When I was 13 I watched our school drama club play- Mr Barnabas Kasigwas The Scum- some of my classmates Brenda Kipkemoi, Yiyah Nakitare, and Juliana Rotich had joined the club and I was only then finding about it- I knew I had to get in. From the soaring oratory of Abraham (Singoei) Korir and the masterful acting of Nicholas Kitum and Phoebe Obanda- I was transported and then smitten. The following year, we trooped into the drama club with the likes of Leonard Langat K, Katama Edward Ngeywa, and the newbies Wanjiru Kimani and Chepkoech Kilel (and some other sweet younglings)- and had the time of our lives- at Menengai, in Kitale, in Nyeri, at Meru School, and State House galas that always followed after Mr Kasigwas winning plays. I was never a great actor. I played a tree swaying in the wind here, a crowing cockerel there- but it was always great company. John Paul Ojuando and his brothersEmily Cheserem (always the mother hen) Bernard Kasigwa, Amos Musembi, Henry Wanyundi, Michael Okoko, and Anthony Gitau. (Anthony did give me a few lessons on what we would eventually know as swag! How one wears a Ugil shirt! :) ) Amorphous, A Man for All Seasons... so it went. We met lasses from other schools- the fetching Ngele Ali, Sukena N. Wanza. I even got me what I thought was a girlfriend in Ngeles friend Susan.. until some guy called Godwin showed up in Kitale and Susan clarified that we were friends. Got me out of a bind, really, for I was also considering the attentions of one really tall drink of a lass called Julia Muthoni! Oh Julia! JUALMIEAS- she used to write in those letters, on onion-skin scented writing pads.. when writing was writing! Writing became reading. Mr Kasigwas plays had me reading the works of the great playwrights- the bard himself, laughing my self silly at The Importance of Being Earnest, and enjoying the solitude of well written books. When the Muse moved me and I thought I might be able to write something others could consume- I started to handwrite novels and Mr Kasigwa was my first stop. Between a ton of English classes and the drama club, he read my stories line by line and marked out the grammatical errors and problems with flow and walked me through them. I learnt the difference between like and such as. The internet age might take away my punctuation but you cannot blame my misplaced commas on the man! About a year ago, Brenda Nnagawa Kasigwa put me back in touch with the old man. He needed some medical help- we went out to hospital and chatted about the old times, the nows, and the in-betweens. His wit was sharp as ever, with inimitable turn of phrase. So when I heard the news today that he passed on this morning, my mind went back through my own Kasigwa story- the lifelong friendships we formed as a result of his passion and work, the loves he left us with for things he sparked in us a passion for, and the brilliant thread that he became in the tapestry of our lives- popping in, popping out, spawning others, and now fading out. Rest in peace, Mwalimu.
Posted on: Sun, 17 Aug 2014 19:42:01 +0000
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