MY SAY.

CHRISTMAS MEMORIES By Jeremy Leariwala Christmas time has always been a time to create memories, good ones for that matter. From the festivities; nuptials included, new dresses, shoes and toys to the urban folks strutting across the dusty-rural-streets in style, there is always something unique about the time. At the back of our minds (born 70s, 80s and 90s), images of model cities, created by the frail hands of villagers using clay, at the centre of the village, are tucked and vividly clear as if it is just the other day that we participated in Christmas competitions. When I was a child there were inter-villages competitions every end of the year. The rules were simple: the villagers were to organize themselves and use clay to create a model of Bethlehem, where Joseph & Mary had gone to be taxed. It must show Bethlehem as it were during the birth of Jesus Christ. Depending with the creativity of the villagers and their understanding of the story of Christ’s birth in the bible, the...

LOOKING ACROSS  By Jeremy Leariwala  Walker exits the van, immersing his fatigued body in a cold sea. A soft breeze, blowing directionless, carries a mixture of smells; from the leaves, tilled land to the approaching rains. Overhead, the sun lurks behind drifting clouds. Ahead stands a bearded man; one of the curios sellers aligned along Nyahururu-Subukia road, looking him over, sizing him and judging his purchasing power. But Walker stopped for something behind the shops. The magnificent view across the Rift Valley from Subukia’s Eastern viewpoint has always been nostalgic.  “Jambo?” The seller beamed.  “Jambo, jambo...”  Walker throws him another glance. Early thirty-ish, with a countenance of a stress-free family man. The artefacts: grey-haired busts, spear and shield wielding warriors, jumbos, giraffes, Thomson’s gazelles etc, line up behind him like a battalion. Enviable canvas paintings hang on his shop’s wall. An affordable artwork of a gourd-clutching Ga...