Maria Roza [Song]

Uploaded by Eddy Kenzo
MARIA ROZA
By Eddy Kenzo [Uganda]

Maria, Ana Maria
Mariaroza yegwe gwe ndowooza
Maria, Mariaroza
Ayi bo, ayi bo-bo-bo nesim yeah

Maria mama roza, Maria mama we
Maria mama roza oh ma life ye.

Mariaroza [sorry] yegwe gwe ndowooza [I'm sorry]
Mariaana [sorry] Mariaroza [I'm sorry]
Mariaroza yegwe gwe ndowooza [I'm sorry]
Maria ah-ah eh-yah. Ehh.. ahhya.

Emikono egisudde e'buzibba, amagulu ebuvanjuba
Nenesange ebunayila, Maria nga nkunonya
Warayi ya mungu Maria wambula
Jewagenda yewa, ewatatukwa balala
Maria oliwa kubanga onfude ekyelolerwa
Nze eyali ategeela, nzena amagezi ganzigwamu
Eyali amanyi okukwaasa mama emirimu nagwa.

Mariaroza [sorry] yegwe gwe ndowooza [I'm sorry]
Mariaana [sorry[ Mariaroza [I'm sorry]
Mariaroza yegwe gwe ndowooza [I'm sorry]
Maria ah-ah eh-yah. Ehh.. ahhya. Uhmm yeah yeah
Ayi bo-bo-bo-bo-bo, ayi bo

Kakati nyina e sente nsasula amanyi yo
Amanyi Maria jeyagenda baaba jangu eno
Jangu onyambe baaba obulamu bugenda
Eyali omunene okukome eli kakati nakogga
Nkusaba oje Maria okomewo eweka
I'm sorry, my sweet, sweet lover mama Maria
Nayagala nkole empisa embi mama Maria zewagana
Nayagala nkole indiscipline eye kivubuka
Te amo Maria, je t'aime Mariana
Sorry, my dear, je t'aime Maria.

Mariaroza [sorry] yegwe gwe ndowooza [I'm sorry]
Mariaana [sorry] [Mariaroza [sorry]
Mariaroza yegwe gwe ndowooza [I'm sorry]
Maria ah ah eh-yah...
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A Note From The Gull

Thank you, Eddy Kenzo!! And thanks to the comedians, Seka Manala and King Kong, who danced this song of despair into laughter. Ugandan music is sweet, sweet, sweet!

Eddy Kenzo is singing in Luganda [Oluganda is the major language of Uganda]. I don't have the English translation for the lyrics but I found a summary in one of the comments by Abraham Maru below the video.

"He crying his heart out for Mariaroza come to back to him. She is the only woman on his mind and he can not stop thinking about her. He begs for her forgiveness. He is lost without Mariaroza. He has gone, east, west, north and south in search of MariaRoza but she is no where to found. He wonders where she hiding. He has looked far and wide, she's nowhere to be found. He feels lost without MariaRoza. He is sorry that he hurt her. He used to be healthy and happy but since Mariaroza left him he his health is not good. He calls out to anybody that know where Mariaroza is to him to her. He want her to come back home. Their home. His sweet Mariaroza, the woman of his life. The only woman who completes him."

In the spirit of good-natured Trinbagonian/Ugandan humour, I dedicate this video to all people who feel that they have been wronged and are tormented because they cannot escape the fact that they need and rely upon the very persons towards whom they now feel indignation and antagonism.

We have to find a way to come to terms with these virulent emotions which tend to drag us down if we don't find positive ways in which to express them, to expiate them, to let go of them. If you know in your heart that you are blowing things out of proportion, please find a way to get it out of your system. After you dispense the calpets and karate chops like Maria Roza, verbal or otherwise, for your own good and the good of those around you, take a breath, accept the hand extended in peace, smell the sea breeze, and with grace, wheel and come again. None of us have long on this earth but our legacy, as codified in the Iroquois Great Law of Peace, should be viewed as having the power to influence the future for seven generations.

