Thoughts of a minibus traveller

by Vidyaratha Kissoon “You want sour pun it” the woman asked me. The plantain chips were in a clear plastic bag, knotted at the top. There were no labels, no made on date nor exp date. I said no to the sour because sour decreases the crunch. The chips were thin, almost transparent. The woman is selling on a spot which once had a funeral parlour. There is a food van behind her. Grilled food. The funeral parlour in those days only had freezers. No one bothers now. Some of the bags had small pieces, like shards of yellow glass, from the movement and packing and so. The chips crumbled in the mouth, easy on the misshapen teeth and gums. Fragility in plantain chips is good. Fragility in plantain chips is an art, a desired outcome. Fragility though, is not desired in governance. The Camp Street Avenue has a small arch near Middle Street. The Sustainable Development Goals form the arch. People are passing under the arch and not bothering to stop and read. ...

om mitrāya namaḥ (ॐ मित्राय नमः) Night has been restless. It has been nice and cold. I had sent a message which I had not sent. They say to let go of the past and not let it hold you back but then it keeps coming back. Gray skies outside. Place is cold nice. It is early morning. I wish I could just lie there for a long time, in the kind of cold semi dark. Another part of me , remembers the guy from the past who got up quickly and was able to get into Surya Namaskar. I get up.  I face the east.   Body is in the pain and even though I know the loosening stretches will not help, I get ready. I say the prayers. Prayers help a man told me when he asked who I was and I told him how I was. I don't pray for help or anything. I am supposed to work on those things. I usually pray that no matter what, that I could  be in a position to be useful and helpful to others. There is a nice chill breeze coming through the window. Palms should be flat on the floor.  My fin...

Feeling a bit uncertain as I look at the faded recipe for the chocolate cak e which had been photocopied from the book.  It has been a year since I made the cake I think. The year has not been good, maybe because I have not made more of the cake. I have thought of making the cake  but could not find the mental energy to do so. As with many things which used to be easy, I am anxious about this, to get it right. There is a process. The first thing is to measure the milk, mix with some warm water and the vinegar to sour it  as a substitute for butter milk. Oil and line the pans The pans have to be oiled and lined with the grease proof paper. One of the pans has been around as long as I have. There is rust on it which I cover with the oil. It isn't really rust , more like a blemish. Cakes baked in this pan are usually good. The grease proof paper has to be cut - round for the base, and then a strip to put around the side of the pan. I never get the perfect circ...

by Vidyaratha Kissoon Dear President Granger A teacher beat a child on the Tuesday day before Diwali. The beating resulted in bruises on the child. The child cannot sit properly. There is a beautiful picture of some students sitting on the ground with you at the Diwali Utsav at State House . The child would not have been able to sit with you because eve though you had said t here is no place for corporal punishment in Guyana , nothing else has been done The school will not do anything though because the teacher, like so many other violent teachers, is “a good“ teacher. The parents who try to stop the beating often end up being penalised by those who think beating children is okay in a democratic society. It as though your good intentions are being undermined. The Minister of Education recently said there will no discrimination against LGBT persons . The Minister has not done anything to stop teachers from beating children. Guyana is proba...

by Vidyaratha Kissoon “What is the real date for Diwali?” the man on the phone asked. Guyana has been blessed with two dates for Diwali since Diwali 2015. There has not been much writing in the papers this year. Everybody seems resigned to the fact that Hindus are not ‘united’ in deciding their dates and will make do. The Government has declared the holiday as Wednesday 18 th October, 2017 based on the recommendations by some Hindu organisations. The Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sabha and others will celebrate on Thursday 19 th October, 2017. But why should it matter? According to one website about holidays in India , and talking about Diwali in India in 2017 “.. The most widespread holiday is 18 October, where Diwali is a holiday in Arunachal pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chandigarah, Goa, Himachal pradesh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Manipur, Meghalaya, Madhya pradesh, Nagaland, Odisha, Sikkim, Tamil nadu, Telangana, Uttarakhand. Diwali is celebrated on 19 October in ...

by Vidyaratha Kissoon ‘Da luv her chirren.. she must have tripped out.. “ a woman from Bath, St Thomas, Jamaica said to the media. Da was arrested after some bystanders recorded her beating her daughter. The bystanders shared the video on social media. Da’s community asked for mercy for Da. The women talking to the media told stories of their own experience of violence as children. In this confusion over what is child abuse, what is violence and how to respond, children are expected to thrive. There is mostly agreement that touching a child sexually deserves punishment. There is strong belief that beating a child to cause marks and shame deserves mercy, counselling or maybe even no response, but no punishment. A previous blog looked suggested the following goals for child protection :- Accepting that the Child is a person deserving of special protections Accepting that you can’t beat children while thinking you can stop sexual and othe...

Afternoon sun is hot and nice breeze is blowing. I had offered to go and deliver the book. I try to straighten my back and walk with long strides in the face of the sun and the breeze.  The morning I had looked at the bucket fulling with water and felt confused.. I couldn't do this but managed to get through . I heard the raised voices in quarrel which I had hoped never to witness again and I thought I could do this.. I could not listen.. I ignore but it didn't work and I kind of collapsed again. I go on the floor to do the stretch. There are pictures of the beautiful moon. It is a beautiful moon but I am not sure now if the October moon is slowing down things. I get a flash to write a crazy thing and then I wonder if I should. A man asks for numbers of therapists for a woman who is depressed and whose doctor gave her meds only after the meds she got from another doctor did not work I kind of stumble out some names.. not sure really . A man asks to do a short sessio...

"Whuh is de latest" the bus man asked. I had signalled it as it passed me. A beautiful kind of sunflower yellow. The dashboard is dark blue. The colour is the only thing really on the dash board. There are dusty holes where the sound system and the AC vents used to be. Conductor is chilling out. Woolen cap. 'Hey bhaiya.. ' he says.. I jump.. I have never heard him speak before. I jumped in the front seat. Relief that there was no loud music .  This bus man like to gaff though and sometimes you wonder whether the loud music might have been well.. you know.. "White man shoot up.. what you tink about dat?" Bus man says  "yeah.. if was a muslim you would ah hear different.. you know, I like country like North Korea, Venezuela, Iran and Cuba.. dem country don't depend on de US.. I wonder when we gun get like dat" Bus keeps moving.. passengers ignoring. "Like Granny want a pit bull.. dem gun know.. you ever watch a show pun Youtu...