Zenani

“Zenani” is a name from the Xhosa people of Southern Africa. It means “What have you brought to this world?”

Till now I used to think the answer is “nothing”. The world gives us whatever we have today, and takes it away when we leave. When we are born, we learn a lot by way of our different experiences, which carves the way forward. The same life could have been lived differently with even slightly different experiences. We can control the choice we make, but can we control the choices available to us? Our hope, our joy, our sorrow, our approach and much more is defined by the world we live in and not by anything we brought into this world.

But something changed my opinion. I stumbled upon a documentary where a person who had partial speech impairment expressed his desire to share his thoughts, ideas and his poems with the world, which wouldn’t give him enough chance to do so. He simply wanted to talk to people, get to know them and let them know him. He started a club with others like him, and now they all share their thoughts with each other.

He went on to recite one of his poems which made me smile like I never did. And also think about “Zenani” all over again. We definitely have brought something to this world. It comes out in our poems, in our writings, in our paintings, in our creativity, in our work, in our words, in every deed that makes a difference. It is the song in each of us. I know it as imagination.

Through art, we communicate our imagination, our ideas and thoughts to the world. I believe sooner or later, all of us find our own form of art, one which touches us the most and becomes a channel out for our imagination. And that is what we have really brought to this world. And this is what each of us should share with and leave behind in this world.

But why I write this today? There is a reason, the seeds of which come from this post. Will write more about it very soon!