PULA

Translated to Rain.

A Colour Piece Feature By: Ofentse Tladi.

Based on the Queen Modjadji Series that currently plays on DSTV every Sunday 8pm (Channel 161)

The children were huddled around the crackling fireplace, their eyes wide with anticipation. Outside, the night wrapped the world in darkness, but inside, the glow from the fire casted a warm, flickering light on their faces.

With a gentle smile, Nkhono took a sip from her tea, set the cup down, and began to weave a story, her voice soft and melodic, drawing the children into the world;

Many years ago, in a dry and barren land, a child was born of a father and his own daughter. Conceived under unlikely circumstances, the child was a gift from the ancestors, destined to lift the land from the drought.

When she was born, the skies darkened, and the clouds gathered. Thunder rumbled, and for the first time in many moons, raindrops splashed onto the dry land.

People dashed outside, laughing and dancing as the rain soaked their skin and quenched the thirsty land, their joy spilling over in tears and shouts.

Before Nkhono could even finish the rest of the story, she was already overwhelmed with a flurry of questions.

One thing was certain, history was destined to play a significant role in the children's lives as their eager questions already reflected their growing interest.

Like these children, I have grown up with the comfort of listening to my grandmother's stories. Each evening, her soft voice would weave tales that transported me to imagined far-off lands.

This story, however, was different.

It was the story of Queen Modjadji, the legendary Rain Queen of the Balobedu tribe from South Africa's Limpopo province who knew how to summon rain in times of drought.

The Queen Modjadji series, subtly infused with feminism, makes me reflect on the richness of our African heritage. Queen Modjadji is a figure of profound interest among South Africans, particularly within the Sepedi speaking tribe and those fascinated by tribal history.

These stories ignite a deep curiosity in me to uncover the unrecorded histories of our nation, often obscured by the oral tradition of storytelling.

Who are we? Where do we come from?

These are the golden questions one can never seem to escape from.

Limpopo pulses with the rhythm of Bapedi, their traditions woven into the fabric of the land while North West, once the heart of Bophuthatswana, proudly bears the lagacy of Batswana. Each province in our country tells its own story, showing the diverse tribes that make up our colourful nation. The relevance of series like Queen Modjadji lies in showcasing these diversities.

I am particularly fascinated by these shows because they delve into histories that are not particularly found in school textbooks. Our education system seems often confined to learning about the Khoisan, though they were not the only tribe, and to understanding the atrocities of apartheid and global conflicts.

I have often wondered why our rich tribal histories have not been fully explored in our education. Like Nkhono, I would like to one day take a sip from my cup of tea and educate my grandchildren about the buried histories of our nation.