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Showing posts from May, 2013

Imagination, resilience and living in Guyana

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This bush near my yard.. as a child I would have looked at it and imagined it was a magical forest with all kinds of possibilities. As an adult though, it is an eyesore which needs clearing into a nice orderly thing which might not inspire exploration. So as we live in Guyana, we have to find back that imagination of the absurd if only to overcome the unimaginable absurdities which already exist - whether in the police denying that they torture Chaka James (would they have admitted to it?) or in the silencing of the young middle class professionals who receive messages that 'the Government does not have confidence in them' so their clients have to find alternatives. Therapy is expensive in Guyana - the quotations I received start at 50US an hour, and the other more experienced person said US175 for an initial diagnosis and then US100 on average for follow up sessions. It is therefore cheaper to be mad.. and to look at the bush and see a forest.. and probably look at

Loving homophobes on IDAHOT 2013

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(Edited 17 May, 2016  ) Friday May 17th was International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia and it was a good time to reflect on the love I feel for all the homophobes around me. Just as sexual orientation and gender identity and so on are on spectra, I realised, that shoots, all my homophobic lovers are also on a spectrum too and since I have nowhere to go in life.. I thought of this nice spectrum.. from White to Deep Pink.   White is the symbol of purity we hear.. so the purest homophobe is the Crusader Homophobe. The crusader is out to preserve morality and family values, and normalcy.  Some will beat up gay men and rape lesbians, or chase them out of the way. Some Crusader Homophobes will chase out homosexuals and those who defend them..and Fyah Bun is a frequent call of the righteous Crusader. Responding to a crusader homophobe with love is different, because throwing flowers from a safe distance is more difficult than pelting back stones. The Victim Homophobe

Dear SASODomites, friends, enemies and frenemies of the LGBT movement in Guyana

Dear SASODomites, friends, enemies and frenemies of the LGBT movement in Guyana Twice in the last week I had the painful experience of looking into and looking way from the scornful eyes of a former loved one, When relationships end, initial feelings of grief, relief, lightness, despair sometimes give way to a desire for a closure which could help to motivate persons forward. And so it has been with SASOD.  I resigned last June , dealt with the grief and celebrated being civil with those whose views on accountability, trust and respect were different from mine. The Bhagavad Gita says we should not become attached to the fruits of our actions. I gradually let go of the hopes and dreams I had for SASOD and the LGBT movement in Guyana , easier than it has been to let go of the hope for a peaceful reconciliation with the former loved one . But the recent events - resignations, cuss outs - public and private, and other discoveries have drawn me in and in mourning

Nrityageet 34

I was in two minds whether to go. The last two years, I have left during the intermission. The Shah family put on their 34th production. It was better than the 30th,31st, 32nd and 33rd.  There is something to be celebrated that a family found a unique way to celebrate the 5 May - by putting on a dance production which was well supported by the population changed. The Cultural Centre was 1/3 full tonight. It has been like that for a while. I don't know if the Bollywood imports for Sunday night are taking away from Nrityageet. The stage looked nice at the beginning. The props of mountain, trees, two arches, and a projected image at the back. Except that they never moved the props even when the props were not appropriate for the dances, and the projected images were repeated so then became distractions. Nrityageet is wonderful because they aim to have local content.. Guyanese dancers from all over  and then treats like the Guyana Ramleela group. Something is wrong though in t