The mind is a piece of ground. It thrives on whatever we water it with.<\/p>\n
Maybe it is in this regard that, in the days gone by, gospel songstress Ethel Kamwendo Banda decided to water her mind with some creative water that borders on courage.<\/p>\n
Maybe psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud was right when he suggested that the creative impulse is \u201ca continuation of, and a substitute for, what was once the play of childhood\u201d.<\/p>\n
Whatever the case, it came to pass that, between January and October 1996, a spirit bordering on the \u201cplay of childhood\u201d crossed the song bird\u2019s mind.<\/p>\n
The creative impulse\u2014 I mean, \u201ca continuation of, and a substitute for, what was once the play of childhood\u201d\u2014 must have caught up with Ethel around the month of January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August or September 1996. It surely cannot be November 1996, for that is when Ethel found herself in the centre of the storm.<\/p>\n
Is it not surprising that Ethel now carries herself with an easy grace\u2014 full of the peace the Lord Jesus Christ has given her? She made a famous attempt at \u2018gospel\u2019 music far back in 1996, or so it seems.<\/p>\n
That time, in the days that are dead and buried, Ethel, then known as Malawi\u2019s Mbilia<\/p>\n
Bel, decided to go \u2018gospel\u2019. That \u2018play of childhood\u2019 spirit might, probably, have been at work. Ethel decided to, of all things, break away (albeit temporarily) from secular music she had mastered so well with Ravers over the days that are dead and buried. Do not look at me like that. Ravers is a band!<\/p>\n
She, therefore, did the song \u2018Bismilla Lailala…Ilala\u2019.<\/p>\n
I do not know why she did the song in October, a hot month in this part of the world, in the year 1996\u2014 a year that is dead and buried.<\/p>\n
I say this because, much as the month was hot, it became hotter for Ethel, as people who were unhappy with the song ganged up against her and Ravers Band. These are people who do not appreciate music; people who do not understand that music transcends religious boundaries.<\/p>\n
For a feel of what it was like (in terms of the scene and Ethel), let us walk down that road\u2014 a road that might, too, be dead and buried\u2014 thanks to Malawi News of December 28, 1996 \u2013 January 3, 1997:<\/p>\n
\u201cMalawi\u2019s Mbilia Bel\u2014 Ethel Kamwendo\u2014 was in trouble in October with the song \u2018Bismilla Lailala…Ilala\u2019. The song got on Muslims\u2019 nerves. They said it was blasphemous.<\/p>\n
\u201cMuslims argued that mimicking Muslim words is against their religion. After all, Muslim songs are not supposed to be weaved with musical instruments, they argued.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut Ethel and the Ravers argued they composed the song purely for entertainment and not to insult anyone or a particular sect. Ethel and the Ravers have entertained people and surely Queen Ethel deserves the crown\u201d.<\/p>\n
Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!<\/p>\n
Let me quickly say something about the Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! I have deliberately chosen 12 has! Count if you can. They represent the 12 tribes of Israel for reasons I do not know!<\/p>\n
Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!<\/p>\n
Now [and this is my imagination], imagine Ethel \u2013 and Ravers, of course\u2014 feeling hunted by people who do not appreciate the flexibility of art.<\/p>\n
Imagine Ethel innocently taking a walk in Blantyre Central Business District and someone calling after her: \u201cHey…\u201d<\/p>\n
And Ethel, without looking back, starts running away, thinking it\u2019s one of the people who are not happy with the song \u2018Bismilla Lailala…Ilala\u2019.<\/p>\n
It turns out it\u2019s a male vendor who wants to sell bananas to her!<\/p>\n
Ethel Kamwendo runs home and hides under the table!<\/p>\n
Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!<\/p>\n
Well, it\u2019s good that Ethel Kamwendo Banda is now the gospel musician she wanted to be!<\/p>\n
She sings freely on stage. She has no reason to run away. No reason to feel hunted down!<\/p>\n
And, ah! She even stands in the open on billboards. Like the one in Limbe, Blantyre City\u2019s commercial hub. Smiling, she stands in clothes tailored along the lines of school uniform.<\/p>\n
What a long time it has been since October 1996!\u2014 Feedback: richardchirombo@ gmail.com <\/em>or 0999 333 528<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The mind is a piece of ground. It thrives on whatever we water it with. Maybe it is in this regard that, in the days gone by, gospel songstress Ethel Kamwendo Banda decided to water her mind with some creative water that borders on courage. Maybe psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud was right when he suggested that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":40513,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52326"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52326\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52328,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52326\/revisions\/52328"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}