My grandmother has always been a drama queen. if insearch of a divergent opinion, she is the best candidate.
so, when three of her grand kids sought her opinion on ICT, all answers were expected.
Of course we did not tell her about ICT, we broke it down. Like a mobile phone. My brother suggested she would buy her a phone so that they can communicate easily.
The answer was no!
“Ndikwenda gacheneneki,” translated to- I am not interested in the loud mouthed. “Gacheneneki” would ordinarily refer to a person who is jumpy and loud, all with negative connotations.
For the old lady, all the people in the village suddenly become loud mouthed once they own the cell phone.
Justifiably so- they all wan to demonstrate they have embraced the information age.
She continues to give examples of how people share their information in public because they talk so loudly.
However, she does not admit that the only reason why she goes to the local mini market is not to sell her wares but to pursue her hobby of finding out how everyone is doing and the developments in their lives.
Amid the drama and idle talk, my grandma explains to my bro that the only reason he would buy her the “gacheneneki” is to make sure that he defaults on his monthly visits.
“The phone does not mean much, I need to see you and talk to you,” the 80 year old iron lady says.
As she eloquently speaking about politics and social affairs, we sought to know why she gladly accepts a new transistor radio and not the phone.
She argues that with the radio, she can listen to the news and other topical issues. After all, the kikuyu plays tickle her and take away the boredom.
As we go through the motions of the uses of a computer and how it makes things easy…blab la bla.
She makes it clear that we can save the crap for another day, arguing that all the talk was just a euphemism for departing from our customs and obligations.
Ends
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