By Joseph Mbazzi Muguluma
Time waits for no one. While the past cannot be erased, the present offers an opportunity to shape tomorrow.
Yet, in matters of the heart, intelligence can sometimes become love’s greatest enemy.
Two intelligent people may calculate love until there is nothing left to save.
He fears rejection; she worries about family, reputation and the consequences of choosing a man with a complicated past.
Both reason, neither risks, and love quietly slips away.
Consider the story of a village girl who fell for a proud city man.
She wrote him a heartfelt letter, surrendering her innocence to the possibility of love.
He dismissed her, convinced she was too young to understand his world.
Years later, she had become a respected wife and mother.
The same man returned, humbled by time, confessing feelings he had once concealed.
She still loved him, but she had given her word to another household. His realisation came too late.
Love had not disappeared; circumstances had simply changed.
Then there is the Mumbowa, a formidable warrior whose strength on the battlefield could not protect him from jealousy and suspicion.
Manipulated by a cunning whisperer, he allowed doubt to overpower trust, with irreversible consequences.
His eventual remorse could not restore what he had destroyed. Intelligence without wisdom, suspicion without evidence, can turn love into tragedy.
Closer to home, River Naludugavu separates the valleys of Lusakalwamese and Ninzi, symbolising ancestral rivalries, cultural pride and inherited prejudice.
Ggasami, the son of a seer, dreams of unity through education. Yintana, daughter of a strict church elder, loves him but fears betraying her family and faith.
Their love remains trapped between competing loyalties.
Meanwhile, Yintana’s sister, Nambooze, dares to imagine a world where people can embrace different traditions without abandoning their identity.
Though ridiculed for her defiance, she becomes a symbol of courage.
The message is profound: the past may explain our fears, but it should not dictate our future.
Love requires courage, honesty, trust and a willingness to confront difficult conversations.
Being brave does not mean ignoring betrayal, abandoning commitments or crossing boundaries blindly.
It means refusing to let pride and prejudice make every decision.
Like Naludugavu, time continues to flow. Yesterday cannot be rewritten, but today can be approached differently.
Perhaps one person must find the courage to begin the conversation, offer an apology or extend forgiveness where it is deserved.
Do not spend a lifetime calculating love until the opportunity to live it has passed.
