Dear Editor,
I would love to read letters from a wider cross-section of the Guyanese population. I would love to read letters from farmers, school teachers, field and factory workers, carpenters, civil servants, housewives, taxi drivers, soldiers, small business owners, sellers of farm produce, construction workers etc. These letters will be from people who know and feel the burning issues of the day more than any political commentator or analyst can ever know and feel. These letters will not discuss subjects and ideas that fly above our heads like screaming jets. They will not deal with the boring stuff we have heard ten thousand times. They will be clear, concise, and precise to the point. There will not be those big, fancy words, and that stilted aloofness in language, form, and style that is an immediate turn-off. These letters will be fresh, meaningful and memorable, relevant and realistic.
There is such an inflated style in the usual letter writers of the day. They almost instinctively go for the long words, dead metaphors, abstruse, exhausted expressions and phrases that have long lost any meaning. It baffles me as to why these letter writers do not get the point that a letter that is clear and very simple can also be intellectually stimulating. But a letter or any writing is more than just words on paper. They reflect, in a very direct way, the richness or meanness of mind, heart and spirit. A letter may seem an inconsequential thing but it can have a real impact on the impressionable minds of the young.
Any letter, writing or speech that incites hatred, violence, and racial animosity must be immediately and condignly condemned. But there’re too many endless tit-for-tat exchanges. When dust are all around, some end up in the eyes of every bystander. Sometimes the best response to an outlandish statement is a resounding silence! And why should the people of Guyana have to know of every wind that blows in Richmond Hill, New York? Why the rehashing of the same messages, themes, and ideas? It seems as if someone is just tweaking a file that has been saved thirty years ago. Where are the fresh images and creative expressions that are so vital in discussing our rich heritage, festivals, and cultural diversity? That which is so dear to us should not be presented in such a shallow and cavalier manner.
It’s time that we have letters from a much, much wider cross-section of the population. Sometimes the moment calls for some roaring, hollering and thundering, but we should not be constantly reminded of grievances of the past, lest we fail to grasp the present. And we need writers who can lend a little brightness to a dreary day and make us feel that life is fun too, and that we have a right to smile and take in that sweet aroma of black cake and gingerbread in the oven.
Sincerely,
Haimnauth Cecil Ramkirath
