By Immanuel Namboga
The night was dear, a full moon hung over throwing a bright light on the earth’s surface creating shadows from the little shrubs that surrounded me. Somewhere in the country is a man with a belly and a group of teenagers having the time of their lives. I have once been told of my ignorance of self-enjoyment because I was not even close to being on the edge of the knife between my ordinary life and the external life. One night, I got out there. I knew there was nothing good about going to that place. They say that some go there to get things off their minds and forget, some go there to remember, some go there to have fun, and some go there to relieve themselves. So I thought to myself, why was I going there. But I went anyways. The place was alive. There was so much life in it and there were flashes everywhere. The ladies were on the dance floor having the time of their lives. Men boozed and their alcohol-induced laughter almost penetrating the soundproof walls of the joint. It seemed like there was no tomorrow for them. Even if there was so much light in this place, so bright that you could see, deep down it was a dark place. Teenagers going to clubs, and falling into the hands of them fat cats who have left their wives at home. And when they got used to this, they never changed to the people they were before. When you walk into places like this, you almost never come out the same. I have seen so many things in this place that have made me hate it. I’ve seen enough and so I walked out without looking back. There is no fun in getting wasted. I don’t like going to clubs and bars, I don’t like partying. I don’t drink, and I don’t smoke. I’m not saying that I’m a saint, I also have my dark sides, and everyone does have. But this, this is the last thing I would ever want to give my life to. So I spend my night’s drawing, painting, writing, reading when I have to, singing and playing instruments. I love arts and I would gladly give my life to it. This is who I am and I’m happy to be this person. The cities are places that will swallow you at whole if you do not watch where you step. But it’s also a place filled with opportunities. This earth is not our home, we are people passing by. But how do you want to pass by. Do you want to pass by as a drunkard, do you want to pass by as a criminal, do you want to pass by as a positive person or would you like to pass by passing on inspiration and helping others. A man can’t be changed by another. We are who we are. A man has once said that, “We are captains of our own captivity, prisoners of our own decisions.” Just remember that every starting line stars with a choice.
Immanuel Namboga often write scripts at home that he find useful to share with the youth. His writings is based on real life issues that teenagers go through. Love, unconditional love, hatred, envy, greed, grudges, sex ,alcohol and drugs, dreams and success ,passion killing and much more. From time to time he would be sharing his thoughts on these issues with fellow youths.