Haiya!!

Listening to Harry Kimani’s "Haiya" brings back loads of memories come flooding in

I grew up in Kikuyu land; post mau mau and pre-underground garages and on to post nyayo.

They were a lovable lot- eccentric in their ways but focused.
I remember my mum’s kyuk boss passing through home on Christmas eve to dropoff some of his farm produce in the Christmas spirit, and what was he driving a Pajero!!!

Now kids don’t get me wrong- but in the nineties this was like the cat's pajamas (always wanted to use that !!)

Kids (basketball team- not bad) scrambled out to stare and marvel at one of the latest Pajero models; mouths agape- and kid brothers absolutely animated…. And then

"Meeeee"

No it couldn’t be- we didn’t keep any goats….

"Meeee"

Yes- right there inside the well carpeted brand new carpet of this brand new paj's boot was a goat- we looked over to Mr Maina- who by the way didn’t look one bit like the amount of money he was worth- his jacket looked like it had been washed in water, hang out in the sun and ironed- it was all lumpy at the seams, with a curious sheen all through- he completed the look with gum boots and crowned it with uncombed kinky african hair!

"I just came from the shamba- and I brought some thing for Christmas"

Yes- literally from the garden, but since the goat- now seriously humping the back seat- wasnt ours it was one of two things it was meant for someone higher up the rung- or from a neighbour competing in generosity.

it is not a stereotype- kyuks tend to be hardworking folk who could make money out of anything- always jolly, loved their drink but always had a firm woman waiting in the wings to reel them back in lest they stray.

I didn’t realize it then- but I do miss the ‘buggers’, their mannerisms, profusely expressive ways that includes pointing the direction of someone of a place with their lower lips, and their willingness to laugh at themselves and others in good humor.

back yo Harry Kimani....

People change???

The bouncing baby swathed in the wrong colours coz she was supposed to be a he
The speech that seemed so full of question and exclamation marks

The mummy’s girl who believed God saw all- but negotiated terms from time to time
A short eye-opening stint away from home turned the gay extrovert into a hardened introverted pubescent;

Could only move into typical rebellious adolescent, yes?.... wrong! On the contrary
Disenfranchising courtship with religion, turned to cynic realism

Years flew by and the goody two shoes mask erodes; glimpses of another increasing
Is she her father’s daughter or her society’s product?

Change???

Ad libbing

Making it up with the guidelines of the original script.

I remember my first radio job interview when I was not feeling the vibe and was wondering how long it would take me to transverse across town to insure I still had my what I presumed to be a dead-end job (no I was just bored… another story) and hoped that my excuse would augur well- when the ‘bugger’s’ face lit up- pure glee

B: you have a music background

Lm: Uh huh (you staring at cv)

B: That means you’re creative

Lm: Uh huh (what’s that got to do with me fiddling with the buttons on the machines in your
studio and loving the sound of my voice)

B: (to his self) This is great… mm hmm … (to me) I have a keyboard

Lm: uh huh ( eeeh…I have a pressure cooker)

B: I was thinking of starting a production studio

Lm: Uh huh (I was thinking of bungee jumping)

B:*Silence- with expectant look*

Lm: (alarm) woah… I play 2 or three instruments, but if that is what you mean by creative (I
wasn’t doing no more ‘composition classes’ for a living!)… I applied for presentation

B: (incredulous- indignant) so you lied… the cv is a lie!

Lm: No, I said I played- but I am not here to compose jingles- I would just like to present…

B: But it says you play piano!

Lm: Yes

B: So you play?... Done- you have the job.

That was about the beginning of my ad libbing in Uganda! How? Apart from waking up at ungodly hours to do a morning show- I was stuck in a production studio- and he leaned on me for all my ‘ingenious’ to meself “crap!”

Yes, this is what lissing did, well still tends to do- taking Einstein out of context when he said
“genius is 10 percent talent and 90 per cent work”
and making him fit my generally formulated life philosophy instilled since childhood
“Improve on ur weaknesses”
simple mathematics also seems to elude me (hahaha to clever for my own good).

I actually have taken it to the levels of excelling in my ‘weaknesses’ and around you people thinking what a genius I am (then again I might have missed the sarcasm)- then comes boredom, dissatisfaction and ultimately distraction as I take on a new challenge.

You see the thing about ad libbing is, on it’s own it’s ad-non-sensing it.
So still searching for the original script- got bits and pages of it- I am tired of making it up as I go along- only; I am Director/ Producer of script- will source for more info- the usual culprits- life and bigenderako.