The streets of Addis never cease to amaze even most of us who have lived in it all our lives. Yes, it is a city that amazes any keen observer in more ways than one. A few minutes’ walk through any of its bustling streets would be going back home with a few things to mull over. One question any longtime resident would ask is something like, “Is this that very city I really lived in for decades?” So much is happening at any hour of the day that it’s practically difficult to take everything in.
I don’t know much about how they estimate populations. It has been quite sometime since we had our last population census, a very sensitive issue. It’s like live wire which if you don’t manage with the utmost knowledge and wisdom could prove very difficult for everyone. But one thing is sure. The Addis population has practically been booming for quite a long time and I’d say the census people would even find it nerve-wracking to make any educated guess. Look at the streets which seem to be congested at most hours of the day. Go to outlying residential areas where new condos are built and you would think you’re in a completely alien land. Few of any of us are familiar with such scenes.
You know, in the old days we used to watch on the TV stations cities across the world where the crowds in the streets are so large we can’t help wondering, “How the hell do they manage to move around in such crowded environments?” Well maybe, just maybe, we seem to be almost there!
I wasn’t planning to talk about crowds in the streets but the many things you come across. And these days it seems some of us just can’t ignore such street events and continue on our way. It seems there are people who have had enough of certain happenings which seem to be going in all sorts of bizarre ways. This is a nation of believers as repeated studies have shown. The latest figures are that more than 90% of the population is spiritually connected with one belief or another. So in times when the tiniest of things is blown into mammoth dimensions things said and done in the spiritual realm could prove very delicate should be handled with care.
These days individual ‘preachers’ (or are they activists? Some narratives practically throw us into raging waves of confusions and we don’t know what to call some of this street-wise crowd!) could be found in many corners of the city. In the old days such individuals used the power of their voices to ‘preach’ (OMG!) whatever they want to say. These days things have changed in more ways than one. (I could imagine someone shouting at me, “It is the age of AI, dummy! Play along or get lost!”) The guys are these days using relatively big speakers and amplifiers! And this is happening in places where apart from the hundreds and thousands moving around there are all sorts of enterprises, shops and other institution in the crudest disregard of the health and peace of mind of others; and also the rights of citizens to move around without unnecessary hindrances.
The sound pollution, in no attempt to exaggerate on my part, is almost of biblical dimensions. Add to this the very content of the so-called spiritual narratives which these days have you. (The so-called in this sense is used the ‘preachers’ don’t seem to have any relevant knowledge of what they’re saying and were only repeating things they heard someone else saying. And many times they don’t seem to be doing a good job of even that. That seems to be why maybe unable to say anything more when they indulge in narratives that angers others.
Recently ugly scenes happened in a part of the city where one of these fellows using big amplifiers was spewing angry words barraging what he says were the beliefs of another side. (No use calling names.) It wouldn’t be lost on any straight thinking person that such narratives are indeed very dangerous and should be handled with the utmost care. It so happened that a middle-aged man was so furious he charges at the fellow only to be subdued by quick acting citizens.
He on his part goes into tirades calling the other side all kinds of names and accusations of the other side being the house of you can guess what! I can tell you it wasn’t some scene you would have liked to witness again. Well meaning citizens convinced him to calm down and also asked the ‘preacher’ to please leave the area before things got out of hand. He did so. One thing is that I personally didn’t find out which side the ‘preacher’ represented. But then this is not a question of whom or what. It is a question of the very act of turning public space into some mini war-game place.
Does this worry me? Of course it does. It should worry all well-meaning people who more than anything want the day-to-day lives of the public should be protected. And also whether we’re ‘preachers,’ activists or so it’s high time to realize there are red lines for every act, little or big.
There are also others which make moving about difficult and who, sadly, seem to be able to say and do whatever they want. Someone was telling me that in some part of the city there was this young guy claiming to have medicines for cancer. Yes, “Medicine for cancer!” saying that it was traditional medicine which the ferenjis tried to steal but couldn’t. It was kept in the most secret of places and it was from there he got the small amount he had. (They said it was some sort of grayish powder!) That was not the only shocking happening; People bought the cancer medicine for a hundred or so birr! A few younger lads who tried to ask him questions were muted by the others and, now this is scary, threatened by a couple of bulky youngsters who probably worked as the guy’s bodyguards.
The Ethiopian Herald December 3/2023