"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare

Respect

...respecting your countrymen and country.

Some words have been coming to mind with increasing frequency recently and "respect" is one of them. I think that the concept will become more and more important in our country as we begin to awake to the realization that we are ONE. I believe that respect is something you give to whatever you value, whatever you wish to be associated with. Disrespect is what you reserve for the thing from which you are disconnected, the thing which you do not understand or value, the thing which you would prefer to exclude. When we begin to acknowledge and appreciate our interconnectedness, it becomes more difficult to withdraw into the enclaves encouraged by the "we" and "them" attitude.

As a people, we often disrespect ourselves and each other. I will not try here to list the historical facts which entrenched this sort of selfish callousness but that cycle has to be broken before we are completely broken by it.

Because I had observed that manna and the good rain both fall from high places, I used to make the mistake of dreaming that the initiative to cultivate self-respect and respect for each other could come from governments. I no longer believe this. I think that it will have to be demanded and cultivated by the people. Until we understand how disrespecting ourselves has brought us to this point, we should not be surprised when those within and outside of our society continue to disrespect us also.

"...what you do to yourself or to your kind you cannot but invite others to do the same to you, and to your kind." ---Ashis Nandy

Recently Professor Ramesh Deosoran, reporting on the findings of the Police Service Commission, said:

"the status of investigations regarding certain critical matters which affected the public’s interest would have been put to Gibbs at least six or seven times when meetings were held.

He said: “Those responses have been dilatory, obscure and rather than he (Gibbs) answering he kept asking us questions as to why we want it. “And we found that sort of disrespectful. That tendency seems to be growing on the part of the commissioner and from other information I have gathered from other authorities that tendency of disrespect seems to be increasing and it is something we, as a commission, I think, have to tame that somewhat in the very near future.” SOURCE

It bears repeating:

"...what you do to yourself or to your kind you cannot but invite others to do the same to you, and to your kind." ---Ashis Nandy

If the Commissioner is in fact as disrespectful as Professor Deosaran has alleged, then I would say that he has taken his cue from his own observations of what is allowed in our society.

Whether you choose to view it like this or not, I believe that the Leader of the Opposition is demanding respect. Which other voice in this country has asked of the government more probing questions about how it conducts OUR business? Whether these questions are viewed as pertinent or impertinent depends obviously on the ear of the listener, but questions, even irritating ones, need to be answered. It is disrespectful to attempt to muzzle. I want to imagine that this disrespect is what the Leader of the Opposition, Keith Rowley was referring to when he said in his announcement about the filing of the motion of no-confidence: "We've just had enough."

Disrespect is a gateway injustice. If we do not discourage it but instead continue to invite and cultivate it, it will continue to keep the tracks clear for countless opportunistic and even more intractable evils.

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"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare

Jahaji Bhai | Brotherhood of the Boat [Song]

Uploaded by rasadam
JAHAJI BHAI | BROTHERHOOD OF THE BOAT
By Brother Marvin (1996)

Kumayayo Zindaweyo Kumayay Zindawey Ayayo

I am the seed of mih father, he is the seed of mih grandfather
Who is the seed of Bahut Ajah [great grandfather], he came from Calcutta
A stick and a bag on he shoulder, he turban and he kapra
So I am part seed of India, India.
The indentureship and the slavery bind together two races in unity [Achcha dosti - good friend]
There was no more Mother Africa, no more Mother India, just Mother Trini [Janmabhumi - homeland]
My Bahut Ajah planted sugarcane down in the Caroni plain
Ramlogan, Basdeo, Prakash and I, Jahaji Bhai
Brotherhood of the boat, Jahaji Bhai
Brotherhood of the boat, Jahaji Bhai.

