Thoughts of a minibus traveller

by Vidyaratha Kissoon The young man of Indian origins who dances said he would have had no problem dancing at the Inauguration/Independence celebrations if he had been asked. He thinks that other members of his troupe might have had difficulty since they believed the event was more APNU/politics rather than about national independence. They have been avoiding events since before the elections which were partisan designed as cultural. Some of the persons who talked about the inauguration celebrations made direct and passing references to ‘lack of ethnic diversity. One young man on social media noted that he “was saddened by, is that far less than 1% of the people that made up that 20,000+ crowd were East Indian. Sad why? Because they are reported to be the largest ethnic group in Guyana.” Another woman who could pass for East Indian and who campaigned for APNU+AFC wrote about ‘expecting at least to have seen a bit of me  on the stage”, while other persons n...

The bird built its nest almost the same place that the previous nest was built. I was consumed by anxiety, what if the bird died, what would happen to the baby birds? One morning there was something looking like two embryos on the concrete. The mother bird comes back with food for the baby birds who are now growing. There are three in the nest and I have a feeling that one is bigger than others. So birth, death, life all in the space  between floor and beams.. trying not to bad-eye the baby birds and also letting go of anxiety. I have no green finger and I have lost the  battle with the 'garden' which needs work like so many other things. There are a lot of reasons for this and the energy in fighting with the garden and its owner is too much. Gardening could be creative I know from many persons who have gardens. This lily though, I thought had died out. It has not flowered for a year. It takes a few days.. the bud appears, then it opens.. and stays open for a couple ...

Kim was managing the small restaurant for her aunt. She had moved to Kamarang from Georgetown to be closer to her husband who is from Jawalla. My teeth have gone out of sync so chewing is not as it should be. Kim cooked roti and baigan choka, which was made more delicious by watching the watery sun going down behind a hill.    Yeah, I know that I should have had cassava bread - but one night we had boil and fry cassava which was easier to mash with tongue, cheek and the few teeth which are still aligned. Kim's interaction with her customers is 10-star, the mix of hospitality and marketing and responsibility for the well being of all her customers. There are many persons in Guyana who are like her. She at 26 years of age is  inspirational - reminding me of Rohit the young man who weeds starting at 5:30 am and works every day including holidays once the work is there. Watery sun set in Kamarang After a rough few days in Georgetown, after elections, there ...

De light headed ness after de elections finish plus de joint which roll wid de fake SOP just had me floating off again tinking, if I was a Queen interviewing de President who is a very very busy man and since like de weed mix wid grass which come out of de fertile Georgetown drains and fall off BK truck, I find myself asking questions and imagining what de perfect answers would be from de President Me :  Your Excellency, Mr/Cde President, thank you for your time. Firstly, I must apologise for the smell. For this special interview, I opened the prize cologne  which was given to me for being 15th runner up in the intelligence segment and it seems as though the pageant organisers bought Abon instead Avon. What I imagine de perfect answer from de president would be: It is good to be here. I have been been so busy meeting key stakeholders like diplomats, gold miners and so on that I am glad to meet some ordinary special folks like yourself. In fact, speaking of ordina...

by Vidyaratha Kissoon The woman pulled me aside after mandir and said “I hope you will continue to be as strong in your protest”. She had voted for Ramotar . I told her that if there are issues to protest about I hope to continue doing so. I also said if she had any she should do so and I will join her. I asked her about whether it was possible for standing up for rights without standing up for bheri. She repeated “I hope to see you protesting as much in the future” The 202,694 Guyanese voters who voted for PPP/C might have to learn from Godfrey Bess from Vreed En Hoop. He is one of the first protestors since the elections. While other citizens have been claiming land and marking their spots, Mr Bess has a grievance which is about conflicts with central, regional and local government administration and not about political parties. Another man told me “I feel sorry bad. I aint know wha’ gun happen. I give Ramotar me vote” He was coming to terms with w...

by Vidyaratha Kissoon Guyana’s democracy continues to emerge and emerge and emerge as seen during the days after May 11, 2015. The tension was high. And as post colonial history has shown, lurking in the middle of this flat social effervescence (think expired epsom salts with red bull) was the bemused post-colonial subjec t , the white man taking refuge from the motherland because revolution and rubbish make for better living than rolling countryside and civilisation. We go back to gaff with William Walker, the man who has found that selling bake and salt fish is a more viable and sustainable way of earning a living than that noble, much maligned profession, journalism. Coil :  How did you pass the elections? Did you vote? What was the experience like? How much bake and salt fish did you sell? WW: I am happy to report that we remained open as per normal hours. We are happy that customers came and we offered good quality service. We are open every day and we ...

