Thoughts of a minibus traveller

Some nights when the night is cold, and you wake up and hug up the pillows.. like last night.. you think and dream of all those who you wish were with you. I have been lucky.. I always thought I was sensible and that I am a  sleep alone, on my back kind of man but there have been times.. Pillow talk.. realising that sometimes when you actually are together you talk less than when at 1,2,3 in the morning, you increasing the phone companies' profits. The pillow, hugging up the pillow as you talk the unending nonsense on the phone. I wish you were here.. with me now.. what are you wearing (the shorts with the hole which too comfortable to throw away).. Sometimes.. the beep beep which lets you know -- the battery going and then one of you realise that you do not have the charger.. or.. the stern woman.. 'you only have one minute remaining' and nobody could get credit at 230am... Pillow Talk.. when you cuddling up the pillow.. and talking with the beloved, because the bel...

The favourite one, with all the conversions.. buttermilk, self raising flour, making three times the icing because two not enough to make the layered cake

Dedicated to  Balica Romana George, Joy Millicent Blanchard, and Daniel John Blanchard .  Their father is charged for killing them. Their neighbours, on hearing one of the children asking "daddy, how you could do this to we?” did nothing because they thought their father was beating them (part of the supposedly healthy and happy family life of many Guyanese). The Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children is doing a global consultation to inform its strategic planning. Belize has become one of the countries in the Caribbean to outlaw the beating of children in schools. The Global Initiative is working on law reform in other Caribbean countries. There have been recent conversations about the beating of children which continue to show how neighbours and others would ignore when children are in crisis. Recently, a young doctor told me that she will not fill out a police medical form for a child who had been beaten by her mother. The child had come into ...

I discovered this week, that it is possible to have a rich chocolate milk shake (or a chocolate sundae) while being detached from the world. The Red Cherry Cafe is on the second floor of City Mall. The staff are friendly. There is a nice selection of sandwiches, pastries, milk shakes and sundaes. Some of the sundaes are designed for two people and for four people.. I have not tried them as yet but intend to do so when on the next binge. City Mall invokes this feeling in me that I am too old to be there and that I should be about 18 years old waiting on some date or something. When I went to City Mall to visit Red Cherry Cafe the first time, someone called me  and asked if I was not "too big to be going in deh'. I mumbled something about going to buy credit. and nothing about the ice cream thing. So.. after braving the young crowds.. I found a nice place to go indulge my weakness for ice cream and for people watching. There are to small 'balcony' spaces.. and it wa...

The discussion was to start at 430pm at The Coffee Bean . I saw a Hindu girl I knew in the corner, exchanged Ram Ram with her. When I told her about the atheist discussion and film, she raised her eyebrows at me. I told her.. with no authority.. that atheism (skepticism, enquiry) is allowed in Hinduism . I showed her the Richard Dawkins book 'The God Delusion' and she showed her friend who had on a badge with a picture of Jesus. He looked at the back of the book, and then said 'oh scientists' and gave me back the book. People started coming in. It was funny and interesting.. most of the people were from the Facebook group and had not met in person before even though they might have argued or agreed on different issues. One guy asked me at 450pm.. I thought you guys were starting at 430pm.. we said .. sorry, because we wanted to let people come. Later on he said he hoped to enjoy his coffee and sandwich while watching the film. Next time we will start on time. Ano...

The revolution has become tedious and boring and it no longer provides the excitement and the rush. The revolution is now down to budgets, and indicators and project reports and to bank statements which are not being delivered and to people who are not doing the work they were never meant to be doing. Instead of drafting emails with statements and letters to the editors and to people, the cyberspace.. once the place which birthed the revolution.. is now a place to quarrel and argue and to refer to contracts and to terms of reference. The revolution has moved from the streets.. to offices in which some people want to sit in Executive Chairs behind Executive Desks and be called Executive Directors... Sir in some places.. the revolution for some is now an excellent opportunity for chairs and those desks and maybe a laptop to go with it. Work which used to be done for free now has to be paid for. The mad people who got together to say yes.. to kick off the revolution and to terror...

A few weeks ago an amazingly talented woman I know told me that she went to the psychiatrist - for depression - and he gave her some mild tablets. I was shocked.. it was a week of a lot of people tripping out, including me, and I put it down to the full moon.  Another woman then shared her story of coming off of her medications - an accident when she was on a weekend away from home and did not have them with her.  Stories which would not make the media. Today is Mental Health Day. Guyana media is focussed on the PPP Kitty Rally (madness and insanity is how one friend described the President's rantings against the media and the opposition). I like the f ocus in the Guardian UK which gives different aspects of mental health stories . There are no organisations in Guyana set up to deal with mental health and I hope to do so at some point Since coming out with my own mental health problems , I believe I have done well in managing them. There are still times when the depre...

"Hey.. do you want a drop down.. I going your way"... driver .. intimate from the past.. who had abruptly cut out when something changed .. and sent messages once a year which said 'hi and bye, busy busy' Me.. "Nah,  I want to tek a walk in the sun" It hit me today.. as I enjoyed the walk in the sun , how friendships and acquaintances and facebook frenz evolve and how things change as we grow older. I used to think that once I made a friend.. that there would be some kind of contact and that there would be some knowledge that even after long periods, there would be time to connect and continue without any expectations and just have laffs. I wondered if I am childish in the 'best friend/no longer best friend' switches.. but then I hear from other  guys of friendships which ended.. sometimes for unknown reasons, or for arguments, or through distance, change of work, change of religion, change of partner. As adults, they also feel concerned (s...

The latest abuse of power by President Jagdeo is in the closing down of the CNS 6 TV Station for four months. This period includes the elections. Media operatives, political parties and other organisations have called for protests and vigils. The TV Station is being sued for comments aired on one of its programmes against Mr Edghil. Mr Edghill has sued the station for libel. Some persons believe that the penalty is excessive, others believe there should be no penalty. Others believe that the timing is political since the CNS 6 gives voice to a range of people who have no access to other TV stations. The owner of CNS 6, Mr Sharma is an icon for many in Guyana. His TV programming has given voice to many poor people and has highlighted many of the injustices faced by people. His TV programming has also been used to cuss up other groups in the society - Help & Shelter used to come in as a target. Mr Sharma is also in court , on charges of child sexual abuse. Our justice system...

(This was edited and published in Stabroek News ) The Hindu season of Navratra is a good time to reflect on how we are doing as a people in building a society in which we understand the equality between women and men . Many of our ancestors used to think of God, the Divine Creator as Mother, and Hindus continue to honour the feminine energy in Navratra and Diwali . In some of our histories, , God turned masculine, became 'He' and things turned for the women - and those who revered the feminine learnt to despise and oppress the manifestations of that Mother while worshipping the Mother. The legacy is that we live in a place in which women and girls are subject to abuse and violence from men and boys who believe that there is some 'natural' or even 'divine' right to put down and humiliate women in different ways. In the last week, two groups of women, one group younger than the other, spoke of the verbal harassment on the road. One girl talked of...