I am having good fun in the countryside!!! Yesterday I referred to our people’s naming genius expressed through how they name their little enterprises. In Madhuku area of Chipinge I ran into a grocery named “T.Matoro & Sons”. I stopped to test naming accuracy fronting this...

...rural enterprise. Inside the store was a lady-storekeeper who looked languid from high temperatures hitting 34 degrees Celsius. How many children does the Store Owner have, a politely asked. Four, came the curt answer. How many boys, I pressed further. Two, came the...

...monosyllabic answer. And the other two, I asked superfluously. GIRLS!, came the answer with a tinge of defiance. Are you one of them, I further enquirer. NO, came another monosyllable. So why is the STORE about the owner & SONS only, I closed in on the poor keeper. AAAHH!!...

...then a lasting giggle of a Damascene moment!! Leaning on the counter were two elderly men, one of them Headman Madhuku. Then a third who proudly reminded me, “Tisu ana Musikaantu acho.” So, tell me elders of the village, why are property relations so gendered, I asked.

Here is a family which God our Almighty has generously blessed with gender evenness: two boys, two girls; yet the Family Grocery is only exclusively about “&SONS”? Why? But girls don’t appear on my estate, shot back one elder who struck me as a retired teacher. Why? But who do...

...you find it difficult to accept the way the grocery is named, weighed in Headman Madhuku, piling pressure on me. Let’s read further than “&SONS”, I countered. It reads “Curling Black Label”, came the answer carrying obvious bemusement. Is that not longer, more complicated...

...than adding “&DAUGHTERS”, I pressed harder, excitedly. Girls go away; and you know that, cut in the male worker in the Shop, his victory over me virtually complete. So do boys; do you stay in your father’s compound after marrying?, I asked mercilessly. But he carries my...

...totem, bellowed the Headman. So whose child is your daughter, I shot back, mane standing on end. Aaaah!! In verandah hat, Sabhuku Madhuku, with a youngster from the area. In red, male store worker who thinks only girls go away. The other bloke is Jamwanda. Enjoy!

Then of course comes this other one: NEW YORK BOOKING ROOMS!! Aahhhh!!

This one you find paDougie in the Mutezwa Area of Middle Sabi. I wonder if the American Ambassador to Zimbabwe would feel any less homesick after spending a night in one of the rooms at this wonderfully named rural enterprise. Or why his PR Budget won’t spare a dollar for this...

...free name recognition campaign for one great City of his country. I think this is more deserving than the thousands spend on pro-sanctions lobby, surely!! Enjoy!!