By Fidelis Manyange

MUSIC has always played a pivotal role in our lives. No society can live without music unless it happens to be a cemetery. Music provides identity and the opportunity to tell others about who you are. It has been, and it will always be, part of religious ceremonies, festivals and rituals. It serves as a unifying force, breaking down barriers, promoting social cohesion and familial bonds as well as entertainment. In this week’s instalment, I would like to dwell on the role of music in educating people on doing what is right in their day-to-day lives. In this connection, local artistes have been making music that has gone a long way in positively impacting people’s lives. About three decades ago, Hosiah Chipanga, best known for his controversial songs, recorded a song that urges offspring to take care of their loved ones during their lifetime rather than spending lavishly on their funerals. Sings Chipanga in ‘‘Zvichandibatsirei’: ‘Zvichandibatsireiko mwanagu ini baba ndichiri mupenyu ndaigara imba yemapango, imba ichingova huruva nhasi uno ndafa kudai wavakuparadza mari yauinayo uchindivakira guva resimende’’. In short, the Manicaland-born musician is exhorting sons and daughters not to neglect their parents in times of need and only show an interest in their welfare by offering to take care of the funeral expenses. Expensive caskets, mouthwatering food and drinks for everyone become the order of day yet the deceased spent his/her life living in a mud hut with a leaking roof. Obert Chari of ZCC Hakireni Sounds agrees with Chipanga’s sentiments in his hit song, ‘Baba naAmai’, in which he laments:

“Kuzomhanyamhanya negumbeze idzva manzwa kuti baba vafa kuputira baba vasingachanzwe, baba vafa vatonhora havachaziwa. Gumbeze renyu mafidha majuru . . . Vakomana makaregerera baba . . . Kuzomhanyamhanya nezvinonhuhwira manzwa kuti mai vaenda kuzora mutumbi usisachafema makanonoka mai vafa vari muguva havachanhuwirira, mafuta enyu makwezva honye . . . Kuvaisira dombo rinodhura, dombo renyu mashongedza sango . . .”

The message is clear: Children should spare a thought for their parents. Those two musicians’ lyrics aptly capture the plight of parents in their twilight years. The plight of a loving father, who spent a fortune educating his children, but when they landed lucrative jobs overseas invited only their mother to live them, leaving their retired father to fend for himself in the rural areas. Feeling lonely and unwanted, the man fell ill and eventually died alone in his hut. His lifeless body was discovered two days later by neighbours who alerted his relatives who, in turn, informed his Diaspora-based family. The Diaspora family responded swiftly by flying home for the funeral, arriving at the dilapidated homestead in a convoy of hired luxury cars. Mourners were accommodated in tents tents and treated to buffet courtesy of an outside catering service.

During the burial, the family members took turns to recite well-rehearsed graveside eulogies paying tribute to the deceased as ‘a loving and caring father who kept his family united till his death’. When it was time for disposing of the deceased personal effects, no one wanted to inherit old and unfashionable clothes.Continues Chipanga: “Zvichandibatsireiko mwanangu ini mwana ndichiri mupenyu chakazondiuraya inzara kurwara kushayiwa mari yechipatara. Nhasi uno ndafa kudai mokokorodzana vavakidzani mose mari, upfu hobho parufu rwangu . . .” But it’s not just the children who are the subject of Chipanga’s wrath. He is equally scathing of relatives who turn a blind eye to the suffering of their kinsfolk, a view shared by Constance Chitemerere, village head of Chitemerere Village in Musami. “Munhu anotambura zvekusvika pakushaya chekudya achipfeka madzoto asingachagoveke asi vehukama mogadzirisa hembe nengowani zvinemifananidzo yake zvinokwana munhu wese aripanhamo. Chiona hako chikafu riri bvupfuwe ipapo.”

Such examples are legion. Just to drive the message home, the writer went to school with a friend whom I shall call Martha to protect her identity. She and her two younger siblings were raised by a single mother. Upon leaving school, Martha landed a well-paying job with a civil aviation company. Away from the office, Martha sired two children with two married men in the short space of two years. Her mother was livid: “Martha wakafana ani chipfambi chaurikuita ichi nevarume vevanhu?”

Martha responded curtly: “Ndakafana imimi Amai. Inga tese tiri vatatu tinaana baba vakasiyana wani vatisina kumbobvira tagara nawo.” The umbilical cord between mother and daughter was immediately severed as since that fateful day, Martha stopped visiting her and the siblings until she died During the funeral, Martha’s paternal family told her how her mother had suffered at the hands of her husband; how her father had neglected both mother and child and she had to survive on ‘maricho’ (piece work) for their upkeep and used ‘ruredzo’ (wild plant) to wash her soiled undergarments until the maternal uncles intervened. As her mother’s body lay lifeless in her hut, Martha f inally realised how her mother had suffered to raise her and her siblings. It was perhaps too late. But to atone for her years of neglect, she had an expensive tombstone erected for her mother and every monthend she goes to Warren Hills to tidy up her grave and adorn it with fresh f lowers. In this respect, Chipanga’s lyrical wizardry comes to mind: “Zvichandibatsireiko mwanangu ini mai ndirimupenyu wakanga usingandishanyire kana tsamba usingandinyorere, nhasi uno ndafa kudai gore negore wave kundishanyira maruva hobho paguva rangu.”

Martha’s mother must be repeating the very same words each time Martha visits her final resting place. But Chipanga was not done yet. “Tingagofadza seiko vakafa tichikanganwa vapenyu . . . zvirinani kushayikwa parufu tichishandira vapenyu.” Sungura king Alick Macheso offers similar advice in ‘Makandidana’: “Yamura hama dzako dzichiri kurarama . . .” In view of the above advice, families must form WhatsApp groups to help and interact with each other in times of need. Let them meet regularly, to eat, drink and be merry and not wait for a family member to die to ‘prove’ their love.

Obert Chari