We all make noise when we’re happy, don’t we?? Celebrations have always been accompanied by noise – whether of music or of raised voices. Can you imagine celebrating, say, hitting the lottery and not whooping it up?? Now, this ain’t no recent innovation, but goes back to the furthest antiquity! In the western tradition, remember the Greeks and Romans with their Dionysian and Bacchanalian revelries?? They even had gods of “sporting” and making noise!! And in every tribal culture, we made merry – noisily!! – around our campfires!! Heck!! Your Eyewitness bets that when those cave men brought back that deer from the hunt, they carried on like banshees!!
But here we are in 2023 Guyana, and folks are complaining about noises that are driving them to distraction – and having them climbing up their walls!! What gives?? Imagine, our Minibus operators take the trouble to provide entertainment to their passengers – free!! – and some spoilsports call it “noise pollution”!! Can you believe it?? Now, dear reader, you may say that the bus drivers could keep the music low – but then you’d miss the entire point of being West Indian!! How in God’s name can you listen to Dancehall, or Soca or Chutney “low”?? Unless you’re going to a funeral, of course!!
Then there are the complaints about the music being played all night – and all weekend – at wedding houses. Especially those Indian-Guyanese 7-day weddings. Now, this ain’t anything new – is it? In the old days, the musicians would be playing live, and the entire village would be getting down like there was no tomorrow!! In fact, did you know that the entire bawdy Chutney genre – with its “rum till I die” in the Caribbean – originated from these wedding goings-on? And with the ladies, even!! Maybe the problem is that nowadays everyone isn’t invited!!
But the loudest (yes, “loudest”!) complaints regarding the sounds of merriment and celebration are about our “rum shops”. Now, let’s be real. Even the Indigenous Peoples – who weren’t shanghaied to labour in our plantations back in the day – celebrated after hard work. Mashramani, they called it!! Now, you think they only worked one day a year?? If you said “yes”, that just shows how you’ve bought into the racist European stereotypes!! Now, don’t you think the slaves and indentured also wanted to celebrate after their gruelling stints in the fields? So, they turned to the rum shops that were conveniently provided by the ever-solicitous planter after emancipation!!
So, dear readers, the noise around us is part and parcel of our culture in our neck of the woods!! Aren’t we a “happy-go-lucky” set of people?? And it’s part of the charm to those uptight folks from up north, whom we can fleece as tourists!!
Get noisy!!
…connections
Well, they say all politics is local…but don’t tell that to our Opposition politicians!! Seems they’re determined to campaign more in Brooklyn than in Blairmont. Just last weekend, Al Sharpton – the US Black activist who thinks Dr King’s speech was “I have a scheme”!! – had his National Action Convention (NAC) in Times Square. And not one -but TWO – PNC leaders were in attendance!!
Now, Rev Al’s come a long way from his 1987 Tawana Brawley days, when he helped prosecute 6 white men for smearing faeces on the 15-year-old Tawana. However, he was convicted for defamation after the events were found to’ve been concocted – but he got national attention!! Now he draws hundreds of big names to events at his NAC “Hall of Justice”!!
Anyhow, what your Eyewitness sees is while the Opposition’s accusing the US of poking their noses in our affairs, they seem determined to lobby them to poke on their behalf!!
The US “might be a sonuvabitch” – but it’s OK when they’re OUR sonuvabitch”!!
…culture
Suddenly everyone and their uncle are coming out of the (diaspora) woodwork, complaining their efforts to promote “Guyanese Kulcha” aren’t being recognized by the Government. And here you’re obviously uncultured Eyewitness thought “Art is for art’s sake”!!
