Cock And Bull

• Who Was Mundi Mbingu?

  Posted: February 9, 2010, 2:59 pm by Administrator

  Did you know that Muindi Mbingu (for whom Muindi Mbingu Street in Nairobi is named) was a Kamba policeman who led the Akamba in resisting British colonialism in pre-independent Kenya? Read on…

  Samuel Muindi Mbingu was born in 1893 and schooled up to form four at Kabete Technical. After form four he joined the Kenya Power and later the police. During this time the colonial government had taken most of the Kamba land and the Kamba community, which was mainly pastoralism, send to reserved areas.

  In 1937 the DC with instruction from the governor took cattle from the “Nungu’s” meaning “monkeys/primitive blacks referring to the local natives. The government believed that the wealth of cattle made the kambas disobedient thus the wealth is taken so as to gain control over them. Besides taking the cattle the locals were also forced to make terraces in their shambas. This treatment provoked the vocal of fearless Muindi Mbingu to leave the police and mobilize others like Elijah Kavulu and Isaac Mwalonzi to fight for the rights of their people. Due to his fearless character, he commanded a lot of respect and obedience from people particularly from Ngelani and Kangundo regions and elected the chairman of the committee to address the people’s problems. In 1938, all the cattle in Kamba, Ngelani, Koma-rock region leaving the locals without any cattle. It was at this point that Muindi Mbingu mobilized all the people where they agreed not to let their cattle go and not to make terraces in the shambas. This agreement was summarized in a slogan “No Kikuu” meaning “as previously agreed”. From then they all refused the DC’s meeting and whenever they attended they would leave. Incase of a disagreement saying “No Kikuu”. With no solution to the problems of the local’s. Muindi Mbingu led

  All the people of Ngelani, the old and the young, men and women in the biggest demonstration to Nairobi. More than 80 km so as to meet the government or himself. They went to “Kariokor”. Then courier corps” where they stayed for one month all this time seeking to see the governor but being barred. All this time Muindi Mbingu organized how food for the people would be transported from Ngelani to Nairobi. At the end of the month the governor’s wife passed by and saw women suckling their young ones in the cold and this touched her so much and an act she wanted addressed by the governor and hence Muindu Mbingu and his committee went to the governor. Where they agreed to release the cattle to the owners.

  During the courier corps meeting, when asked what he wanted done to his people he responded in the local Kamba language – “twenda kwikala ta maau mau maitu, twithye ngombe to Mau mau maitu, nunmdu nthi ino ni ya maau mau maitu. (We want to live like our grandfathers, keep cattle like our grandfathers, for the land we live on is our grandfathers). The colonialist later accused him of being the founder of “Mau Mau uprising “- the Mau Mau is accredited to this brave nationalist.

  From this time (1938) the colonial government accused Muindi Mbingu of leading a revolt called Mau Mau. It was against this background that he was arrested and detained for seven years in the Coastal Islands of Lamu.

  After release, he was com-promised by then D.C and collaborator with the colonial government, a move, which annoyed the people, he had previously led fighting against the abuse of their rights. This led to his brutal murder in 1953; his death marked the climax of Mau Mau revolution with others like former President Kenyatta championing the Mau Mau causes.

  What Muindi Mbingu did for his people is worth remembering hence Muindi Mbingu street in Nairobi.

  From: http://www.kenyakeep.org

• Green Grass

  Posted: February 9, 2010, 2:47 pm by Administrator

  I think one of the most intriguing things in this life is the way that we never quite are satisfied with the way that our lives are at any one moment. For example when a person is single, they want to be with someone else and when one is with someone else, they want to be single again. Many people can’t seem to decide what they want. I guess it is all about the case of the grass looking greener on the other side.

  Last year, my friend Delasoi and I needed to have a talk concerning her career. She used to work along Uhuru Highway and so we decided to cross the road and look for a quiet spot to talk at Central Park. When we got into Central Park, we moved for sometime looking for a bench to sit on, but they were all taken. And so we decided to sit on the grass. It had rained recently, and so we would have to go to a spot that had long grass to avoid getting muddy. From where we were standing, there was a nice and inviting patch of green grass in the shade under a tree and so we decided to sit there. After walking for a few metres, we got to the spot and it turned out to be too wet for comfort. Again, we saw another patch of grass a few metres away and once again we walked over. When we got there, it turned out that the grass was too scattered for us to sit without our clothes getting stained by the red soil. And once again we spotted another patch and we moved there with the same results. We moved for a few more times before we looked at each other in stupefied comprehension. The reason why the grass always looked greener over there was because we were looking at it from the side; the view from the side gave it a false appearance of being more concentrated than it really was – hence greener. But when we looked at it at close quarters from above, it appeared sketchy since we were seeing the blades of grass from the top.

  So, what kind of a person are you? That is a question that you will have to answer to yourself over and over and over again if you plan to remain yourself. Why? Because that question serves as the light house that enables us to navigate the sea that comprises being a human being. At one time, we think that we ought to be more lively; we go out daily for a few nights and it drains the life out of us. At other times we want to be serious; we work with so much concentration that it dulls us to the bone. At other times we want to be outgoing; we follow other people around until we realize that we are becoming puppy dogs. And in all these times, there is the person that you are running away from. So, what kind of a person are you? Be that.

  What kind of a person are you? Never get tired of asking that question, and never be afraid of the answer. For no matter where you are, grass with be green.

