THE GENESIS OF THE "BIGBOSS".

Located approximately a kilometer from The Lake Nakuru National Park, our  village was a typical African village full of adventures.Its proximity to the National Park added to the fine ambiance of the village.The village scenery was breathtaking-early in the morning, the artistic golden sun usually got up like a baby and started painting the dark black sky into a bright blue sky.The bright looking milky clouds then started travelling around the sky visiting the wonderful environment. I grew up in the village and got accustomed to the norms of the village life. Like any other village boy, I grew up in a society where being a boy was synonymous with enduring hardship,pain and having ability to fight your own battles.


Back then, the village boys were the most pronounced members of the society. "Boys are always boys" they say, and the ones in our village weren't any different - I included. We could fight just to gauge who was stronger than the other; and I guess that is how I acquired the name "Big Boss Man" as a toddler. The name would later stick to me all the way to my teenage stages of life, and it only left my life immediately I transitioned to 'Manhood'. As I grew up, my peers kept coining the name but maintaining its originality. Initially,  it was "Big Boss Man"  then "B-Boss" later "Biggy" and by the time it was leaving my life, it had become a name with only one letter - "B".


The name didn't just came to existence out of nowhere-No!...You see, there was this "WWE-Wrestling" character with the name "The Big Show". I think it was from his name that my peers came up with the name "Big Boss Man". Fighting was common, and the older boys were known to incite the younger boys to fight.The older boys would also act as referees and cheering squad at the same time.There was a common practice that preceded fighting among the boys.One would draw a line and dare the other to cross it if "he is a man". Another act was placing an object (preferably a small piece of wood or a small stone) on the palm and asking the opponent to dare touch it.The act of touching  an object that is placed on the palm of your opponent was considered a great provocation and it  used to trigger a big fight.Those who dared not to rise to the challenge mounted by their opponents were considered cowards, and they became laughing stock.


I remember one occasion when routine game of fighting almost turned into a tragedy.On that particular day, I had  just arrived from school at around midday and saw a group of boys playing on an open field.They seemed to be enjoying the game. I quickly rushed inside the house, changed my attire and went to join them. That day, the fight was extraordinary ; it was between the older group of boys verses the younger group - I belonged to the latter. The fight involved use of fake Arrows made of Mexican Marigold sticks and needles obtained from Acacia trees ; with fake Bows made of used water pipes and strings from used Bicycle rubber tubes. Everything was going on well until when a certain boy from the older group aimed and hit one of the boys in our group on a sensitive part around his left eye. The boy who was hit started crying loudly and  painfully saying "he has pierced my eye" and when we turned to look what had happened -it was a dreadful sight to behold!. The sight of the stick with a sharp needle hanging on the eye of the boy was enough to send shivers down the spine of everyone who was around.We thought the worst had happened - that the boy had lost his eye. We all abandoned our "weapons" and scampered away fearing being implicated in the incident.We later learnt that the boy's eye was not affected - he sustained minor injuries on the tissues surrounding the eye. 


The society shaped the boy to fight his own battles in life in our village.If you were a boy and you were physically assaulted by your peers, then you report the matter to your parents, guardians or relatives, the response you got was "What were you doing while you were being beaten, you should have fought back". If you found yourself in the same situation again, you had no choice but to fight back.


One of my activities in the village as a young boy, was looking after the family livestock - an activity which took a lion's share of my childhood life. I could set off with the livestock in the morning to the grazing fields and return home in the evening;during school holidays and on the weekends.It was my responsibility to identify good pastures for the livestock and ensured that the same got enough drinking water.Leaving home  in the morning and returning back in the evening without any provisions for lunch hour meal wasn't easy. I am grateful that all the hardships I went through in early stages of my life as a boy, prepared me to overcome real hardships in life as an adult.     

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