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Of Dreams Deferred... Withered, Dried up Dreams.


So I FINALLY got round to watching Nairobi Half Life... yes, yes I know... how unpatriotic of me. In my defense, I have been looking for the DVD for the longest time. Some of my friends had the movie in their laptops but tech not-so-savvy me can’t even begin to grapple with the intricacies of LAN cables and such. I finally got a version that was only 1.33 GB that I could transfer using my flash disk. That said, I am fully aware that my opinion of the movie is highly belated but all the same, here goes...


I fell in love with Mwas at first sight. How does one not fall for that boyish grin? I laughed at his wit; was angered by the injustice he faced... and when he was beyond hope, I wept silently. At the end of the movie I felt ‘soft’, for lack of a better word. This story, about how uncaring and cold the world is, touched a raw nerve somewhere within me. The saddest bit of the movie wasn’t the fact that almost all the characters that I had grown attached to died... the saddest part was the fact that these things are the reality. Nairobi alone is home to so many withered, dried up dreams, so many broken hearts and melancholic souls.

Nothing is as it seems. All these hobos, street children, prostitutes and robbers have a story behind their current state. They all have deferred dreams and hidden gems. It’s just such a shame that society has chosen to look away instead of looking closer. We prefer to jump into conclusions about the ‘bad people’ in society. When we hear that a criminal has been gunned down by the police we are nonchalant, forgetting that that is someone’s son, brother, lover... I am not advocating for crime, or justifying the acts of such people. All I am asking is that we take a moment to think, to be human. What separates us from animals if we do not take care of our own? If we show no compassion?

We may be light years from hobos and such... but we all know a thing or two about pain, and loss and heartbreak. Like it or not, we are all in this together. We need to stand together, and hold up those who can’t quite stand on their own. To be frank, I am not sure what I am urging you to do... I think I simply want you to remember that they too are human... that they too have their story. I want you to look closer, and let your conscience do the rest.

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Comments

  1. Unknown26 April 2013 at 05:00

    mmh..late bloomer....sooo you.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous26 April 2013 at 05:30

    NHL!!!! Gave me hope for the Kenyan media scene at least.
    Anyway... Eh! Sawa, Catacutan.


    Reza

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ivy M30 April 2013 at 07:55

      At least i don't practice self love. -_-

      Delete
  3. Mathira Gwitu29 April 2013 at 05:57

    Can we copy your published work to our website (www.mathira.com)?

    ReplyDelete

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