Nonqaba said ...

Canada Day which is on the 1 st of July and 4 th of July for the United States celebrate the existence of the political entity called country and celebrations involve food and drink.   How about recycling?   Do we leave all the empty cans and plastic knives in the park? Saving the environment from single use plastic bags and water bottles starts with one family.   Sounds ridiculous?   Not really.   It involves planning about what food and drinks to buy. ·          Paper plates.   Family members can bring real plates, forks and spoons that can be washed afterwards.   A teenager can be responsible for coordinating such an effort.   ·          Plastic water bottles.   Family members should be asked not to buy water.   They should fill their water bottles at home and bring them to the picnic table.   A teenager should be given the task of explaining the no plastic water bottles’ Canada Day or 4 th of July policy to aunts, uncles and grandparents. ·        Bring your own

Doria Ragland is Meghan Markle’s mother who shed happy tears on the 19 th of May 2018, when her daughter married a man known as Prince Harry, brother to Prince William whose mother was Diana Princess of Wales.   Prince Charles, the man who would be king of England one day, is their father.   Doria Ragland however, will go down in history as an independent woman, who shook sound and fury off her back like a duck, and sailed ahead at her own speed, made her own choices.   She is as constant as sunrise about reasons for those choices.   The world wants to know about her life’s spreadsheet.   She refuses access to the document.   She and her daughter are the only ones with the password.   She rightfully figures, the world doesn’t have the right to know.   It’s her life.   It’s her world, and her daughter’s.   Millions of women quietly applaud her stand.   It is incredible in an era where the internet is littered with experts that peddle the belief that exposing oneself to stranger

I’m hungry.   Ngi-la-mbi-le. Photo:  Nonqaba waka Msimang. It seems to be my career.   Other people are nurses, teachers, child care specialists, software developers or nuclear physicists.   I’m a hungrist, always hungry. On a more serious note, hunger is a career path for babies.   When a baby is crying, the response from adults at home is unanimous. “ He is wet or hungry .”   There, problem solved.   Countries that have soccer as a sport are hungry.   They want that 2018 World Cup.   Good luck! La-mba is the verb, to get hungry.   You pronounce it like lambast.   The state of being hungry affects people so you need to remember the prefixes. Ngi- is me, literally means i am. Ba - is they, many people. U - is he is, or she is (pronounce it as in ooze, not unite). Ni - is many people you are talking to. Please note :   This applies to all lessons/posts. ZULU ENGLISH Ngi-la-mbi-le. I’m hungry. Ba-la-mbi-le. They are hungr

Multi-grain croissants? Maybe not.   We don’t have them because croissants seem to be one of the few food items that flow under the radar, away from the healthy food police. The shape has helped them maintain their independence.   Food purists don’t know where to sneak in multi-grains because the front door and back door are like brother and sister.   Multi-grains might not like the butter territory and sneak out just as easily. Butter is the croissant’s brick and mortar.   It melts in your mouth.   It is enough reason to take a break from the no fat, no calorie, no nothing diet, you are currently on.     In fact, they call them butter croissants in North America.   They are croissants period, in the land of the Tour Eiffel. The food police will not finish reading this piece because the very thought of butter makes them fat, mentally.   Croissants are not bothered at all because millions of people in France and Quebec cannot think petit dejeuner (breakfast) without croissants

To cross the street, river or borders is wela in Zulu.   Look left and right before crossing the street, the bible for kids born in the city.   Politicians like changing parties, blue party today, red party tomorrow.   It’s called crossing the floor.   It has nothing to do with democracy, just pure selfish interest with money to be made. Economic migrants.   They pay men with tiny boats to go to Europe or North America in search of what they believe will be a better life.   Some die on the high seas. We-la .   You say the first part of the word like west, the second part like lark. ZULU ENGLISH Welile. A boy’s name meaning he has crossed over.   Maybe the family had some problems when he was born, and they see his birth as hope, something that will help them cross over or have a better life. Bawelile. A girl’s name meaning that people have crossed over. Ngi-zo-we-la nge-bha-si. I will cross ov

Somebody is doing something wrong.   Parents, friends and colleagues advise her that she should stop doing it.   It is khu-za in Zulu.   I don’t know what would be, the best translation.   She must desist from doing it or should her friends reprimand her?   Is khu-za a warning?   Sorry, many things are lost in translation. Khu-zani bo!   Americans who did not vote for President Trump have raised the alarm to many of his policies, especially on immigration and Mexico in particular.   People who gave him their vote are cool with it.   They regard him as the main man. Youth is exciting for kids because of sampling.   They sample life as they go along, something that freaks out parents, who try and call them to order.   They try to khu-za them. Khu-za .   You say the first part like cool and the second part like Zanzibar. ZULU ENGLISH Khu-za-ni u-President Trump. Tell President Trump to stop. Mkhu-zeni. A boy’s name w

When politicians for oil like Justin Trudeau, Canada’s Prime Minister beat the ‘it’s good for the economy’ drum, they never present the flip side, about what happens when oil men ditch pipelines because they are not getting desired profits to stick around. They never clean up after themselves like kids cleaning their rooms, workers cleaning crumbs off tables in the lunch room or dog owners picking their dog litter in the park.   Capitalists are the only group on earth that is exempt from collecting the tools and infrastructure they used to vandalize the countryside and oceans.   Oilmen and capitalists are anti-future.   They are crash and burn. The economy is controlled by men who are there to make money.   They pay workers wages that will not graze profits and have accountants that will get their money back should operations stop being ‘cost effective’. They have politicians who are kind to them like Justin Trudeau, who had a kind gesture for Kinder Morgan.   What could be ki