(17 May is commemorated as "International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia ", a day for the Worldwide Celebration of Sexual and Gender Diversities ) Quincy McEwan of Guyana Trans United was happy on Saturday 16 May, 2015. Quincy was relieved that there was going to be a change.. the Bishop who approved of "gays on an island" was no longer a Minister. The GTU had mobilised its members to vote. They had different political parties. According to Cracey Fernandes, another member  of GTU, the trans went out in their numbes and "voted like a boss" Quincy did not dress up too much, in case there were problems with matching the appearance on the ID Card. Other trans who voted, said they had no problems with anybody telling them anything. One trans from a rural community said it was no problem dressing normally with makeup and clothes as she normally did. The polling agent was from the village and was able to verify the identification for ...

Some recent exchanges and experiences had me thinking again of how people connect to each other and disconnect from each other.  As I got older and my mental health issues required me to work on self care rather than on managing relationships with people who I think behave in contradiction to their values, I had to readjust to being useful. I look at being useful as being a milder, perhaps less selfish form of helping . Usefulness to me means having some direct contact with a person who has some need and then finding ways of fulfilling that need. Some of the things which I have learned about being useful are 1. Expect no reward , recognition and obligation It is sad that people lament 'being used' and also how much they or others have 'done' for xyz and there is no gratitude. One of the lessons for me in the last year as I have let go of any desire in terms of reward, recognition and obligation is that it becomes easier to focus on being useful rather tha...

People vex and disappointed that I did not vote and some people tell me that regardless of how much I complain in future, they would not listen. Some grudgingly say 'okay, I respect your choice' and I tell them , good lord NO NO.. do not respect my choice, I cannot promise to respect your choices in life either. In my mind valuing another person's humanity does not mean respecting their choices - I could understand why they make them but hell no, I do not have to respect them. The Ramayana is one of the Hindu epics which ends up in a triumph of "good over evil". The story roughly is that Ravana who was a great devotee of Lord Shiva ruled the world and his actions were evil, not dharmic. The people prayed for deliverance and there was a promise that Rama would be manifested.  There was no immediate striking down of Ravana. The epic continues through a series of stories all of which are to reflect dharma in different aspects of Rama's trials as he s...

I not praying for party to win or lose since I not voting but I pray for these things as people vote on Monday and results might announce on Thursday (2006 and 2011 experience but GECOM have two weeks ).. 1.  I pray that the children writing exams are not bothered with any extra stress caused by the tension of waiting for results 2. I pray the people w ho cuss up Sherlina in defence of their Minister who want to strip and slap women. I pray for the 'unrestrained supporters' of APNU+AFC and those who might have to deal with their lack of restraint. 3. I pray for the losers and the winners in the elections 4. I pray that I could manage my mental health over the next few days as I know tension causes some people to say the most bizarre things. I pray that I will also see nice things as well. I pray that I could try to help relieve the tension even though I want to lock myself away until I hear that the "results are accepted" 5. I give thanks for my coolie s...

By Vidya Kissoon The plantain chips lady who walks Brickdam after lunch probably had the most sales to the protesters the day bheri ramsarran was allegedly relieved of his duties by President Ramotar. The chips were warm and crisp – maybe from the sun. I think even the police bought some. People have been muttering about how crazy it is that Guyana imports plantain chips from Costa Rica, Trinidad and Suriname and it does not seem any is exported – not even in cocaine. Plantain chips are linked to our history of self reliance. Didn’t Rabbi Washington (American who came to Guyana during PNC days) make a  name with chips and fudge? There is something about how we trust our vendors – one clear plastic. No labels with any names or so of people to sue, no ingredients listed, no expiry date. Pure trust. Trust cannot be exported.  And the sour option cannot be exported either. And in front of the Ministry of Health which does it best to protect citizens from ba...

