A play by: Mohamed Urdoh
Scene 1
May 5, 1960: Arriving in April, the bounty of the Gu, the rainy season, has so far been exceeding all expectations. In the morning, there was a pour down. Only two years ago, the Gadhy-gadhy-saar famine played havoc with the territory. The combined effect of the fresh smell of the blowing cool, monsoon breeze (the Foore), which promised more rain today, and the golden rays from the shinning full moon adorning the clear evening sky is intoxicating. To crown it all, ten hours ago, Her Majesty’s Government announced it was going to terminate its 70-year occupation of British Somaliland Protectorate in 51 days. That followed the London constitutional conference on the future of British Somaliland which opened three days back. Thrilled by the welcome news, Hargeisa is abuzz with joy. A group of youngsters - males and females - are sitting around an improvised huge bonfire, singing loudly in unison:
Enter the youngsters: Qoloba calankeedo waa caynay
Inaga kino waa cirko kali
Aan caadna lahayni
Caashaqa eey
Enter Aw-Cabdi: Maxaay waxo la qalaadayaan (These things, why are they yelling?)
Enter Haajio Marwo: They are happy. Everyone is happy. Aren’t you?
Enter Aw-Cabdi: And what is the fuss is all about? Have they discovered Prophet Solomon’s treasure?
Enter Haajio Marwo: Haven’t listned the BBC news this evening?
The bodies of the teens are noticeably silhouette against the flames. They are still singing loudly, drowning the voices of the two seniors:
Enter the youngsters: Waa baa Baryay
bilicsan
Arooryo baxsan
Maalin boqran
Enter Aw-Cabdi: These kids! They have no manners. Can you raise your voice a bit, please?
Enter Haajio Marwo: (raising her voice) It is obvious you missed the BBC news today.
Enter Aw-Cabdi: what? I can’t hear you.
Enter Haajio Marwo: Oh! I’ve forgotten you are too old a man. There is little you can do well nowadays.
Aw-Cabdi married Haajio Marwo while she was just little more than a teenager in an arranged marriage. He heard this line many times. But, today, there was more sarcasm in her voice than usual. So he wanted to shout: naa naga amos waxba ku hadlimisid e (Women, shut up; you are making no sense.) However, before opening his mouth, his twin daughters, Halimo and Hibbo, dart in with faces beaming with joy.
Enter the twins: (singing at the top of their voices)
Bal kaalay Canabeey
calankan walacli
Waa cawadin e
aayno ciidn e
Enter Aw-Cabdi (in an admonishing tone) You, too, have gone nuts; eh!
Enter the twins: (shouting in unison) Congra daaaaad!
Enter Aw-Cabdi: And what is this you are mumbling?
Enter Halimo: Isn’t it beautiful daaaad that…
Enter Hibbo: (who is three minutes younger then her sister, interjecting)... we are going to be free in less than two months?
Enter Halimo: Exactly in 51 days, dad.
Enter Aw-Cabdi: being free? What are you talking about? Whose slaves are you anyway?
Enter Halimo: Dad, haven’t you heard the news…
Enter Hibbo: (interjecting)…that the British are going to leave our land…
Enter Halimo: (interjecting)…on June 26?
Enter Aw-Cabdi: (in utter disbelieve) what? ten years later? Twenty? You and your childish dreams! (with strong conviction)They will never leave.
Enter Hibbo: No dad, no; they will…
Enter Halimo: (before her sister finishes)…leave in few weeks dad.
Enter Hibbo: They have promised dad; they have promised.
Enter Haajio Marwo: And from where are they going to get all the fresh meat and fresh milk they have here?
Enter Hibbo: Mom, they have too many cows and goats and sheep and…
Enter Halimo: (interjecting)…huge farms and numerous forests and plenty of grassland in their country.
Enter Haajio Marwo: Then, why they eat birds and - yuck! - pigs. Is there anything they spare. I’ve been told that they even consider snails and horses and tortoises delicacies.
And why are they so emaciated when they come to our land? Haven’t you seen how fat they become after staying here for a few months. (Dismissively) anyway, who wants to eat cow meat when he has goat and lamb and camels?
Enter Halimo: But mom, their beef tastes much better than ours.
Enter Haajio Marwo: as good as our lamb and camels?
Enter Hibbo: May be even better, much better.
Enter Hibbo: Mom, tell them you eat camel meat and look at the expression on their faces.
Enter Haajio Marwo: Enough of your idiocy; let not others hear this crab. Behave like good ladies and shut your big mouths.
Aw-Cabdi is eavesdropping intently the conversation between the twins and their mother. He knows the divergent mindsets of his wife and daughters. He knows everything the mother is saying is wide off the mark. But who is he to get in between a woman and her daughters. Fathers are for raising boys (hobolo); mothers good ladies (gaariyo). So there is no place for him in female affairs even at his own home. The singing is still in the offing:
Enter the youngsters: Ninki nasab ah e ku nici maayo
Nuraay waxaad tahay nafta iyo wadna ee
Sidi Nabi Khadar o nolow
It is now 10 PM. The BBC news is already on the air. It took Aw-Cabdi a minute or two to get the BBC, missing the lead of the first and most important item in the bulletin.
To be continued ............