To ward off blows or avoid danger in Zulu is vika.   From vika comes another verb, vi-ke-la which is to protect.   African Americans might also say ‘watching your back.’   It’s good to know that someone is watching your back, because it’s a rough world. Professional boxers like Anthony Joshua dance around in the ring warding off blows from opponents.   Nobody wants a knock-out.   Animals are fierce when it comes to protecting their young. Immunisation protects kids from certain diseases, even two people enjoying each other need protection. An umbrella protects you from the rain.   Stick fighting in Africa and other parts of the world is about anticipating blows and avoiding them. Vi-ka , the first part is pronounced like vivid, the second part as is kamala , an Indian word.   To protect is vi-ke-la , the first part as in vivid, the second part as is kenzo , a Japanese word and the last part as in laugh. ZULU ENGLISH Vika. A popular b

Selfies are the new suicide notes, call it suicide gone digital. A suicide note is the traditional explanation to committing suicide.   Traditional?   Yes, the word is inappropriate because it applies to social circumstances like the bride wears white in Europe or red if the wedding is in Asia.   Libation is another example. It is traditional in Africa to pour a drop of African beer on the ground before you drink it.   It is for ancestors, a tradition that survived slavery because some African Americans still do it. Suicide is intentional.   Suiciders (new word?) take their own lives because they feel they have come to a dead end after considering all options to delete problems in their lives.   Nothing new there.   Life is problems.   It is intentional because suiciders take actions guaranteed to kill them.   They no longer leave a note before hanging themselves, taking an overdose or drinking poison.   They take dangerous selfies, but that is subjective.   What looks dan

Mikal Bridges Phoenix Suns, team playing Milwaukee Bucks in the 2021 season Final.  Good.   Great. Fine. O.K is lunga in Zulu.   When you are in Southern Africa, you will hear the question, ku-njani?   How are you? The response is usually, ku-lu-ngile .   I’m fine. I’m good. Great. It is the same response all over the world because it is anti-social to be an open book about your feelings and the potholes in your life.   People will shun you at work and call you depressing.   It is much better to say, I’m great and everybody pretends to be happy. Lu-nga .   You pronounce the first part as in Luigi, the second part as in lung.   When you add - sa - at the end of the verb, it becomes prepare, make good, lu-ngi-sa . ZULU ENGLISH Lunga. A boy’s name.   The family felt it was good that the child was born. Lu-ngi-le. A girl’s name.   The family was happy the child was born. Ba-lu-ngi-le. A girl’s name,

Attitude has two faces, like a coin. There is official and perceived attitude.   Official attitude comes with the job.   Managers have it, so do bouncers in nightclubs.   The Pope, presidents, prime ministers, queens and lions all have legitimate attitude that is job-based. “She has an attitude.” Perceived attitude is problematic because it doesn’t have a formula.   It is an internal transport network like the heart and kidneys.   It is how the accuser feels about someone. The accuser has reasons for the perception while the accused is totally in the dark.   If she wore white robes for her court cases instead of the standard black all attorneys wear, she would be aware of her misdemeanor and correct it.   The accuser is mad at the accused for breaching protocol, for not behaving in a particular manner, talk a certain way or not talk at all, smile and react in a certain way when she meets the accuser in the elevator or car park. Quite simply, she has an attitude bec

Photo:  Nonqaba waka Msimang. Recipes usually advise us that the tomato quiche will serve 8, but is it a science?   Appetites are not born equal therefore, it is difficult to predict that the quiche will be shared equally among the eight members at the kitchen table. Some family members take three slices because of their jobs, which make them as hungry as a horse.   That leaves five slices on the serving plate.   Two family members might share a piece because they are on diet.   If push comes to shove, the mother will forfeit her piece.   It’s called maternal instinct. What book publishers don’t know is that servings are irrelevant to people who still eat from the same round plate.   It is round because it represents equality, like the sun and the moon, G7 countries are still trying to ‘civilise’ for dollars. A lot happens around that round plate.   Kids learn manners of sharing, the language, how to feed younger brothers and sisters, learn about the land that sustains th

Mark Zuckerberg, Meta pilot. Facebook just bought Twitter in a hostile take-over.   Twitter refused to comment on the anonymous tweet that broke the story, despite the confidentiality clause attached to the deal. Just kidding, just kidding folks, but I would be wary of Facebook if I were Twitter because Facebook loves stats.   The more the better.   If something attracts more than seven digits, Facebook moves in with its acquisition trolley. Sources close to my imagination indicate that Facebook is uneasy about its product, which seems to be perfect lives, especially on Instagram.   However, Twitter’s product, which includes real life hostile take-overs, mudslinging among politicians, high profile suicides and divorces, racist television hosts, plane crashes, wardrobe malfunctions, tweeting presidents, scandals about producers’ couch casting and other imperfect news pulls in the big numbers. Facebook has two choices, get rid of its good guy or perfect lives image or buy out