ለዘመኔ ልጆች

[80’s/90’s – በኢትዮጵያ ዘመን አቆጣጠር – kids: How many of these books/short stories/sayings do you remember from Ethiopia’s yester-years? Back when we all watched the one TV channel, listened to “Qidamen kegna gar”, and “Ehudih landAfta”, as well as “Legedadi Radio”, with its signature starting bell? And waited for a whole week for “TalaQu film” on Saturday night to bring you either some Russian crap, “Umer Muktar” or a dated American romance? To entertain us with Lemenih Tadesse, and Tamagn Beyene’s comedy [Left out Alebachewu Teka on purpose. He was no comedian]. To bore us to death/entertain and inspire us through: Aregahign Worash, “Kotume wejin gela”, “Wedey terekaba” respectively.

[መንደርደሪያ፦ How do you know you are getting old? When you start looking back, instead of ahead, of course! When you start missing things from your youth and childhood fondly when they weren’t so great to live through. When all those things you hated once come to mean a lot to you.

The following, at least, are things that meant a lot to me even then. Things that I grew up on, were influenced heavily by, and played a part in forming who I am].

Enjoy and feel free to add to the list.

Shorts from “ከመጽህፍት ዓለም”, in no particular order:

“አብሽና ፋፋ”
“የመት ጣዬ እንጉርጉሮ”
“ሽልንጌን”
“ሴሜጋ እንዴት እንደተያዘ”

Books, in THAT order:
“ፍቅር እስከ መቃብር”
“የታንጉት ሚስጥር”
“የወዲያ ነሽ”
“ሳቤላ”
“የውበት ወጥመድ”
“ጥቁር ደም”
“ሰመመን”
“እምዩ” [for me, anyway. Love that book to pieces]

And everything written by Ethiopian Detective story writer Yilma Habteyes.

“ከኣድማስ ባሻገር” [Meh]
“የሚያቃጥል ፍቅር”
ድራማ፥ “የኣብቅየለሽ ኑዛዜ”, as well as all and everything Wegayehu Nigatu, Debebe Eshetu [his, supposed, killer] and Alemtsehai Wedajo had a part in.

ጥቅስs፥
“አየሽ አንቺ እማማ ኢትዮጵያ… አየሽ አንቺ እናት አለም… ቃል የእምነት እዳ ነው እንጂ የአባት የእናት እኮ አይደለም::”

ጋሽ መንግስቱ ለማ [who is a not-very-distant cousin of yours trutly, btw]: “ስልቻ ቀልቀሎ፥ ቀልቀሎ ስልቻ”

P.S. For more on “የመድረኩ ዋርካ”, https://abesheet.wordpress.com/?s=zikr%27e&searchbutton=Go%21

I like Lidetu, I can not lie [First posted on Facebook]

When I was at my last job in Ethiopia, Lidetu Ayalewu used to come around to visit one of his “yager lij”s who worked there as a Program Officer. I never liked Ato Lidetu. I don’t know what it is about him: his bubble cheeks, his weight-to-height ratio, or the fact that he was an Amhara politician [I grew up being called “YeWelamo lij” by the Amhara neighboring kids whose parents mistook my dad’s “YeBudda medhanit” Qindib tebasa for being from Wolayita; although my dad considered himself part of the proud Moja Amharas, and a 9th or 10th kinsman of one Emperor Zar’a Ya`qob]. Anyway, something about him got on my nerves. So I walked by without giving him the due my co-workers did every mini/celebrity who stopped by our humble NGO. I walked by with my chin up, nose in the air, and a “fuck you if you think you are better than the rest of us” attitude.
[You know, as “complexam” Habeshas are wont to do! 🙂 ]
But I knew, knew!, he was a righteous person. A righteous person is not a person who does the right thing all the time. He may not even be the kind of person who does good things all the time. A righteous person, for me anyway [and according to the bible – for those who care] is, like King David, a person who lives by what he believes, and does what he considers to be right and true to himself and those around him.
[Say somebody who is not your married ex-boyfriend who gives you frantic calls on Messenger, quoting:
“የምነግርሽ በዛ
ውሰጤን ማኘ አወቀ
ነገሩስ ቀሊል ነው
ኸሎ ለይ ያለቀ”,
right after un-friending you on Facebook – so his dumb-bass wife won’t suspect what was up :)]
Lidetu, on the other hand, proved righteous: before the 2005 election, during it, and in the immediate messy aftermath. I saw him as righteous as I saw the only politician whom I loved, and considered the sole voice of reason in the Parliament back then: His Majesty Professor Beyene Petros!!
I knew why Lidetu decided for his party to take its seat when ene Birhanu Nega ተመናጭረው ከፓርላማ ሲወጡ! Because “bilt lij yesetutin yizo yalseQsal”. Because, in politics, no one fucking owes you anything. No one cares if you have the truth on your side. If you don’t have the military might, you win wars by winning small battles everyday [through compromising, haggling, settling for less than perfect or ideal].
In the years following, I watched him mean what he says and say what he means [or try to, because in a country of perpetual tribalism, of “Him who doesn’t see things my way talatye newu”, it is difficult to be heard above the patriotic/the giDel teGadel/the ‘he who isn’t with us is against us’ fervor]. After I left home, I didn’t keep a tab on Ethiopian politics [Because it is disheartening! Because it is either feast or famine. It is “Abiy is my Hero” today, then “Abiy is a demon” tomorrow. No maturity. No room for errors. No one willing to wait and see]. But I kept a weather eye on Ato Lidetu, to still find him not lacking in righteousness. To always try to be a grown up and do the best he can with the little he is given.
So… maybe you don’t like his politics. Maybe you don’t like his person. Maybe you don’t approve of what he did yesterday, or the day before. But spreading hate against him on Facebook, calling him names, threatening violence against his person: that is not going to help Ethiopia, Ethiopiawinet, or yourself. It only tears a “sebez” out of the “saar bett” shack we have for Democracy and hope to build with a sturdy material on a foundation of rock someday.