TALES BY THE FIREPLACE NOW PERFORMED AT NDERE CENTRE
The old tales that were being performed by our great grand ancestors are now being performed at Ndere centre. These were known as KOI KOI which were riddles performed around the fire place in the evenings.
In the ancient times of the Kiswahili, the riddles were asked. In Kinya-rwanda the answers came rushing. They were shammed in Luo and answered in Kiswahili. Not to be outwitted, they came in Luganda. They were answered in English!
Such was the ambiance at an interactive poetry and storytelling evening at Ndere Centre dubbed Koi Koi, The fireplace tales. Ok, the poetry bit didn’t really suffice but seated around a sizeable bonfire, the social gathering needed little inducing to hold others at intellectual ransom.
There was no particular formula or procedure to follow beyond the raising of hands and getting noticed by the emcee. But more young hands went up than the old ones, perhaps because they weren’t ashamed to try and fail.
So, if I have my wife who goes out dressed and returns naked, who is she? What about I have my house and I sleep in it alone? Or better still, I have my children who spend the night awake and sleep in the morning, who are they? Well there you are. And the latter isn’t night watchmen! The riddles were interspersed with music and dance, and around the bonfire waists were wiggled, butts shaken and the ground stumped with wanton abandon. And it didn’t really matter which song was on the dais.
But the smoke struggled with all might and took its place. Sam Okello, the emcee, couldn’t help it and bemusedly wondered out, “Eh, this smoke is too much today. Someone here must have done something beside the road.” True African thinking, and the crowd laughed.
The dramatized storytelling, a part of the menu, which capped the evening, can get better with a little more tightening, if the whats and whatevers are knocked out.
The recovery of such cultures by Ndere group and their performances is of great importance as it helps in recovering culture which is important to Uganda cultural tourism. It should be done in its formerly natural styles in order to avoid bastardization of culture.
BY TANAH HADIJAH.