Postby Lamagoodle » Tue Dec 15, 2015 1:45 am
It is diffult to guess Ambiyo’s age; she claims to be in her early 30s but judging by the wrinkles on her face, the baruur xusuls and her ”cheeks” which reminds one of the great Xasan Geni’s lyrics “daamaanka ku dheeran da’ina waay ku haaysaa”, she is probably approaching her menopause, if not there yet.
Ambiyo is married - at least on paper- to her cousin, Makaraan, who spends half of his time in Mogadisho. He came to the UK in the early nineties and at that time worked at the BBC’s white city buildings as a cleaner.
Ambiyo and their first born son, Yasin, joined him in the beginning of the new millennium.
Life was very tough in those days. The 200 pound/week wage did not cover everything the family needed. As the time progressed, Ambiyo also developed an appetite for an expensive lifestyle. The dahab and dirac expensive life style of the Xaawalays. But they still managed to pay the bills with the help of child benfits/housing benefits and family credits.
Soon the Makaraan family had grown. 5 kids.
As the family grew and income from social security increased, Ambiyo’s emotional and economic distance to Makaraan became longer. He was no longer the “cade” “xabiiibi” “gacalka” he used to be. He became the “cleaner” Mr. liability and Mr. Shame in her world.
As the somali population in London grew because of the exodus from mainland Europe and Scandinavi , the family found themselves in the realm of “faan”. In this context, cleaning was not something to boast about. In Ambiyo’s eyes, Makaraan was a loser; poor, dark, old and ugly. She wanted a man who was intellectually gifted, young, handsome and much more. Someone to go with the “faan”.
But she kept him. A marriage of convenience. A marriage which both claimed was for the sake of “the kids”.
Makaraan was boiling with anger the last 7 or so years of their marriage. In his mind, he had lost his standing, his ragganimo. His manhood and his dignity. His everything
He sought comfort in the fahdi-ku-dirir, people’s parliament, where he met other men who were going through the same process as his. It is at the fadhi-ku-dirir sessions that he met others who shared his destiny. Apart from the frequent qabil nonsense, the fadhi-ku-dirir parliament was his wailing wall. Sometimes, he felt that his problems were milder than those of others. He met men who went through the ultimate humiliation; the bacda madow. He met men who served time in prison for engaging in what they termed as their Allah given rights (sex with their wives) because they had been accused and convicted of rape.
The fadhi-ku-dirir places are also the Yoobsan of our times. The Fleet Street where news is created, transmitted digested and recreated. It is here that news about Somalia is analysed and careers in the new somali nation of qabilstan are advertised. Apart from my qabil is better than your qabil and the frequent my tuulo is better than your tuulo, it is here that you show your competence if you want to work for the government and the many Baluchistans back home. Apart from your qabiil credentials i.e. my qabiil is the strongest, you need to have social competences including the ability to joke with everyone.
Makaraan was one day at one of these sessions when he was informed that his cousin Lakkad had become a minister in the Somali government. It was time for the tolka to milk Maandeeq. The new minister will see to it that the tolka get their fair share of the spoils of Somalia. Someone like Makaraan with his competence and with his “education” will be an asset to the tolka. He will be the focal point of the yields from Maandeeq.
The rest is history as the saying goes. Makaraan, the cleaner was Dr. Makaraan, the aqoonyahan. His command of the English language although very poor came to usage as every somali word he uttered begun with or ended with a poorly pronounced English word.
He came to Muqdisho where he was met by other aqoonyahans, waxgarada and culaamudiin from his beesha.
What a change? he thought to himself! No longer the “nacas” but the aqoonyahan and waxgarad.
Makaraan became the desired husband of the garoobs and the dheylos alike. Who would not want to hook with the aqoonyahan from qurbaha?
Although he is dark, in Xamar he became comparatively the most light skinned. Not that the xaawaleys preferred light skinned guys but in this poverty stricken nation, light skin = rich. His calool became also an asset. While in the west the calool is a liability in the context of courting in this Allah’s country it is viewed as the penultimate manifestation of wealth.
The artefacts of richness = light skinned + calool.
He soon wedded a young lass, and then another one and a third one. He would have it to four as dictated by his islam but he was still married to Ambiyo.
Meanwhile Ambiyo met Somalinet and many dynamic characters including Fiidow......