The elephant in the room

The term used “The elephant in the room” reminds me when I was growing up such terms used to be used to scare children. A Xhosa name of elephant (Indlovu) used to draw an image of how huge is this animal and how ugly it is? Whatever a child will be crying for immediately will keep quiet. Those were the wise words used by the elders to discipline their children according to their different stages of growth.

There were various parables that were uniting and disciplining children in those days that were taken into consideration. I remember that when the village requires some information they used to travel long distances looking for an elder person who was there during such incident that requires information. In the conversation the elder will be using some parables such as “A river cannot flow down the forest without carrying down some trees” If those representatives did not understand the meaning they will need to go and look for translators.

The term the elephant in the room was one of those hidden meanings. Maybe it was a term used to call a certain person in disguise because of how big or strong s/he is. In most instances such names used to be given in teachers more-especially during the times of corporal punishment at schools. That was caused by the way teachers represents themselves to learners then they used to be given their suitable names. In most cases these parables will be very ironic therefore a person needs to work out what is the meaning.

An example, passengers in a taxi need to pay for their fares. The money is collected according to the sits of the taxi. You will find out there are people who pay and collect other pupils change. That happened to me on my way to Durbanville when my change did reach my hands then I said hey guys “You cannot eat your cake and still have it”. Everybody laughed then I got my change. All I am saying is there is always an irony in these terms.