• The How and What of Thought

  Posted: February 9, 2010, 1:26 pm by Administrator

  I like my friend Njeri because she is very truthful. And once in a while we have a conversation that leaves a lasting impression. Like the time she told me about the voices in her head and the way that they tell her all sorts of things. I was very interested and I asked her how she manages them. So she told me that she simply tells them to shut up. And they do.

  So I thought I would do the same with the voices in my head. The reason is because they are always talking and they often say things that are hurtful. And so I looked for a time when they were busy and told them to shut up. I think I startled them because they paused for a bit then continued chattering as if nothing happened. And so I bolstered myself up some more and ordered them to shut up in a louder voice. And for a moment there, I thought I had succeeded, until they turned their wrath on me and started to threaten me. They started saying about all the nasty things that they can make happen in my life, and that there was nothing I could do about it. I got scared and didn’t dare to tell them to shut up again.

  I continued wondering how I was going to quieten the voices. And after their threats, I realized just how audacious they were, and I knew that I had to figure out something smart. And so I began observing them in the time when there wasn’t much going on.

  After some time of paying attention, I realized that when the voices are very active there is pressure in my head. And each time I relaxed consciously, the pressure eased and the voices grew quiet, giving much needed relief. I was happy with the discovery and I started taking time to relax in order to manage the pressure and the voices. And that is when, I discovered something even more interesting; I pinpointed the location in my head where the voices were coming from.

  I learnt that when the voices were active – which was always – my attention in the brain was towards my left. The only way that I can explain it is by asking you to imagine holding a pen with your hand and writing in a book. If you are right handed, you notice that you are more inclined towards your right hand because it is ‘stronger’. I realized that when I was thinking, the left side of my brain was ‘stronger’. And when I switched my attention to the right side of my brain, the voices went off! It is like moving from the living room to the bedroom and realizing that the noise from the TV show – that you were not even watching – is no longer with you.

  It was quite a relief to realize that my brain has compartments where I can ‘go’ and discover different things. At first, it is quite cumbersome – as trying to write with a left hand if you are right handed – and you can’t seem to be able to switch at will, but with practice you slowly learn how to. Apart from switching off the voices, moving your attention from one part of your brain to another enables you to let go of unwanted emotions. For example, if one of those things that come to mind and throw you off appears – say anxiety – you simply move from one part of your brain to another and they feeling dies off completely. What is most gratifying is that the freedom is present even in the presence of that which ordinarily makes you anxious.

  All this is still new to me, and I am very excited by the possibilities. Of course at first it feels unreal and even makes you feel light headed – as you often do when something significant changes in your mind – but for anyone who has spent years trying to change how they think, this is as practical as it gets. In most cases we are taught how to change the what of thinking, but I believe what we need is to change the how of thinking.

• Real Estate

  Posted: February 9, 2010, 12:36 pm by Administrator

  Have you ever contemplated just how much space you occupy in this Universe? When it finally hit me, the thought was both scary and liberating at the same time. It was on a day when I was strolling in the City with a friend and it occurred to us that all the space that our bodies occupy in this world – in the Universe – was less than the volume of a green rubbish bin that was in front of us! It was scary to realize just how small I was. On that day in the midst of the tall buildings in the city, I saw myself as a tiny ant running up and down foraging – like all the others hurrying all around me to complete their errands before darkness fell.

  As we just stood there with my friend looking at the green rubbish bin, we started wondering aloud why we often considered ourselves so important! That we thought that God – the Creator of the 6 billion human beings in the world, and all the trillions of stars in our Galaxy, and the trillions of Galaxies known to man – depended on what we do to be happy or unhappy. That if we do ‘good’ and sing praises to Him, he would be thrilled. That if we do ‘bad’ and forget to say just how magnificent He is, He would be angry at us. That as I write about Him and write god instead of God, He will not be pleased with me. And I think for the first time in my life, I was able to understand what the word ‘Ego’ means.

  I have always known ego to indicate an inflated sense of importance, but I always associated it with having a lot of money, and machismo. But when I look at it now, I see it very much in myself as a religious and spiritual person. Just like a person would pop up a name of a famous person just to show how important he is, we often do the same as ‘Godly’ people. Have you heard people gossip maliciously about another and then conclude the session by saying, “Let’s pray for him/her”? Or when someone says magnanimously, “God spoke to me and said…..”

  I am not saying that there is anything wrong with God speaking to anyone, but it is just that when one uses that claim as mileage to justify lack of reason, or to show off, then the motive is wrong; that’s ego. Incidentally, what many people consider to be the voice of God speaking to them, is the ‘voice in the head’ or the voice of ego.

  Anyway, on that day, I felt liberated. Why? Because I was able to see that I do not have to change the world in order to feel purposeful. What do I mean by that? That my primary responsibility is to manage this small space that I have been given. And why is that so important? Because anything else is beyond my control. When I direct loving and generosity and compassion and praise and understand into that space, it quickly fills up and starts to overflow, and I can genuinely give to others. On the other hand, when I attempt to give these things to others with a hope to get back, I often feel cheated since I give what I never had in the first place.

  When everywhere you look, people are scrambling for every available piece of land to occupy it is good to realize that I have my prime piece of real estate – right here.

Blah blah blah

Fish cakes

Alas a fish cake.

Yet more fish cakes

Guess what ... yeah ... fish cakes.

The end of the fish cakes