Thoughts of a minibus traveller

Indus Voices is a group of musicians and singers led by Amar Ramessar who want to promote the classical Indian musical traditions. This was their first public live production. The programme started off with the powerful rendition of " Ekadantaya Vakratundaya" and continued with an amazing repertoire of nostalgic and contemporary film music, sufi renditions, ghazals, qawali and 'folk music' music with tribute to Baita/Chutney/Chatney. The accompanying musicians included players of tabla and dholak from India, djembe from Africa and a wooden drum from China. The five singers and the musicians kept the music flowing through the different genres. Hard work must always be praised and in a country which is increasing the import of talent and not nurturing local talent, Raagas n Rhythm is a tribute to the artistes who are committed to their work and to development of their craft. I was looking forward to the segment on the Sufi music - because even with Youtu...

The only thing a lot of us know about Haiti is that in many instances, were it not for Haiti, Guyana would be the worst place in the Caribbean. And that Haiti is supposed to be a pretty depressing place with voudou. A minority of us might know about the Haitian revolution and so on, but it does not mean much to those of us who are not really interested in revolting. Mark Jacobs was born and raised in Guyana and went to live and work in Haiti and this book of 17 pieces of writing show insights into Haiti which might still leave us not having any different views of Haiti. This is probably the first book ever written by a Guyanese about their own travels in the Caribbean (and the diaspora) - and it is refreshing that Mark Jacobs seeks to put this Guyanese visitor gaze on Haitian life. So often people have come to Guyana and written about their time here, that it is a relief to see this reversed gaze (One day we might get best sellers who return to India and to United Kingdom an...

Image taken from Smithsonian Magazine Last week two men chatted with me. One is 25, the other a week short of 25. Both are Guyanese. Both are law abiding, sensible, ambitious men. Both are gay. I want to write about them to honour them but I hate that I have to use Letters which are not their names to do so. So I will call one H, and the other one P. H lives on the East Coast of Demerara. Almost every day since the beginning of this year, H has been sending me nice messages.. pleasant good mornings on Facebook, and the kind of things. H on his Facebook posts is always positive. I chatted with H. He told me he had met me a long time ago at the SASOD Film Festival. P I had met a few years ago but know slightly. P is ambitious, self made man but I never heard his story until last week. He too has always struck me as positive and working on his goals. H is Black. P is Indian. H has been studying and working, since high school. He has been open to different kinds of jobs. He sa...

The email from the University of Birmingham alumni office triggered a flood of random memories from more than 20 years ago. And I remembered Bryony.  She was the first person to make pappadums for me. In addition to the congratulations, many of the people gave me the nudge nudge wink wink thing about going to England and finding a white woman (or women).  Bryony was the first white woman who invited me to her place. So September 1990, I was lost in the large University of Birmingham freshers week.. out of place as someone who "looked Indian and sounded Caribbean", who was older than most of the freshers, and who was not homesick but was excited about meeting and finding out about all kind of things and was not interested in getting drunk. Bryony was handling two of the desks at the Freshers Fair.. one of them was the Lesbian and Gay Society, and the other about safety. She heard my accent and started asking me where I was from. I was learning that not all British spo...

My heart is feeling warm and fuzzy, my eyes teared up at one or two scenes and my skin is feeling itchy. Coolie pictcha pun de big screen. Astor Cinema does not normally show Indian films. But Jab Tak Hain Jaan, Yash Chopra's last film and the latest Shah Rukh is supposed to be a hit. So 2pm. Yep, Astor. Fans working. Breeze blowing through the vent. No lights inside. Seats, most of them working.. and still comfortable. But the mind works overtime.. there are supposed to be bugs. Astor never enforced their no smoking policy. So in the box in front , a guy lights up. In the old days, the large windows apparently used to be opened until picture time. Now they seemed to be sealed shut.. they probably would fall out. I remember hearing the 'clap' clap in Liberty when they used to close the louvres. As your eyes adjust to the darkness DO NOT STICK CHEWING GUM ON THE SEATS DO NOT PUT YOUR FEET ON THE SEATS No plaintain chips. But, nuts and cheez stix.  T...

The Clerk of the Committee Special Select Committee On Guyana’s Commitment To The United Nations Human Rights Council With Regard To The Abolition Of Corporal Punishment In The Schools, The Abolition Of The Death Penalty And The Decriminalization Of Consensual Adult Same Sex Relations And Discrimination Against Lesbians, Gays, Bi-Sexual And Transgender Persons (Resolution No. 23 Of 2012) Committees Division Parliament Office Public Buildings Georgetown   Dear Sir/Madam Re : Submission on the attitude of Guyanese, especially parents and children, to corporal punishment and its possible abolition; We are writing as grassroots women who are mothers and grandmothers of school-age children, and who also work with Red Thread and its networks. Both in our own homes and in Red Thread, an organisation which promotes the welfare and rights of women and children, we are familiar with the trials of both parenting and teaching. In the case of corporal...

