Thoughts of a minibus traveller

Good day to you friends on the Human Rights Council, and to hell with you from Canada, UK and the USA .. what? camera? No, please turn off the cameras  and microphones because the last time I was here in May, my presentation was misinterpreted in Guyana. Fortunately, no one cared enough so I am here again. First of all, - yes my breath stinks damn it because I needed a cigarette before coming here,  I want you to note that Guyana has sent a minority woman here to show how progressive we are on human rights. Yes, it is true that other minority women are abused as domestics.. but we deal appropriately with the abusers, in that we allow them to be abusive but not in the presence of the domestics. Minorty, well I am of Portuguese origin, I am an active member of the ruling party (not many portuguese are in the ruling party, or in Guyana for that matter) and I have a kind of Canadian/British/American accent which I have not lost - oops yes, I know I sound like those unfriendly...

Willi Chen is a Trini painter and businessman and this is one of the few collections of short stories from the Caribbean by a descendant of Chinese immigrants to the Caribbean. I like short stories, and I looked forward to reading this recent collection after reading Sections of an Orange , Fictions and Krik? Krak! . Trini short stories for me meant Miguel Street, so I was looking forward to more of the same. This edition has a Foreword by Ken Ramchand which gives a history and some context to the stories. The stories are more or less set around the sugar estates, with one or two of them set near the capital. So, I read the stories. So a good thing generally, Trini culture is used as the back drop - language, taboos, behaviour, ethnic issues , stickfighting, cock fighting, drug trade, wife beating, suicide, etc. In The Stickfighter, we read of wife abuse ; as we do in Girl from Bastahall and Lalloo's Wrath . The theme runs through a few other stories. The Curse of Ma...

Comrades I continue to make you happy and to ensure that your livelihoods are good and that there is enough perfume in the country to cover the sour smells. First, I want to thank CLICO for that mistake and putting things in jeopardy.. how else would I have been able to show my benevolence to all of you? Second, when it comes to questions, please do not raise your hands because I do not want to smell anybody arm pit. I will select who I want to ask me questions to avoid any sour smells. Look at you, some of you did not vote for me.. and yet you are happier today than at any time in your life. The PNC/C has never achieved this at any time in their rule, well when Hoyte brought back flour and dhal maybe. Comrades, like you, I am fed up with the sour smelling people. Some of you have complained that in the minibus, you have to  sit next to sour smelling people. Some of you have the same problem in the rum shop, some of you have the same problem when you are in the lines ...

People been asking.. is why you still in Guyana? What got you in Guyana? and I see people asking each other the question and I stammer in response because I not sure what to stay.. I mean, why is anybody anywhere? Sometimes people ask the question with the kind of '' you poor thing.." or 'you could have been doing so well in Canada, America, or somewhere 'else'..  and I feel like a five year old to say.. I am here because you think I should not be here but be where you wanted me to be.. This Guyana, this 'nation born of treachery', is what the rass I doin' hey.. and I think through these answers .. I deh hey because they have people who want me to leave from here and I am showing them I can stay here.. I deh hey because I am a sucker for attention, and now and then I get lil bit.. an even if is of de kin' like de snocone man who say.. you name Omar, I say no, he say 'what ur name' , I say vidya kissoon, he say'' oh you d...

The lecturer's wallpaper projected on the screen - it had Jesus Jesus tiled all over. The other lecturer who is also a pastor said that in saying the opening prayers, he had to be conscious of the University's ruling about no denominational prayers in the class rooms.. or as he said, he had to say the prayer without saying Jesus.. I said yes to Dr Paloma Mohammed to do the online journalism laboratory facilitation - because I cannot say no to her firstly, and if I had any stupid thought of making a lil raise from it, well yeah, a lil raise sounded good when i was not sure where my income was coming from. The Gita talks about renouncing oneself from the fruits of the labour.. and so, after renouncing myself from the money.. I realised what pulled me back to say yes this year. At the orientation for the communication students, after the prayer which was not a prayer, there was a spirit in the heat and stuffiness, with all the 'bad' things of the university, not enough...

"I am afraid of dogs" - the woman with whom I had a long interesting conversation with told me. We were at the gate of the nice people she was staying with, in Queenstown. I looked out of the car window and say a black labrador doberman looking thing which was snapping at her.. and I thought, oh good lord, not that i friken dawg, but .. I am not really a dog lover. But, I did the gentlemanly thing and come out.. and we open the gate.. and then the dog, like s/he take a liking to me, fortunately and start jumping up on me and I am playing with the dog ears and so on like I is one of dem who does min' nuff nuff dog and like dem bad bad. Is a strange thing , this universe. I know plenty people who love dogs, always have to have at least one around.. another friend told me she had 13 at one time. I never liked them.. but for some reason, dog like me.. This lady in England had these massive setters, and one particular one who was blind in one eye used to jump on me and r...

The bus driver was cussing up loud, she ... sk.**t, and the conductor was going eh heh, eh heh. I was the only passenger.. the driver turn to me and say that . you know, some man does have woman in dey house who is krass.. I look back wid bland face.. the man cuss up, leh she s..t tek the same taxi fuh come back dat she tek fuh lef.. i aint want nuttin;.. The man had the pictures of Durga and Laxmi behind his steering wheel. I paid the fare, and as I was coming out I said man, instead of cussing the woman, why you don't just tell the woman 'ram ram' and leh she guh lang she way, that you are not in such desperate need of her that you have to hold on to her. I said that woman you cussing is the manifestation of the Durga and laxmi behind the steering wheel. The man faced look shock.. and then he smile.. he seh arite arite.. I was scared that he might have ripped the pictures down as well I watch how Ansa Mcal use Konshens and two women to push the idea of possession, ...

My four year old nephew called to tell me that October was my birthday. I told him that Thursday (today) is Lord Krishna birthday and he ask me, who is Lord Krishna? I was stumped so I did the Uncle thing (when the nephews and nieces get too troublesome and hand back to the parents..) and said to him.. ask your father.. he said that 'daddy bathing'... and it was back to me.. and I said "Lord Krishna is God" and changed the subject quickly because early morning on the phone is not the time to explain to a four year old about 'who is God'. (Arite, I know, those righteous amongst you will ask when is the right time then, but well.. ) Lord Krishna means so many things for so many people, very different things sometimes. Lord Krishna reveals himself in the Bhagvad Gita so depending on which translation you reading, there could be some nuances in who he be (as he reveals himself in chapter 10) Tonight is Janamashtmee My mother said when she was growing up it w...