Dear Editor,
What is it that prompts a citizen to pick up the pen of the keyboard to address fellow citizens? What should be his comportment? What is he or she trying to do? I proceed to share what these questions have come to mean to me, and how they have influenced my efforts.
Every time I face the screen, I see a mirror. It becomes a mirror of the self with all of the hopes, dreams, ideals, disappointments, and fears. For the sum of this reflection sees things as they are, and not as some would like for them to be seen. This disconnect – and the ensuing collision – unleashes responses that range from disgust to outrage, and everything in between. But facing the screen and picking up the pen, bring responsibility.
Above all, and from my perspective, there is the responsibility to be honest, to be measured, to be balanced. To endeavour to be fair at all times. Can it really be so? If it is, then messages must be conveyed in the firmest of terms, but couched in the most delicate of tones, and with keen attention to accuracy. It must be so, because these messages – and the messages within the messages – are the heart and soul of what is pursued; of near and distant objectives.
What are these objectives? What is the writer trying to do? Again, I can only speak for myself.
It can be distilled to a few simple points. First, there is the situation and context. Second, there are issues that arise from the way things have developed, or how they have been allowed to deteriorate. Third, there is the potential for danger, even disaster. Last, there is an urgent need to address and remedy. Or, at the very least, acknowledge the existence of the issue as identified, and make a genuine start in employing energies and resources towards a curative process. It is part detective, sometimes stress test, always conscience. This is what I have laboured to transmit over the years.
Editor, there is no thrill, no gain, no value from lambasting the PPP government and the PNC opposition on the error of their ways. It is why any thinking of “there goes Lall again” is way off the mark and misses the point. And which is: the veil has been lifted, so here is an opportunity to implement adjustments and steadfastly attempt to fix matters, as nothing else will do. It is because of this interest and care in the quality of our existence that I persevere. Because I believe that if we try, really try, we can overcome. To this end, I stand ready to work with anyone – party, person, group, or entity – full time and free (and no future reward) to bring about change. Who wants to take me up on this offer? Who is serious about healing wounds, mending fences, and opening doors?
Who is committed to grappling with the demands embodied in that one tantalizing word – change? Of lifting ourselves by the shoelaces out of the quicksand to the hilltop that is our birthright, always within reach, and yet so elusive?
For me, writing and sharing have come to represent all of these things, and then some more. It is a calling and a dream for change towards betterment. No more, no less.
Yours faithfully,
GHK Lall