[this is reposted here  The Clerk of the Committee Special Select Committee On Guyana’s Commitment To The United Nations Human Rights Council With Regard To The Abolition Of Corporal Punishment In The Schools, The Abolition Of The Death Penalty And The Decriminalization Of Consensual Adult Same Sex Relations And Discrimination Against Lesbians, Gays, Bi-Sexual And Transgender Persons (Resolution No. 23 Of 2012) Committees Division Parliament Office Public Buildings Georgetown   Dear Sir/Madam Re : Submission on the attitude of Guyanese, especially parents and children, to corporal punishment and its possible abolition; As an organization committed to the welfare of women and children in particular, Red Thread stands against violence in all its forms. We fully support this piece by Bonita Harris, submitted previously in 2007. It addresses corporal punishment both in the home and the school. Please note that the reason it quotes only t...

[This was written as a letter to the Editor and published in Kaieteur News of 14 March, 2013 and Stabroek News of 14 March, 2013 . My mother said it was a good letter  and another woman called to say she wants to marry me ] Dear Editor The country seems to be unsure about what policing is about, and what kinds of accountability should be demanded from the Minister of Home Affairs. Over the last 12 months, we have witnessed police involvement in the killing of Ron Somerset, Shemroy Bouyea,  Ivan Lewis, Shaquille Grant and Dameon Belgrave. We have seen the police beat Ms Price and her son in Marudi, and seen this happen in the presence of citizens and public servants. The Linden Commission of Inquiry has included some comments about the reform needed in policing much as other initiatives have done over the years. In 1964, Minister Janet Jagan resigned as Minister of Home Affairs after the failure of the police to protect the victims of the riots and the 19...

"Being Different " by Rajiv Malhotra is an important book for all Hindus who live in societies which are heavily influenced by Judeo-Christian beliefs and ethics. According to the book's website , "This book addresses the challenge of direct and honest engagement on differences, by reversing the gaze, repositioning India from being the observed to the observer and looking at the West from the dharmic point of view. In doing so it challenges many hitherto unexamined beliefs that both sides hold about themselves and each other. It highlights that unique historical revelations are the basis for western religions, as opposed to dharma’s emphasis on self-realization in the body here and now. It describes the integral unity that underpins dharma’s metaphysics and contrasts this with western thought and history as a synthetic unity. The west’s anxiety over difference and fixation for order runs in contrast with the creative role of chaos in dharma...

The Clerk of the Committee Special Select Committee On Guyana’s Commitment To The United Nations Human Rights Council With Regard To The Abolition Of Corporal Punishment In The Schools, The Abolition Of The Death Penalty And The Decriminalization Of Consensual Adult Same Sex Relations And Discrimination Against Lesbians, Gays, Bi-Sexual And Transgender Persons (Resolution No. 23 Of 2012) Committees Division Parliament Office Public Buildings Georgetown Dear Sir/Madam Re : Submission on the attitude of Guyanese, especially parents and children, to corporal punishment and its possible abolition; My name is Vidyaratha Kissoon . I am Guyanese. I have been beaten as a child and have witnessed other children being beaten. I taught in a secondary school for one year and during that year, I beat a child upon the request of the Headmistress. I used to think that it was okay to beat children. Thanks to the Guyanese who are working against domestic violence and child abuse, my ...

The day is hot and humid. Warming drinks though .. on a hot and humid day are good. The spirit is low , the body cannot stretch to do the yoga to raise the spirits. Mind races.. and reminders of the childhood things which are not overcome.. the cussing up again about the broken marriage; the reminders about the health crises. Forget the spirit says.. no regrets the friend says.. none so every moment which is a reminder. There is extra ginger in the lemon and ginger tea. I had stolen this or taken this from a tea buffet at some work shop somewhere. Add milk, not usual for herbal tea, but with sugar. There is some breeze and something about this ginger which warms as it soothes.  The moments are past.  I try to invoke a kind of forgetting.. an artist said that Alzheimer's must be something when you completely forget everything and can only live in the exact moment starting life every second again. No regrets. Letting go. An exchange results in an tears which are bi...

"What's a revolutionary to do when there are no revolutions? How to overthrow the state when no one else is inclined to do so" These and other deep and meaningful sentiments are expressed by the characters in Eating Air, a story which goes over time between South America,the Middle East and Europe Eating Air is centred around a group of radicals in the 1970's who disband after they are caught up and then meet up thirty or so years later, trying to reclaim the spirit of attacking the system. Amongst the group is Donny who stands for nothing and is against everything . The satire is incisive.. and the twists and turns are funny as the characters act in character and out of character. Pauline Melville in a discussion had said she was interested in who was labelled terrorist and the story looks at terrorism and the definitions of terrorism.  There is random violence, planned violence, and then violence in unexpected places. The book is worth reading.