"I Won't Marry a Prince Even If He Begs!"

As I write this, Fela's song "Shakara", plays in the background of my mind.
He sings:

                   "I go beat you! I go nearly kill you
                   Na shakara!"

What Fela is saying is that when we make a claim that is too hard to believe, then that is "shakara" meaning that you are full of airs, "making mouth" just to show off.

From BBC News - Happy Married Life!
"I don't know why any lady worth her onions will marry that kind of man, especially with the press referring to her as a commoner. There are better guys out there who have got better! The prince hasn't got two. He's just got one member like every other guy and who knows ... it might be smaller than regular. So, who's the commoner? I won't marry him, even if he begs me. Not when he sees me as a commoner and allows that to be broadcast in the media!"


Those are not my words, people! Afterall, the prince is not going to marry me for a number of unbreachable obstacles, the topmost being that I am not interested and I am not available!

Theyare the words of a lady; one that I know!
Her name starts with an F, so I will call her "F"

F is a very pretty woman. She loves to show off, especially when she thinks that the people she is with are doing better. It is her way of trying to meet up with others in order not to be left out. So on the fateful day that most people were glued to their TV screens and OMGing in awe, the only thing F could make out was that the soon-to-be Duchess of Cambridge, was being referred to as a commoner!

"This is the first marriage between a member of the royal family and a commoner in over three hundred years," boomed the voice of the announcer.

We were all too glued to visually and aurally to the events on the television to be distracted by F's preoccupation. In my mind's mind, I concluded it was simply "Shakara!" Believing within me that no woman or man would ordinarily refuse the kind of splendour we were beholding.

Now that the euphoria has died down, in retrospect, I ask:

"Was it really shakara that prompted F to make those remarks? Does it not mean something (that is very negative or at least paradoxical) that someone's bride, in this most modern of all worlds, and at the epicentre of Western civilisation, is being referred to as a commoner?"

Don't ask me for answers because I don't have them.

Are we all not commoners when we are not moneybags or in government?
When up to 90% of the people are struggling with the most basic of needs, politicians are riding in 30-car convoys.
When people are talking of democratic change, sit-tight leaders are pre-occupied with handing over to their children.
When we are talking of world peace, some folks are pre-occupied with bombing our lives to hell.
When we are talking of rising costs and inflation, privileged government folks are fine-tuning fiscal policies for all kinds of cuts.
When we are grappling with cases of unemployment, they are planning more sacks and labour cuts as if those are favourite Christmas gifts.

Two days ago, at Antwerp, I saw through the glass, a lady's purse with a €750 price tag shamelessly displayed! My companion and I expressed the same feeling of incredulity. It's a purse, not even a handbag that can double as a travelling bag! That means that of course, it is not the size that gives it the impetus  to carry such a tag. Some what is it? The skin? What animal was it cut from, gold-crocodile?

It might even be one of the extinct ones that we so shakaraingly claim to protect!

All in all, Fela was right ... we live in a world of shakara!
From F, to all the government folks, princes, and royalties that can buy a dozen of a €750 purse without feeling a pinch, they are all shakara people! They think they can do without us! But that is a lie!

Even the one that bombs others knowingly! Fela says, "Na shakara!" You cannot do without others! The faster we learn that, the better the world becomes. No country, no person, no religion, no philosophy, no personality, no institution, no politician, no royalty can survive without others!

Without the commoner, there will be no royalty!

Disclaimer: F does not stand for anyone living or alive on the day of the royal wedding. It is from the author's imagination. But if you like, F stands for Fela. His music can make one hyper-creative. To the memory of abami eda! Peace to the world!

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