I am picking apples in the local Fruit and Veg. Next to me is a Mosotho male,making his selection. I look up and our gaze meets. he breaks into an open happy smile and calls out, "N'tate!". (In-da-day) "How are you N'tate?" he goes on to ask. "Kea phella hantle, kealeboa (I am well, thank you)", I reply in my basic Sesotho. He breaks into a wider grin, clasps my hand in a Basotho hand-shake (hand shaken thrice in succession in different grips) and shows unadeltrated pleasure. We talk a bit and then he leaves, his N'tate ringing in that part of the store.
I see Basotho people as a happy lot. The above example is repeated endlessly everywhere. Don't get me wrong - the happiness is not merely at looking at a 'foreigner' or even at a foreigner who chooses to respond in a bit of Sesotho. It is the same when they greet each other in streets, shops and everywhere else. The word N'tate (a respectful salutation for men) is easily the most used word in Sesotho. Every man is a N'tate. It has nothing to do with his perceived status or station.
Politeness is endemic. Everyone smiles at you before speaking. Blowing a horn is considered a mark of discourtesy. People give each other way on street, allowing another car to pass before driving on. Pedestrians are treated with care.
They dance easily. As I mentioned in another post, one of my colleagues is sure that God chose to fit an iPod in the mind of each inhabitant of Lesotho. There is a tune on all the time and you can see that in the sway in their bodies. Add some external music and you have a party. Sometimes a party of one!
What makes them a happy people? Remember that we are talking about the people of one of the poorest countries on land and a nation that is battling with 23 percent (official figures) of HIV/AIDS prevalence.
And what makes us grumpy? Why are we perpetually impatient? Here, I am yet to hear a horn blow in a traffic jam. Back home, the INSTANT lights turn green, the entire cavalcade bursts into frantic horn-pushing, exhorting the man ahead to smash through the man ahead of him, if possible! We never acknowledge the presence of another stranger in a lift or street. We wear a scowl on our faces as if we are paid for it. Has life become too unbearable for us? Is it the pressures exerted on resources of all kinds by a population whose growth should worry us but doesn't? Are we in too much of a hurry? To get where?
There are things to be learnt from this happy people!
The most striking question in your piece called 'The Happy Mosotho' is in the end where you ask, 'Are we in too much of a hurry? To get where?'
ReplyDeleteTo get where, one may well ask again. Here we always want to get somewhere because unless we get 'somewhere' we will not be respected, admired and looked up to.
A simple example will clarify what I am trying to say. Kabir, the weaver saint of Kashi, now known as Varanasi, was never known to seek the respect of people around him or strive to be admired for his weaving. He spoke what he believed in and was known to dissuade the few people who wanted to become his followers.
We on the other hand, seek to be admired, respected and known for what we do. In this pursuit we are always in the process of getting somewhere; a place, a destination or goal in life where people take notice of us. No one wants to be ordinary. We want to excel, not for the mere love of any art but to prove ourselves and be known. This is what drives the bulk of the people in our country. We are not satisfied with our own selves in being ordinary and as a corollary we do not respect 'ordinariness' in people. We are intolerant of ordinary people and what's more more, we make no bones about it.
If we are able to be happy about ourselves in just being and living ordinarily in what every day has to offer us, we will pass this contentment and the ensuing patience and tolerance on to others too.
To a great extent, I would say the real struggle is to strive to be ordinary. As they say in Zen Buddhism - 'The ordinary mind is the Dao'.