Greetings to my regulars. And to the occasional, the curious and even the critics. Today I’ll attempt to be escapist. But escapism – from the realities of Guyana, and the world – is another thing I’m not good at.
I suspect that you could only escape Guyana’s daily challenges and stress if you are financially comfortable. Or isolated. Or retarded to such an extreme that nothing matters anyhow.
However, today I want to avoid much or all of what others write about every day – the crime, the HIV-AIDS, the fatal traffic accidents, the cocaine, the climate change, the international wars and other conflicts – and the VAT and the TIN. What? Not possible? Let’s try. Today’s offering is meant to be my stress-relief condition. I can’t quite capture Trindad’s syndicated columnist Tony Deyal’s style – or content – but I have been reading up on the countdown to Trinidad – and – Tobago’s General Elections scheduled for Monday coming. Political Bacchanal fuh so, yes!
Now even as I attempt to share some levity, you have to realize, that much humour is born of serious realities from life’s rough edges and tragedies. Yes much of life is actually betterment.
Not unlike the pain of childbirth which produces (life-long?) joy.
The politics of fun
Or the fun – the funny side – of politics. In Guyana the racial context sometimes accommodated the political conditioning and preference of the two major ethnic groups. Look, in 1962, a twelve-year-old Afro-Guyanese little follow was in dire pain one morning. He had spent a painful sleepless night because of an excruciating agonizing reaction brought about by an infected molar. Serious toothache.
The fellow’s whole family had been completely PNC from the time of its split from the mother-party, the PPP in 1955. The meetings, the Burnham posters, the party mass rallies, voting in ’57 and ’61 – all the little fellow knew was “Burnham and PNC”. So when his grannie declared: “Boy you kyan stand dat toothache pain no mo. It gat to come out! I taking you to Jagan”, the fearful, confused lad blurted out in response: “No – No grannie, not no Jagan, don’t take me to Jagan carry me to Burnham!” (You might conclude that he wasn’t being “racial” about Dr Sirpaul Jagan a great dentist like Cheddi, but the boy was being “political”. He had a political preference – for Forbes Burnham to pull his tooth. Again others may opine that Burnham was to execute a lot of “extractions” in later life.
And after reading the oft-quoted jibe that politicians are like baby diapers; they should both be changed – often for the same reasons!” (Now note that I did not write (the modern-day) pampers; I understand you dispose of Pampers, for good!) So after reading that I hope this one is not found to be in bad taste. Or smell