Yeah, I like special occasions for the excuse to bake cake. My mother said.. do a plain cake nah, and just put icing (I was contemplating chocolate cake and red velvet cup cakes and so on.. but well okay, is not for me alone). There is the family recipe handed down from the days when salt butter used to be washed in a tub and when people's recipes were about pinch of this and pinch of that and which I never get right because the mix always curdle and the cake sometimes falls in the middle. I did not want my mother to know that I was going to find something a bit more scientific. Discrete seeking on the internet. Then I found this one on the BBC from Delia Smith which looked good. Talked about 175g Flour and so.. and then found this from Delia Smith , which is supposed to be the same h talked about 115 g flour. I know there is something about equal weight of flour, butter and sugar but the other things like baking powder and eggs and so are supposed to be important. ...

The police guard from Parliament Buildings came and said to move the banner and we said, ow man, is just books, is not like a hammock or so and he said arite. I tell him to let that Clerk know is Vidya Kissoon. Image cropped from one by Sherlina Nageer Groundings started with Sherlina and me spreading books. She had her box of questions, I got more fancy and had hearts folded from a Sunday Chronicle with the questions stapled on. Two persons asked me whether the clippings had anything to do with the hearts and I said yes, it was taking bad news and trying to make good things and they smiled. Two school girls picked up two murder mysteries. I said, wait wait., How old are you? and one girl said 12 and the other girl said 10. The 12 year old said, don't worry " I watch Criminal Minds" and I mutter okay. Another school girl comes up, she is 12 and she finds a book and she says that in addition to voting, people could love their country by keeping the place ...

Breezy evening and the gray sky come out blue. Another weird couple of days and the moon is out and the feelings are low and there is no time to hide or cover up or get away. One of the yoga poses seems to make me low when I am finished and I get the idea that no, wait.. write.. about thanks, gratitude, happiness. It is elections and the headlines are ugly and I wonder about the reporters if their psyche is damaged from having to report so much crap. So prayers, gratitude to work instead of the despair for the bird that settle in the nest and watching me without flying away knowing the amazing woman writer who say that it is good that I write and I should keep writing the lil work opportunity that come and for all the work that comes and the ones which need fixing  resisting the urge to cancel the meeting on the holiday crappy chocolate cake which I keep saying I will never buy again and for oreo cookies being able to connect a woman I never met except on email with ...

by Vidyaratha Kissoon The young man  of Indian origins dances with a group and the Indian arrival celebrations usually have them busy. This year though, he and the group are conscious that they do not want to end up in political situations  and so he is not dancing. He is not sure if he is voting either. He also told me that he did not believe bheri ramsarran, the Minister of Health would have been fired if it was not elections. A woman of Indian origins who first told me of the firing also said that this was just elections gimmicks. She might not vote either. President Ramotar apparently is remorseful about the firing because he believes bheri was set up and provoked and taken out of context and all kinds of things.  A couple of the people of Indian origins have been condemning bheri and condemning Sherlina Nageer for being rude and disrespectful and so. So now President Ramotar has given them some nice language to use. 177 years after the arrival ...

The bird kept flying away. This is the third year in a row that a nest is in almost the same spot between the floor and the beam under the house.  It might not be the same bird in the same spot. It is nice though. I get anxious when the babies come and I hope that they will grow and fly away. A new nest because we clean up the old nests. It is nice to know that the birds like the spot. I want to take a picture but the bird flies away and quarrels and eventually I give up and let go of the desire to have the perfect picture. Letting go. In the middle of the madness, the recent times have had great news about people I love and who used to love me.  Watching the news and knowing that there are other stories behind the stories reported which would not be told, but all good news as well. Feeling proud of the loved ones but holding back because of the various restraining orders - some of them intermittent-  which came at the end of connections/friendships/loveships/ w...