Articles
The Author's road
Romeo D. Matshaba Introduction The road to becoming a writer is both lonely and filled with countless scars and bruises; it is for those who have persevering hearts and very thick skins. Writing is a romantic profession, the kind which oozes from ones mouth with pride when they say, “I’m an author. I am, a professional writer.” But not all of us can say these simple, but yet, potent words. The best some of us manage to recite might be “I have a few poems and stories on my hard drive". Throughout the years I started realizing a global phenomenon being repeated time and again with my students and the countless other emerging writers I met. They were all convinced that they have created a masterpiece, “only if the world could read it.” The real tragedy in this is that it did not matter, indeed some of them were great writers and they had just completed a true work of art, because what I have learnt is that the world does not remember great writers, but rather, those who convince the world that they are great writers. Like most, I have learnt excruciatingly over the years by trial and error in this solitary and secluded profession. In the hopes of changing this lonely road I have written a skeletal map of the journey I followed, in order to aid other authors. Compressing those years into a single article and answering the mind blogging question about the road to authorship. ... read more Whining and dining
Makgwesha Jacob Mothupi The prospects of dating a woman who is five years younger are … shall I say … um? Exactly, right? Unconditionally outlandish, mind you! I typed “prospects”, because it would be unusually circumstantial that fate would somewhat wish to bless one with a flood of youthful constipation to tame then release back to that beautiful shithole called FUN. It may be a result of snootiness on my part but post-26 years of age, it’s a stage where one should drink, question and jerk more; think and shit less, right? Not a time to declare one’s heartfelt feelings towards your unequal. Yes, unequal! Because at this phase if your woman constantly – and reluctantly – refers to your library collection as a recreation for the dying, toothless and aging at sanatoriums, then you have a bigger problem in your hands than when you are in possession of Viagra. Let’s not despair men. There’s a chance of meeting someone who can attest to your boredom … a woman your age. But wait, why in the first place would you consider hanging yourself before time. It’s overly optimistic as skinny dipping in a public swimming with families around! Because your equal, unlike the unequal, is there to diminish whatever little frail of youth you may still desperately be hanging to. Their mission is to keep you young and “responsible” as long as possible. It sounds illogical for it is. You are expected to act as an adult infused with a mind of child, an abiding one: come back home before 8PM, clean after your mess and sometimes offer a shoulder to cry on. ... read more Living the next man's dream
Thandiwe Ngema Being young and working in an industry that pays “peanuts” has left so many questions in my mind. Actually, a dozen of these questions have risen from the frequent conversations with my colleagues. They all want to move, they want better jobs, houses, cars and some even husbands. I often wondered what the root of all this dissatisfaction and low morale was. Then more than half of them decided to take on distance learning, “great move”. The fact that they all registered for the same course kind of left my mouth hanging and feeling like the black sheep. “Bcom is where the money is” they insisted. “What have you registered for?” they would ask and in the lowest tone I would quickly answer “a BA” and walk away before I notice the annoying look of disapproval. “Well that girl is definitely headed for poverty” they would say as I exit the room. Hence I got fed up of trying to defend myself and being forced to reason for my choice of studies. After spending three years in an engineering class, I had definitely learnt my lesson. I can never forget that dreadful feeling of waking up every morning, walk into a lecture, walk out and hate the fact that tomorrow you’ll have to come back to the same living horror. I remember the small voice in my head that constantly screamed and sometimes whispered “you know where you belong”. Then next to me sat Charles, the guy who wished that the lecture would perpetuate forever, I would look at him and then it would click that I was an intruder in his world. I was living in his dream. I could definitely see that he was made to be in an engineering class and it is all he had dreamt about. ... read more The Illusion of choice
Romeo D. Matshaba As beings with sufficient reason and intellect to doubt, we may be inclined to doubt love, destiny maybe even God. But to the majority of us nothing can ever sway the one belief, even when heavy storms shifts and drags us in varied directions… our belief in free will. The self evident idea that every decision we make, was made without any external influences; that our choice is our own, that we may have avoided this hurling storm if we wished. This perhaps, is what justifies our correctional system for if it was otherwise, a man raping two women and shooting their dog… would in no way be considered a felony, if the man had no choice. But before I delve into these deep thoughts, let me explain what free will is considered to be. It came as an astonishing surprise when I realized that the term free has more than 200 senses in itself. But what I call free will is not something that begs to be defined. We all have an intuitive idea of what it means. Free will is simply a matter of having genuine options and opportunities for action, and being able to choose between them according to what one wants or thinks best. Another man might say “The will of man in his power to choose between alternatives”. No matter how elegant or technical, one may wish to express his thoughts. Free will or the lack of it is a part of us, just like our lungs, legs and two eyes. One thing which all humans, of all races and origins strive for, one thing they have given their lives for – is not the sense of sight, or smell or touch; but the blissful sense of freedom. Did they all know that freedom comes in different degrees and forms: freedom of the flesh, freedom of human dignity… the freedom of the mind? Man has, and continues still, to eradicate all forms of freedom oppressors. These oppressors that hinder him to be free. But one freedom still lingers, a shadow in the dark, an illusion on our eye; the freedom of will. ... read more |