“Na wengine wenyu wanakaa tu!.. Hawajali. ; Kabuda,can you tell the class what we are talking about?.”
Mr. Kaniu called out in the middle of his Physics lesson.
I hated Physics and it didn`t help that he was my Physics teacher. He was a Dick head who hated “Danda-heads” like me who failed his subject.
The Physics Lab was on the second floor and out of the large windows was a huge mango tree and my mind and eyes always seemed to drift to the mango tree and my imagination would run wild with my Dreams.
I envisaged a Large mango tree just like that in my “future” house where i would be living it large in a large mansion and all the trappings that come with “making it in life”…
To me,Physics and Mr. Kaniu were just distractions and i could have cared less about Mass,Momentum,Speed,Velocity and all the other nonsense that came out of Mr. Kaniu`s mouth!.. (I am yet to apply any Physics in my life…and i am not young!.. kikikikikikiki…)
One of my friends had a brother who lived and worked in Switzerland and he was always keen to show us pictures of his brother in Switzerland and would let me read the magazines that he would send him from the Swiss.
I now knew exactly what i wanted with my Life!..
I had to go to Majuu and live like this guys brother. I was still in Form 2 then and although this dream quickly took over my being and became an obsession i didn
t have any idea how i would achieve my dream.
An idea came to me one day when i was reading this magazines and it was a turning point in the fulfillment of my dream.
I started noting down all the addresses from these magazines and if it was a college i would write requesting more information,if it was a hotel i would write enquiring about Scholarships etc…
I found a reason to write to almost all the institutions in these magazines and all the while keeping it to myself.
I must have spent most of my pocket money on my new exploits but it didnt matter because i started getting replies from all that i wrote to and if they couldn
t help me,they always came up with other contacts that might be able to help me.
The best feeling was recieving a crisp odd looking letter every Tuesday and Friday after supper and i lived for these letters until i completed High School.
Needless to say,i Failed my Physics and promised Mr. Kaniu a Beating if i ever bumped into him in Nairobi.
My letter writing also bore fruit and as soon as i cleared my Fourth form,i was in a plane to “Majuu”…
And the Rest is History.
I still think about the Big Mango tree and although i still don`t have a Large Mansion with a large mango tree and all the trappings that follow wealth, i believe i will; one way or the other!..
Please share your Experiences or Go Ahead and Insult me…
Sina Mengi; Ni Hayo Tu.