Thoughts of a minibus traveller

  "Is what dey had at .." the taxi man asked me.  Driver from reliable taxi service. Car is old. Man looks old, cap, copper bangle on his left hand. Car not too far left of the road as bright lights seem to blind the man and car seem to move left then right.   Driver talked as some do, he used to work in the printing industry.  I explained that it was a gathering, a British photographer doing something with old time photo processing plates and so. Taxi man said he would have liked to see that.   Truth was, I could not really explain what dey had because I do not know the technical language of photography. or Art. But I like going to things I know nothing about to push my boundaries. Uncomfortable white man The British photographer is white, a film maker doing photography.   Working collaboratively with a Black woman descended from Guyana. They share the same surname. Mal Woolford and Charlotte Woolford live in the same neighbourhood in the UK , their children had attended t

Wash out  "He stap write.. dem get wash out" the older man shouted , his normal tone of voice is loud and he might have a hearing problem.  Nice evening breeze in the hot dry season. We are waiting to go into a religious function - the host, the man and me. I can't say anything really about how we get wash out, respect for old people, and respect for the host who had said he hadn't seen any of my letters in the papers.  I look at the cigarette pack in the man's shirt pocket. The older man is an outlier, more physically active than me, and devout believer of Jagdeo and the PPP and Sanatan Dharma, cigarette smoke seems to preserve him. The warning against cigarettes and the gruesome image of diseased body parts facing outwards, not softened by the cloth.   Yep, replying could be dangerous to my health , as I might create negative energies and so on and we going into a religious function. The man's devotion to the PPP is sincere, the man doesn't seem to hav

   Alcohol "When them man finish 'ooraway dhoor' (pick up the ashes the Phagwah morning after the Holika fire ), they walk around the village and sing chowtaal.. and every house, them a get a bottle of bush rum, dem time was bush rum" the man explained to me as we talked about alcohol and Phagwah. Some Hindu organisations ask that Phagwah stay free from alcohol, but some devout Hindus and others will celebrate with alcohol.   The Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha has led in trying to make Phagwah and Hindu lives alcohol free One evening after a chowtaal session, Pandit Rajin Balgobind recounted the story of Raja Parikshit and Kali (the asura, not the goddess). Kali, 'evil' resided in four places (and gold) - the place where there was gambling, where there was 'immoral relations between men and women', the places where there was violence; and the places where there was alcohol .  Other Pandits have reminded Hindus and others that Phagwah/Holi is as sacred as

Thanks Esther for the photo Rivers  "Mr Kissoon, you arite..." the boat captain asks me as I decide to be one with the river and not be afraid of it. I say yeah man.. I more concerned that he is arite because if the captain is not arite then we will not be arite no matter how much my soul and the river are intertwined. Leap year and after years of working from the comfort of home , where commuting is clicking on keys in house clothes.. Universe says get  off your flattened ... and get on the rivers to go to work. And so I have to say yes to the fear, and yes to the work and I go on the rivers in the first months of the leap year.  Dressed to protect from water spray but knowing really that  should the water embrace me fully there will be no protection except to swim.. which I can't do. But respecting the river seems to ease the discomfort of not being able to swim in the river. And to enjoy the river, the smooth and the rough, the bamboo and other plants on the banks.. an

  Walking with the 18 year old survivor 8pm or so, some drizzles in the night. The 18 year old tells her story. She was working with her friends. The man who is a powerful man in the village came up behind her, slapped her , took away the phone. She had ended the relationship with him. The man had started to contact her when she was under 16. He has 'spoiled other girl children' Her friend brought her on advice of a village leader.  The 18 year old says she will make a report, since the police cannot do anything unless a report is made. We feel that she is certain and understands the process. Even as she knows that he has paid off other persons he has attacked. My colleagues and I go, walking with the 18 year old and her friend. Rain drizzles a bit more. For the first time, I use the umbrella I bought- swag for the commemoration of the rebuilding of the Ram Ayodhya mandir in India. Ram returning to Ayodhya, Ram is not here though in the village. Her friend turns back at the s

  Writing...   "Keep writing" I tell the woman who sent me the links to the news stories about the Attorney General saying Venezuela using the criticisms of oil as part of their arsenal and to the stories about the General Secretary of the PPP saying they will be going after social media influencers and so who want to divide Guyana. As though Guyana not already divided and cut up into pieces and segments which keep merging and joining from time to time for various things while splintering into other things as sometimes the stronger pieces push aside the weaker pieces and so on.  I have a thing left over from 2023 to write and then four other things to write before the first month.. but I been busy reading cozy mysteries and watching junk TV and I push everything to 'next' week when deadlines due.   And then I see the sunset coloured mango on the grass...  First mango first..   Weather dry and blossoms not turning into fruit like they used to. I see the tree has like