The kiumbu also spelt independence. A young man could come and go as he pleased without the parents asking questions. It was also in these kiumbu’s that the young men started holding dance parties, if the parents allowed it. Mine did not, but that did not stop my brothers from attending dances at their friends kiumbus. That was the age of the record player. We called it Kinanda.
The music came in a vinyl record (Thani ya Kinanda). The music was recorded in two versions. A single song came in a single record, but there was a huge record that contained multiple songs from the same artist. These were called LP, short for Long Play. The record players came in vibrant colors. The most common colors were Green, Blue, Black, Orange, Gold and Red. Today’s generation may not have seen a vinyl record, let alone a record player. Feast your eyes on the above picture of a YAMAHA record player and a vinyl LP on the turntable. These were pure gold for my generation. Laugh out loud if you like. You’re welcome.
In my Settlement Scheme, there were families that had grown kids who were now working in big cities. These young people are the ones who owned record players, and every time they came home, they brought the record player with them, partly to show off, letting everybody know, they made it. Owning a record player was a mark of success and a source of great pride.
These young men knew that and that is why they brought their record players with them on every visit. They brought records of the latest popular music we had only heard on radio. My brothers and their friends could now play the music over and over again and dance to the tunes. They listened to Joseph Kamaru, John Ndichu, D.K, CDM Kiratu and our very own Wahome Maingi who hailed from Nyahururu, we talked about him like we knew him personally, you would think he was related to us.
The working city dwelling young men still shared Kiumbus’ with their younger siblings whenever they visited home. That was their only venue for holding dance parties for their friends. The younger siblings took that opportunity to invite their friends to the dance since it was being held in their ‘Maskan’. That is how my brothers ended up going to such dance parties.
The city dwellers did not only bring the music, (Kinanda na Thaani) they also came home dressed in the latest fashion from the city. Bell Bottom pants, Platform shoes, flowered shirts with big sharp collars, big buckled belts, and 007 underwear which they made sure it somehow showed from under their trousers. They demonstrated the latest dance styles like Kung Fu, where my brothers bumped their behinds against each other until they were sore. In the months that followed, if there was nobody to bump against, they bumped against walls, trees or any standing structure that did not put up resistance to their obsession. They wanted to be ‘cool’ like the city dwellers.
