls come in many forms. Individuals who step out with clear goals and lose focus along the way are an example. People who are deliberately steered off their course by their detractors are another example. And then there is that other groups of people, who encounter obstacles in their lives, give up the struggle and shift their goal posts in defeat. These are stray souls. Poor planning or lack of it is a sure sign of a potential stray soul. A person needs to define his journey if he wants to achieve his objectives in life. Those who indulge themselves in drugs or substance abuse along the path of life most of the times end up as stray souls. Same as those weaklings w...

NAKUJAN Vs THE SPEAR By Jeremy  Leariwala A long ,  long time ago in a village called Angorot, there lived a young lady called Nalongopi. She had a two year old daughter called Nakujan. It is said that her husband and son took care of their stock while she stayed back at home to take care of their house. There were many other villagers living with them in the village. The story taller tells us that there was a lot of tension in their village since it was reported that a number of enemy warriors had been spotted nearby. Those  days’  communities fought over grazing fields, water and boundaries more frequently than today. But  no one wanted to move away. They stayed put and fought on because there was nowhere else to go. But one day Nalongopi strapped Nakujan onto her back. She picked her machete, rope and walked out of the village to go and fetch some firewood. There was no one else going to the forest and she badly needed the woods for cooking. She fear...

WHIP NOT Jeremy Leariwala One fine morning I was awoken by screams of some high school students from a nearby school. I had no idea what they were screaming about but from a few words I could gather, I knew that the school principal was in trouble. I later came to learn that there were more troubles than I had guessed. The principal, the area chief, the local area police boss and parents were in deep trouble. And I was even more troubled because I could not believe what actually transpired that morning was a true reflection of the school’s products. The incident of that morning has been disturbing my mind because I have always believed that whatever your students do today, to some extent, determines what they would do in the future. Have you ever met a hawker selling whips and felt your skin cringe? Have you ever watched someone buying a whip and felt like testing the same whip on him? Maybe yes maybe not but let me give you my mind. Those high school students di...