Thoughts of a minibus traveller

"You look like Mr Bean" the man driving the delivery truck tells me today. The man is shorter than me, wearing shades, one side earring.  The porter laughs and says is true is true.. .  I laugh to myself. It has been a while since anyone has called me Mr Bean. It has been interesting over the years - airport security agent in Trinidad 18 years ago, elderly woman from the Rupununi about 10 years ago, random groups of school children .. something about the diversity of people who know Mr Bean.. and who think I look like him . "Doc" is another one I get, all the time. Some men who pass me on the road swear I have treated them. One man remembers me talking at a suicide prevention workshop. The young guy at the market who does not believe me when I tell him I am not a doctor. "Me aint gat gray hair, don't call me Aunty" - the woman at the market tells me. I called her Aunty after she called me Uncle.   Well we can both be polite. The Uncle thing...

Plate of Gold.. A man is fetching a basket on his head and the basket is full of golden skinned tangerines. Something about this tangerine season with all the gold about. I buy even though I don't really need. Grateful for them because the season would end soon. And then I realise that other fruits are about and they all look nice and golden on the plate together. Tangerine, passion fruit, banana and mango. So I take the fruits, arrange them on a plate and take the picture so I could write something after a rough few days. Breathing.. Breathe in, breathe out , I tell myself as I have to take a bus with loud dutty music.  I realise that I could easily not hear the music and just focus on the place where I want to stop.  An MMC security vehicle is passing and one of the guards, armed I think, starts to harass a woman walking in front of me.  The man's language gets worse as the women ignores him . I breathe in, breathe out and say to him 'Behave yuh self...'...

Minibus 42 short drop bus park is confusing and even though I am mindful and being aware of my surroundings, I can't figure out which bus to go. Woman in a blue blouse and a cap , wearing long (rain) boots tells me come come,, short drop yes yes and I trust her and go as I realise I never get call to no minibus or car by a woman before. I kind of scan the bus and realise that I am the only man so far, and more women join the bus. I buy a pack of 'sweet nuts' (man had sweet nuts and salt nuts) which is what happens when you waiting on the bus to full. A chatty woman in the seat behind me seems to know the others (or maybe she been sitting there long and they now know each other well). Conversation is loud and I stop being polite and just open my ears as I eat the sweet nuts. "Strong coolie woman" "She is a strong coolie woman" the women say about a woman who is dealing with a violent husband. "He put she in hospital already", "Sh...

Screenshot from Chitthiye video "My sister is queer.. I don't know what she will do" the young man of Indian origins told me , in a quiet matter-of-fact way. He and his family were returning to India. I am thinking of his sister, and him as I laughed and went 'Wow' and got angry several times watching  Ek ladki ko dekha to aisa laga. The film does not have any hot Lesbian love scenes.  And they do not kill off the lesbians like what happened in Fire. There is a hint of the heroine 'ending it all' , a Bollywood theme. The film is about, Sweety,  a woman who loves a woman,  and her relationship with different men and her grandmother who love her.  The director Shelly Chopra Dhar said this was not meant to be an LGBTQ love story. There are stories about LGBTQ characters in Indian cinema, and some love stories. Many of them end with death, as happens in real life. There are some poweful moments in the dialogue, laughter and wit generated in som...

Sun is hot, and my mind is fuzzy. I don't want to be on the road but I have to be on the road. Bus is speeding towards me, looking like a hot red but different colours. I cringe and think I have no choice, I am in a hurry, is not a far way to go , and if is loud music then the speed the driver moving at I will reach where I going in no time. Jump in the front seat , say morning without looking at driver, and driver turns in a cheerful voice says.. 'morning.. wait, I aint know you does tek bus?" I turn to him and laugh and say why man. Then I realise the man wearing a pink tee shirt. And as I look around inside the bus, the walls and so  looking pink. The man says, ' I aint see you a long time' and gives me a fist bump. Music is loudish. I say, yeah man in the way that I talk to people who know me, but who I can't remember. My head trying shift the fog to process the pink. Driver is relaxing in the front seat, nice vibe from him, not stressed and so o...

Limping Night was good, deep sleep with weird dreams so it is a surprise to wake up feeling exhausted and with pains everywhere. The dark clouds are weighing on the mind but the other part starts processing all the things which have to be done. The pain in the foot is serious so I limp out of the bed and hope the movement will ease the pain. I don't want to move. The movement does not help. I have to take the painkiller which wrecks my stomach sometimes.  In the cloudiness in my mind I limp through the routine and plan for the day. I limp into town, to the Government office with usually efficient people. On the way I randomly stop to chat with a woman and her dogs are barking at me . I wonder if they seeing some jumbie in me.  Talking to the woman helps with easing some of the pain though. I laugh as I realise I have to limp up the steps to the third floor for a document..  And after waiting a while and finding the emotional intelligence to ask the woman why...