Life is funny, life can be tough; but this word, life, also means, struggle.Honesty. Struggling is honest.
The struggle.
When Charles Darwin said survival of the fittest, he coined not just a phrase of the century but a life-old, statement. Even God would nod in agreement : “One of my children did say something honest.”
And so…
I am passing by. I hear kids screaming and yelling. What the heck. Youngsters always scream at the most minute things. It was... getting hysterical.
“Boris caught a mouse!”
This cat is always placid. I have seen him around. Lazy chap. Always mister nice guy.
Breaking News. There he was! Prancing, biting, checking the straggling creature. Yes, straggling…
“He is only teasing her.”
“How do you know it is a she?”
Kids question the most minute things. “The mouse is dead.”
“No he is not.”
“It…”
“It?”
“Oh yeh. We don’t know whether it is a he or a she.”
That’s right kids.
The mouse was playing dead.
Playing dead is a skill of survival. In war soldiers do it. It is documented throughout history. Mice are intelligent, that is why they are used in experiments.
“Oh, yes! The mouse is running away!”
You could tell whose side (David or Goliath?) the youngsters were on.
Now Boris the cat was coolly observing, paws ready, ears terse and tense, at the small, grey-black creature, trying to bolt, under the green grass, making a last dash.
The kids jumped and hollered.
Whiskers slightly flicking, as if un-disturbed, the feline animal trailed along, tail wagging, undeterred, ever ready…we were witnessing the master hunter in action.
And this is the theme of this piece. Calling it heroism is wrong, because heroes are fighters ; they wage war for a good cause, to save someone, help the drowning, the suffering and losers and victims. And life?
Life is always about winning. Against odds. A streak that causes strife. Road rage. Divorce and skirmishes. Lying down or standing up. Suicide or Victory. Either, or.
Cat is looking at his meal, mouse( he or she) is sniffing death; live or die. Of course Boris had his meal, the kids were so surprised. That is the calamity, the conclusion; inference and nexus.
“He ate her !”
“Not her… He ate it!”
Depending on where you are in the world, hunting (it)….is....
about somebody else’s food and the other’s funeral. There will always be wars and conquests. I don’t think I should call Boris the cat, a hero. What is it they say, sometimes? Anti-hero? Even that is too easy. You decide....
4 comments:
Kaka,
Habari za London.Hapa Aberdeen ni salama.
Nimesoma makala yako nzuri kwenye gazeti la Mwananchi.Hata hivyo naomba kutoa maoni kidogo,nikiamini kuwa hutoyachukulia kama criticism ya aina yoyote ile.Naomba kukunukuu " Blogu zinazotamba nchini sasa na ambazo zinajaribu kuangalia masuala kadhaa na kufahamisha ni Ndesanjo...Michuzi...Bongocelebrity...Jeffmsangi...Miriam...(na wewe mwenyewe) Macha".Nakubaliana nawe kwamba zote ulizozitaja ni mahiri,lakini nadhani katika orodha hiyo ungeweza pia kuwajumuisha ngurumo,haki-hakingowi.blogspot.com,mjengwa,na kwa akinadada tunaye shamimmwasha (8020fashions.blogspot.com) ambaye blogu yake ni kuhusu mitindo na mavazi.
Mie pia ni bloga lakini sijafikia kiwango cha hao uliowataja na wengine niliodhani walipaswa kuwemo katika orodha ya bloga wanaotamba.Mjengwa,kwa mfano,ni bloga pekee ambaye amekuwa akitupatia mandhari za rural areas (makazi yake ni Iringa).Pia kuna dada mwingine anaitwa Dinahicious ambaye blog yake ni ya "mambo ya kikubwa" lakini anayaandika katika lugha ya heshima.Pia kuna bloga mwingine wa kike aitwaye Happiness Katabazi (katabazihappy.blogspot.com),ambaye ni mwandishi wa habari,na kuna dada mwingine Chemi che Mponda ambaye pamoja na habari nyingine huwa anatuhabarisha kuhusu filamu za Kibira.Pengine idadi hiyo ya akinadada (japo ndogo) inaweza kukinzana na observation yako kwamba (nakunukuu) "Wanawake wetu wanayo mengi ya kusema; lakini bado hawaandiki blogu."
Ni maoni tu ya miongoni mwa wapenzi wa makala zako kwenye gazeti la Mwananchi.
Usiku mwema.
Evarist
Ndugu Evarist,
Kama nilivyoshakujibu barua yako pepe kwangu (kupitia kitoto2004).
1-Maoni yako ni sahihi kuwa sikumtaja kila bloga. Lakini hii ni shauri ya nafasi ya gazeti. Uandishi wa magazeti kinyume na blogu si huria hupangiwa idadi ya maneno.
2- Pili, makala niliyoandika inahusu mahojiano na mwanablogu ili kuwanufaisha wale wasiofahamu blogu ni kitu gani. Makala si juu ya undani wa blogu bali blogu ni kitu gani, kwa hasa wazee, watu wa makamo na wasioijua "be wala te" ya kublogu.
3-Kwa Mtanzania asiejua au kuzoea blogu majina mawili tu ndiyo yanafahamika. Kwanza Michuzi, pili, Ndesanjo Macha. Kwetu waandishi wa habari huangalia kitu kinaitwa "news-makers" nani anafahamika, nani ni "habari."
4-Kwa wanablogu dunia hii ya kublogu ni kubwa mithili ya mlima Kilimanjaro. Kama wewe wanafahamu kila kitu kinachohusu blogu, majina, maudhui, nani anaandikaje, na kadhalika. Ambacho hakikuonekana katika blogu yangu, kinahusu dunia ya undani wa blogu, na ndicho umejaribu, bila shaka, kukisema.
5-Lakini nikuulize Evarist. Ukosoaji wako una nia nzuri. Je, kwanini uandike barua yako katika "posting" hii ya Kiingereza, inayomhusu Paka? Hapa msomaji atakulewaje? Nafikiri ulivyoshaniandikia barua pepe ilitosha kabisa tena nishakujibu mle mle kasome unijibu kule kule...Hapa wasomaji wengi wala si Watanzania hayawahusu haya.
6-Kati ya muhimu nililokujibu ni kwamba makala ya Mwananchi iliyotoka juzi Jumapili ni sehemu ya kwanza tu ya mahojiano na Saidi Yakubu. Sehemu ya pili itaendelea juma lijalo. Na humo makalani, baadhi ya wanablogu uliowataja (dada Katabazi, Mjengwa wa Iringa, Chemi Che Mponda wa Marekani) wametajwa. Makala hii ni tafsiri ya makala iliyoshatoka safu yangu ya Kiingereza Jumanne. Ikiwa hukuisoma naweza kukutumia nakala maana magazeti yetu huwa hayaweki kumbukumbu (archives) ikishatoka siku ile tu ndiyo, basi.
Mwishoni nakushukuru kwa kuandika maana ni changamoto, ila ningekuomba wakati ujao uyaandike maoni pale yanapostahili.
Hi my name is Angela could you please translate what the above is about? I love cats and I stumbled here by mistake but couldn't understand a word.
Nice photo of cat and poem like article.
good blog this is for sure!
Hi Angela, the previous post in Swahili was talking about something else other than cats. The dialogue is about an article i wrote about blogging in a newspaper. I actually was telling the writer that this is not the place to send those comments. We have since sorted that out by email. Thanks for your comments.
Post a Comment