By Robert Mukondiwa
Sulumani Chimbetu has not really had a great year by any measure.
He has had way better years and ended the years on super highs. Remember that December and “Sean Timba” blaring from every speaker of every car from the slick new model right down to the worn out jalopy that can barely be driven for more than a mile?
So hot was “Sean Timba (Batai Munhu)” that one could even swear speakers from long ‘dead’ Supersonic wooden vinyl turntable radios also came alive and were also blaring with sounds from that massive album. It was powerful enough to resurrect the dead, that album.
Then Jah Prayzah happened. As in really happened. A total eclipse of the talent of Sulu followed along with a very “unbeautiful” period in Sulu’s life that scarred his soul and perhaps his talent for what would seem like eternity.
Would the bird be able to sing again? Would he rise to relevance? Would the beauty of his voice resonate again? In speakers both ‘‘living and ‘‘dead’’?
There were flashes of brilliance that followed, true, but never the same magic as he exhibited in the flaming hot “Sean Timba”. And to be honest, he hasn’t replicated that magic yet again. Not by any measure. But with the release in the last fortnight of the video; long awaited, to “Pandakazvarwa”, which he did alongside Mhangura artiste Tongai ‘Greatman’ Gwaze, Sulu has done what many people may possibly never be able to do in three lifetimes; touch the heart.
Gwaze was born with congenital malformations and has not had a pretty life. After meeting Sulu, the two pledged to do a collaboration. It was not an empty promise as we usually get from our Zimbabwe ‘‘pledging public’’ a phenomenon that has celebrated mariachi Clive ‘Mono’ Mukundu pulling his hair out; people pledging philanthropic promises just to make the headlines.
The video, in which he and Gwaze chronicle the true life story of the physically disabled Gwaze while singing about the trials and tribulations of the disabled child, the two start a warm rapport that chronicles a story and tells it from the heart.
This is the Sulu that has always been lurking inside of him. No mischief. No court case. No nonsense.
Just plain good work and a great effort at helping a fellow artiste born with a bigger disadvantage. It is not lost on humanity that the video coincided with the selfless (or what ought to be) the selfless spirit of Christmas.
It takes a very good man, with a beautiful heart, to think of others and raising the fortunes of others less fortunate than them, even at a time when they have their own career to worry about.
And perhaps Sulu has set the tone for us all this Christmas. That we perhaps should just dig into the beauty of our hearts and do a good deed for which we do not need to be paid. And because Sulu has done this and it is recorded on video, it shall live until eternity.
The world, shall always know there was once a beautiful man, with a beautiful heart who did a beautiful deed. And his name was Sulu. It shall always be a fact until the last person in Zimbabwe switches off the lights . . . or blow out the candles after Armageddon!
Meanwhile, at the instigation of socialite and academic Charlton Tsodzo, many have joined the bandwagon and are buying the audio MP3 for $2 via Ecocash for a worthy
cause.
By sending $2 via mobile money platforms including One Wallet and Telecash, and then sending a confirmation picture to Tongai Gwaze on 0783607022, the song is then sent to the payee and a good song is delivered all for the common good as well.
We at the Saturday Herald Lifestyle wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Enjoy it. The journey ends here and it has been a fun ride! The Herald.
