By Cynthia Kenyani,
During my childhood years, life was different. We would collectively pick a meal every Saturday by throwing in our suggestions on what to have and then our mother, or our eldest sister would cook it.
The weekend was a day we would all go out to the park, take walks, have fun outdoors and then chow the meal under a tree relishing each bit, on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.
This presented an opportunity for the family to bond and interact, a crucial element in empowering family, friendship and couples’ ties.
Then came the Covid pandemic, which contributed its part in putting up social distance measures and closing down activities with countless lockdowns.
Yet even before Covid restrictions were around, it felt like Nairobi was slowly and inevitably losing its tradition to its own urbanization.
Why did we kill our old fun times together to be indoors with our social media attachment? Everyone is now hooked on their phones.
Our digital transformation has disrupted society it its core; affecting jobs, wages, health and general security.
Cinema Watching
In the 1980’s Drive-In Cinemas would have a large outdoor movie screen where films would be screened late into the night.
Movie lovers could eat, drink and make merry with people camping to watch the famous films. It was a time where people would have more time to bond and get to know each other and themselves.
The cinemas; Fox drive-in, Kenya cinema just to mention a few have been replaced by the world’s largest online movie platforms such as Netflix, Amazon and others.
Today, people choose to have more entertainment and flexibility at the comfort of their homes because it is affordable and easier.
Seldom do we experience the excitement of queuing outside Cinema’s for the latest blockbuster screening; it was tedious and analog, but fun.
The Matwana Culture
Although this is disputed, the matwana culture back in the day was super crazy. Do you all remember ‘Manyanga’?
The vibrant matatus ruled the city with artistic designs and loud buzzing music most divers were considered reckless. The crazy matwana culture is still on up to date, but some people prefer the calm matatus, with no music.
They are dubbed ‘wa zamani’ matatus meaning it’s for the old folks for how they are portrayed to be.
Uhuru and Central Parks visits
Saturdays were for visiting the park and having a good time with the family, that was our culture.
I still see the young self in a pair of shorts, a bright t-shirt and a pair of sneakers excitedly heading to Uhuru Park.
There were so many activities including; boat riding, face painting, merry go rounds, ice-cream eating and the list goes on.
For decades now, lots of Nairobians would spend most of their weekends and public holidays not to mention Christmas days in the parks.
The unfortunate happened recently; the government prohibited city residents from accessing the parks for renovations. This has forced Nairobians to look for other alternatives.
Picnics
Back in the day, picnics were pumped up in the most amazing ways with the main ingredients being maasai shuka and a food basket.
Sisters would prepare mouth-watering food and drinks for the day.
Most of the time was spent outdoors creating memories together, it usually was a fun day for everyone.
The integration of digital transition has snatched away our good golden days. We now prefer to order for food via the food app like Glovo, Urban Eats and many more food apps.
Well, the positive impact of this is time management and the negative impact is that the food ordered has unhealthy benefits on our bodies.
