The 21st century and its new tribe

Call it the modern world, the “dot com era”, the new world, western culture…whatever you would want to call it; it still is the current century that brings the newest content to our society today, be it bad or good, its negatively and positively influencing. For along time now I have been witnessing the impacts of social, psychological change and everything done by people is attributed to the “21st century”. The good, bad, humor and nick name, have all been featured. However it’s shocking that some people don’t know what century we are in, anyway that’s how impacting it can be. If I may say, the so called 21st century era has changed a lot of people socially. Lately numerous languages have been upgraded, on the contrary re-revised. Take a look at English these days. Despite the fact that Rwanda going English, has made people who don’t know the language feel it’s an obligation to learn, they feel this is a modern world where everyone must be a linguist. American English is now an icon for many, the new accents have surfaced, and you realize it’s a whole new package of change; however, “Ghetto American English” is the one at its peak. I liked the idea of the populace to learn English but the fact that it has diverted, it has not made much sense. An example of words like “I aint” to mean ‘I am not’, “props” to mean ‘respect’ and others have surprisingly encroached into people’s official documents. However much I like this ideology, I have come to realize that English is the most “murdered language” today. Bring in the ‘slung world’, and even with most of its words being offensive, you will understand that there is another language generating out of the real English. There is this commonly used word among a big number of grownups and to date, I have never bought it, ever. The word ‘Nigga’-- you meet old friend and all he has to say is ‘Bite nigga’ in Kinyarwanda, apparently meaning, “Hi friend.” For your information, ‘Nigga’ is a disrespectful and offensive word that was used to insult and de-mean black people in the USA. And what’s shocking is that most people don’t even know it’s an offensive word. Recently I asked my neighbor who greets me in the same way why he uses this mighty offensive word, the best he could say was, “nigga iyi ni dot com” (this is the dot com era) implying that it’s the language suitable for the current time. None the less the reply was enough not to ask him any further questions. A toast to the 21st century again, besides the change of the language; this era has eased people’s lives too. Communication has taken its peak with Technology being the number one lead. Such as the evolution of newest gadgets like phones, laptops, cars, TVs name it; it’s all courtesy of the new era. With the whole era philosophy around us, technology has made communication easier and faster with beeping habit. Without going into details, take a stride through the land of greeting. This method of communication has in itself is what amazes me the most. A handshake followed with rocking of the shoulders, the three times head butt, knocking wrists, hugging, pecking and lastly kissing is the trend that’s in Kigali; all in the name of just saying ‘hello’. It’s so surprising that excluding such features when you greet, will earn you a reputation of being naïve or un-modern by some people. Another humorous ingredient in this new dot com era is the new names that have come up. People have named themselves after machines, animals, military ranks...the list is endless. The other day a headline was read on the radio, “Mozeh Radio, Weasel TV from Uganda, Bulldog, the General and Rider Man “aka isacye” (also known as cock) from Rwanda will also be performing live at the show next week……” Still contemplating this string of confusion, It dawned on me that these musicians have adopted these names with a sole purpose of getting people’s attention. Now, despite the combination of these names I think they carry along a lot of humor. In the first place why would people call themselves, a TV, Radio, more less a Bulldog? The next thing we are about to hear is someone going by the names of “Habineza ipod”, or “Harerimana Avatar”, can you imagine? Any way it’s the 21st century. In addition, the dress code as well is one of the accomplices of this current time. Many trends have surfaced lately. The good, bad and ugly styles are on the street. Just the other day, I bypassed a man who wore a T-shirt with prints and marks reading ‘the devil in me!’ Honestly for someone reasonable, why would he put on such a T-shirt with such dreadful words? None the less I can say it has changed the psychological thinking of the people. Trends, trends and more trends… their impact is all around us. I still give credit to the current time we are in because it has yielded much more positivism than negativism. bolivewanted2010@gmail.com