Tired in Zulu

Fish pedicure in Japanese spas.

 Tired is khathele in Zulu.

You pronounce it like cartel. Wonderful! The translation fits to a T.

Mama used to be tired after work, so we put warm water in a basin and she would soak her feet. No, she did not belong to the pedicure class.

Lockdown is still around. Drivers miss work but they used to get tired of bumper to bumper traffic and lane closures, because the city was upgrading pipes and grid lines.

Human beings get tired of each other and get a divorce. This happens a lot in so-called developed countries because two people rely on each other for absolutely everything. It’s worse for women. They have cars, car seats and money but raise kids alone, which is not natural.

Women in so-called poor countries have many resources including grandparents, aunties, uncles, cousins and older kids, who take care of younger ones. Kids have chores then go out and play football or cricket, swim or climb trees. Feeding mothers therefore, have birth pains but are not tired because of anxiety.

ZULU	ENGLISH
Ngi-khathele.	I’m tired.
U-baba ukhathele.	Father is tired.
U-mama ukhathele.	Mother is tired.
U-makoti ukhathele.	Sister-in-law is tired.
U-Joyce ukhathele u-Tom.	Joyce is tired of Tom.
U-Livinus ukhathele u Anna Maria.	Livinus is tired of Anna Maria.
Si-khathele impi.	We’re tired of the war.
Si-khathele iCovid-19.	We’re tired of COVID-19.
I-traffic iyakhathaza.	Traffic is worrisome.
Aba-bhemayo baya khathaza.	Drug addicts are worrisome.
I-ntuthu iyakhathaza.	Smoke is worrisome.

This is another ‘written podcast’ by Nonqaba waka Msimang.