I would be a disgrace to Allah if I choose race, creed or colour
Bahut Ajah had to make that journey for I to have Zindagee [life]
So it is a great privilege to have such unique heritage
Fifty percent Africa, fifty percent India, India
I have "do chuttee" two holidays Emancipation and Arrival Day [Anth bhala to sab bhala" - all's well that ends well ]
Since Fatel Razack made the journey 150 years gone already [Bahut achcha -very good]
Whether you're Hindu, Muslim or Christian, let's walk this land hand in hand
We could only prosper if we try a Jahaji Bhai
Brotherhood of the boat, Jahaji Bhai
Brotherhood of the boat, Jahaji Bhai

Kumayayo Zindaweyo Kumayay Zindawey Ayayo Kumayayo Zindaweyo

O mera dost mera saathi [O my friend, my companion]
Chal tahalna ek matt agal bagal.... [let's stroll together side by side]

For those who playing ignorant talking 'bout true African descendant
If yuh want to know de truth take ah trip back to yuh root
And somewhere on that journey, yuh go see ah man in a dhoti
Saying he prayers in front of a jhandi, jhandi
Then and only then you'll understand what is ah cosmopolitan nation [Haat melawo - let's join hands]
There's no room for prejudice at all, united we stand, divided we'll fall [Bete baat ko garro - child, pay heed to what I'm saying]
So to all races here in Trinbago Aapko kalyan ho dhaniaho [May you be blessed, may you prosper]
Let us live as one under the sky, Jahaji Bhai
Brotherhood of the boat, Jahaji Bhai
Brotherhood of the boat, Jahaji Bhai

Kumayayo Zindaweyo Kumayay Zindawey Ayayo Kumayayo Zindaweyo

O mera dost mera saathi [O my friend, my companion]
Chal tahalna ek matt agal bagal.... [let's stroll together side by side]

Extra verse sung in this rendition:

Indo and Afro Trinbagonians, we should learn to be one
Our ancestors came by boat, is de salt water in we throat
--------------------, mih great grandpa and grandmama
One was a slave and one was indentured, indentured
But the religion neither colour didn't interfere
With their love for each other, Nani Nani
I am proof of racial unity and that is the way everyone should be [achcha ----] Everyone should have each one in their prayer
Let's show each other we care
As we all know -------------------------, Jahaji Bhai
Brotherhood of the boat, Jahaji Bhai
Brotherhood of the boat, Jahaji Bhai

Kumayayo Zindaweyo Kumayay Zindawey Ayayo Kumayayo Zindaweyo

O mera dost mera saathi [O my friend, my companion]
Chal tahalna ek matt agal bagal.... [let's stroll together side by side]

Source: Mobilizing India with edits and additions. The lyrics posted on this blog are often transcribed directly from performances. Although it is my intention to faithfully transcribe I do not get all the words and I have a knack for hearing the wrong thing. Please feel free to correct me or to fill in the words that I miss by dropping me a message via e-mail. I'd be forever grateful. Thanks in advance! ..............................................................................................................................


A Note From The Gull

Thank you, Brother Marvin. I am dedicating this song to all Trinbagonians and especially to Dr. Roi Guanapo Ankhkara Kwabena (23/7/1956 - 9/1/2008) Opposition Senator, 13 January, 1992 - 4 January, 1994, who I imagine is smiling today.

We had discussed once how much we liked this song, Jahaji Bhai, noting that some who identified as African objected to the lines which seem to negate the claim to being a "true African descendant". Although I understood the objection, I had seen it from the perspective that if we are all brothers, if we all come from the same human root, we would find each other if we looked back along the lines to our common point of origin. I remember also how, with a grin in his writing, Roi had coined "Brotherhood of the Pirogue" to describe the experience of the Amerindians in the Americas and Caribbean.

"Patria est communis omnium parens" - Our native land is the common parent of us all. Keep it beautiful, make it even more so.

Blessed is all of creation
Blessed be my beautiful people
Blessed be the day of our awakening
Blessed is my country
Blessed are her patient hills.

Mweh ka allay!
Guanaguanare