KATAMBILI: THE STORY MY GRANDFATHER TOLD ME

 

KATAMBILI: THE STORY MY GRANDFATHER TOLD ME

(Modest Thoughts with Ayuba Yilgak'ha, April 18, 2022; SMS: 08116181263)

"Katambili" is an expository, narrative on the failure of planning. Central to the conventional planning process is the adage which says: "He that failed to plan has planned to fail." This story did not only subscribe but added depth to this philosophical reasoning. It held that planning is good, but should be holistic enough to make provision for eventualities. In other words, the narrative cautioned planners to always create a column for failure so in planning so that when a plan failed, its effect will not overwhelm or take the planner by surprise. Happy reading esteemed readers.

I lose my grandfather on January 5, 2002. His name is kwashi Gotau Gonet. While alive, he was one of the most popular farmers and hunters in our village, Gochom of Kabwir District, Kanke LGC, Plateau State. One unique aspect of this great patriarch that most people do not know about is that he was a good storyteller.

One of the many stories he shared with me was a story that has to do with a failed plan he had with some of his contemporaries/friends. It happened that they had gone to source for Katambili in far away from bushes for us to prepare for one of the then-upcoming annual cultural celebrations which were billed to take place in a nearby Community.

Katambili was one of the most sought-after kind of make-up used by young adults attending social functions, especially, cultural dances. It is, therefore a beautifying make-up product that is extracted from a particular bush plant. After extraction, it is then processed and used to design one's face and body to make the person so designed look relatively fine and attractive. It was just like the postmodern fashion make-up women are using these days. It is instructive to note that Katambili is very difficult to come by and so those who managed to get it during preparations for cultural outings were perceived lucky and envied by those who did not during the occasions.

My paternal granny of blessed memory and his friend were, therefore, lucky people in that sense. On eve of the cultural celebration earlier mentioned, they got Katambili handy and had artistically designed themselves in preparation for the cultural D-day but when night came, rain heavily fell, thereby, disrupting the plan to take part in the much expected, once in a year socio-cultural celebration.

The rain that came that night was long-awaited since the villagers had already cleared their farms in preparation for a new planting season. Therefore, the downpour heralded the beginning of seed planting which was sure to start on the D-day of the cultural celebration. My Late grandfather and friends knew it and felt disappointed.

The rainy night became treacherous because a grand plan has been punctured by the blessing of rain. If it were our young people nowadays, they might have insisted to attend the August cultural event, not minding how bad their parents will feel in the circumstance, but the youth of that time were hard-working, considerate, and cannot afford to disobey or disappoint their parents.

The disappointment of these young men (then) stemmed from many reasons. First, with planting season in view, they would be missing ample opportunities to showcase their dancing prowess on the coming occasion. Secondly, they will, also, be missing the opportunity to socialize, and dance with females they could marry, courtesy of their dancing expertise. In those days (and even now), dancing or singing prowess was an asset in fame. A man who possesses it automatically becomes a celebrity and could marry up to two or more women in a single outing. For talented female folks also, men will fight dirty to have them.

Fame and wealth attract, especially, women. In fact, and with due respect, a man who has become famous, even for committing crimes, is a celebrity worth patronizing in the feminine world. The rain that fell that night, therefore, shattered the planned fashion and dance outing of my grandfather and friends. The opportunity to take home wives during the festival was completely interrupted. So, they continued to groan and groan in disappointment that night but nothing changed. They had to postpone the cultural outing!

As if that was enough, my granny, the storyteller also shared another similar story before he died. This time, it was about one of his village's kinsmen, a dance mania too. In those days, events were highly very seasonal. Therefore, the man in question, for safekeeping, had packaged his dancing costumes and kept them in one of the granaries in his house, after the end of the previous year's circle of festival celebrations, with the hope to return to them in the next cultural season.

When it was time for him to revisit the costumes in preparation for another circle of celebrations, one of which was to start that day, he met what his eyes cannot believe. The costumes he thought were properly kept in safety had been wholly eaten up by ants (termites and moths). His heart was broken and he fell from the top of the granary these things were kept, in frustration. Another interruption had occurred which almost made the victim commit suicide through his needless but shocking reaction.

