A Lovely Evening

My friend invited me to a poetry evening, a meeting of great minds, and I was all psyched for it, I invited a friend who I knew would enjoy this just as much as I would.

Saturday gets here and I am off,

“Hi where you at?”
“I’m getting off a mat, so let’s meet half way”

We get there and all the faces I saw at the last SLAM event I attended are here, I feel at home already, chitter chatter and then the MC goes up front and welcomes us, and I’m wondering why she is trying so hard to speak in Swahili, well, surprise, surprise, the whole evening is Swahili and it isn’t ‘poetry’, its ‘mashairi’….
So she stumbles her way through the intro and then the main ‘act’ gets on ‘stage’ and he delivers a shairi that even though most words just “pita”, it enthralls me, holds me totally captivated! I’m shocked that such a ternary would capture my sights; I take off my jacket, take out my pen and note book and slide easier on the seat, I’m at home.

There follows several other performances that I can only compare to the choral verses from back in high school, it was such an awakening, the issues that we hear and experience everyday, we think of as normal, when you hear of these issues in Swahili, you look at in a totally different light, it touches you deeper.
There was a “choral” by a 6 member team and they were on the issue of how guys cannot say ‘no’ to a beautiful ‘creamy cake’ and it was in Swahili!! If not for the poem, you concentrate so that you can try and capture and understand the words that you heard last when you were in school!!
It was poetry with a purpose, with a message, and even though we have heard it time and over again, it was fresh and new hearing it in Swahili.

The evening had its awkward moments, between trying to speak the Language that belongs to us, that we have turned into a relic of what it was, and trying to understand what was being said, there was still time for great entertainment.
A trio of two guitars and a violin going by the name AZIZA, who I’m shocked I never knew of, gave us a performance that I want to be replayed over and over in my mind!
Apart from the fact that they were handling their instruments (all ye of dirty minds, shame on you! tihihi) like there was no tomorrow, and the way they crooned and made you sit forward, I think I became an instant groupie!!! These guys know what they are doing, they sing in Swahili, Dholuo, Kikuyu and English, and I'm sure if they had enough time, we would have discovered another language that they could also sing in.

Away from the music, there was great company, food for thought and best for me, no alcohol, and still, I had a lovely time!
Last performance by AZIZA and I should at this point mention that their manager’s arm was around my waist and he had an adorable lisp!

So there was my Saturday evening, with a friend I will keep for life, great entertainment and new friends.