Your Eyewitness must confess he’s challenged geting off the mood induced by Calypso Cricket and Cricket Carnival to segue into the religious festivals of Youman Nabi (Muslim) and Diwali (Hindu). Is he suffering from what they call “mood swings”?? The first two festivals invoked in his mind the Bacchanalian revelries of ancient Greece – where it was all about having good old orgies with “wine, women and song”!! But THAT was also “religious” since the activities were dedicated to Bacchus, the Greek God of wine!!
Now, your Eyewitness used to think he liked a “sport” as much as the next man…but now he’s not so sure!! Back when he was a boy, his father would take him to the “ball” games that he looked forward to all year long. Not only for the cricket, but the whole ambiance of Bourda Cricket Ground. His mother would have woken up early to prepare snacks like “aloo balls” and the obligatory “sour”, fried rice and chowmein, roti and chicken curry!! And off he the males of the family would be off at the break of dawn!!
No dear reader, cricket wasn’t scheduled that early back then!! But prudence dictated getting there hours ahead since diehard fans from Berbice and outlying areas would’ve camped out overnight at Merriman’s Mall and would be lining up before dayclean!! Once in, his father would soon be surrounded by complete strangers who soon became as thick as thieves, as they partook of the “spirits” they’d added to their wives’ provisions!! Even before the first ball was bowled, the crowd would be in high spirits!! So, there’s really no objection from him about imbibing rum at the cricket ground! That’s even more West Indian than fast bowling – which only became our speciality after Clive Lloyd’s team took a hiding in Australia from Lillee and Thommo back in 1976-77. Not to mention the racist taunts.
What your Eyewitness is trying to figure out is this. With the connection now firmly made between cricket and those skimpily clad young ladies gyrating throughout the matches, how long before female fans take the organisers to court to insist it’s discriminatory not to have just-as-skimpily-clad males gyrating?!! And the Cricket Carnival?? Your Eyewitness has already made his position that we oughtn’t to be cogging from those Trinis – up to their name, “Carnival”!! At least the Bajan called their jump up “Crop Over” and the Bahamians “Junkanoo”!!
The thing is, when you copy, folks have a standard to measure you against – as opposed to when you’re original you SET the standard!! So as your Eyewitness wrenches his thoughts into a (more refined) plane he simply asks the Cricket Carnival organisers this.
Work with our local creative artistes to produce something GUYANESE!!
…war reports
It’s been said that “the first casualty of war is the truth.” The corollary, of course, is that “the first weapon of war are lies”!! So what are we to make of what we’re being TOLD by both sides about the war going on in Ukraine since February?? First came the Russian Blitzkrieg that overran the friendly Donblas region abutting its western borders. That was undisputed even though the lies came fast and furious about the reasons for the Russian invasion!!
Then were claims and counter claims about “atrocities” and “mass burials” etc. These were inevitable under the circumstances – from both sides!! Now we’re in the midst of the Ukrainian counterattack where claims ae being made about a Russian retreat. Has the Red Army gotten that soft?? Well, that Putin had to resort to threatening a nuclear strike has to confirm desperation about his troops’ capabilities!! That’s always a last option and not exercised willy nilly!!
Continue picking truth from lies!!
…in the new Cold War??
After a two-year COVID hiatus, the Chinese have confirmed they’ll DONATE a new stadium to Barbados.
When it was originally proposed, the Brits had accused China of practicing “debt diplomacy” by demanding Barbados dump the British Monarch as head.
Quid pro quo achieved??