These two stories captured the extent to which people attached value to their preparations and social functions. It also captured how the plans of men could be interrupted by external forces: nature (God) and enemies (ants). Sidney Sheldon, a well-celebrated novelist wrote in his Novel, "The Best Laid Plans"

that "The best-laid plans could go so wrong." Katambili is a classical story and reflection of that reality.

Plans could fail. The preparation of man could also be obstructed. This takes us to the main thesis of this discourse which is that to prepare for success; prepare for failure too. This is necessary because the chances for failure to occur in life cannot be ruled out completely. In fact, in gambling games that have become so popular in today's world, the probability of success or failure is fifty-fifty (50-50)!

The reality with planning is that it is uncertain. At the point of planning (preparation) for anything, not all the information that is required to guide one's decision (s) is available to him. This information gap, consequently, could lead to failure or a threat to success. Therefore, planning to fail as one plan to succeed is a reliable antidote to rude shockers when things go so wrong. A man whose focus is on winning all the time is at risk of losing his chances of peace and emotional stability. This is so because; in life, you cannot win all. We are all bound to win some battles and lose some that are the fate of man!

Have you ever planned for something and failed? Have you ever prepared for something and it did not work out? These are just but rhetorical questions, we all experienced that! Therefore, there is nothing abnormal about failure. Since men can win; men can also fall. What is abnormal, however, is when a man failed because he or she did not plan. Planning is always a necessity, but failure is possible too.

The myth that ties every failure of men to the antics of witches and wizards in one's village is the myth of falsehood. We cannot continually live in self-denial in a world whose rhythm is marked by fortunes and misfortunes and expect to make a difference. In as much as we have believed in the myth of witches and wizards; we are supposed, also to, believe in the power of divine interruption or intervention too. As humans, more importantly, we should learn to strike a balance between what we feel wizards are doing and what we believe God is doing concerning our progress: Sparing a thought for the possibility of human error!

Human error could hamper our plans. For instance, how could my grandfather and friends become obsessed with preparation for cultural celebrations without sparing a thought to the possibility of rains coming since the rainy season was already delayed? Do they not know that rain as a natural occurrence could come anytime? Human error occasioned by obsession and, maybe, ignorance failed these characters. The rain did not fail them; it only interrupted, and to say the least, as a blessing in disguise!

The man whose dance costumes were eaten up by ants is a careless planner. How can he keep those costumes and never bothered to check on them until the very day he was going to use them? It was a case of classical failure, for him, not to regularly check, to know whether those items were in a good state or not. Doing so would have allowed him to go for repairs or even order for replacement. He failed himself and wanted to commit suicide. Left him alone, ants have offended or killed him, but they were just looking for their daily bread and one came in handy, courtesy of the carelessness of the man.

One of the numerous lessons that could also be learned from "Katambili: The Story My Grandfather Told Me", is that nature is unstoppable. Whoever ignores the reality of the natural order of things is doing so at his peril. In other words, he who swims against the tide of nature shall be consumed by it, or better still, at risk of losing out. The rain shall come when it will come; ants will eat what is fated to be its menu and, more importantly, the man is required to promptly plan and to plan for eventualities of life too.

My grandfather kissed the earth twenty-two years past, but the memory of him and the life-changing stories he shared with us will last till eternity. These stories are impacting as they are amusing as well. Although, as a child then, I never knew they will shape my worldview and make newspaper headlines as Katambili did today. I, therefore, dedicate this story as a tribute to a legend who would not or could not have read the same in print, even if he were alive. This is because nobody ever taught him how to read and write.

Folks, when you do make-ups and plan for the next event in your neighbourhood, remember Katambili: The story my grandfather told me. When you save for the rainy days, keep checking to be sure ants are not comfortably feasting on your hard-earned savings. Katambili is the story of disappointment in the promises of fate and nature. Nature is a reality that cannot postpone it because you have a function (s) to attend to. This implies that whatever you cannot control or change, cooperate with it, but do not fail to diligently and promptly do your part of what you are in the power to do so