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 ...