What’s with… the lights?

Tomorrow being Diwali – and a national holiday to boot! – some folks might be wondering where all this “lighting up” tradition came from. We know the Hindus who came as Indentured labourers brought the festival, – but what it’s all about?? Well, you would’ve noticed that over the course of the year dusk appears earlier and earlier – and the nights get longer? What’s happening is the northern hemisphere – in which we’re located – is tilting away from the sun – and thousands of years ago – folks developed customs to deal with the lengthening darkness.
In Europe, the “Pagans” would burn logs – “Yule logs” to light up the longest night!! It wasn’t too long for the propitiating lights to remove the physical “darkness” to become metaphorical pleas to remove the “darkness” from human affairs. On what we now call the “winter solstice” – which falls on Dec 21 – the nights would be longest and the deal was sealed!! After they converted to Christianity, the Church leaders just couldn’t get them to stop with the burning of the Yule logs and decided to join then by stipulating that Jesus was born on this day – to remove darkness and bring light into the world. And “Christmas was born”!! That custom with the fir trees came from the German pagans who’d put them up to show they’d survived the lengthening nights!!
The Jews had Hanukkah while in India, they started burning bonfires when the darkness started to increase – in the hope the powers-that-be would take the cue and made it decrease!! And lo and behold it actually seemed to work since by December the days would start to lengthen – and the festival of Diwali was born!! Excepting they lit small fires in earthen “diyas”!! Over time, specific events occurring around that time, which actually removed major negativity, were also commemorated as justification for the practice. Diwali became the festival celebrating the “victory of light over darkness – good over bad”.
For the Indians arriving from North India as indentured servants, they’d connected Diwali with the return of Sri Ram to his home with his wife, Mother Sita, who’d been abducted by a lusting King Ravan. Ram defeated him in battle and – maybe this has a lesson for us today as we confront Mad Maduro and Venezuela who wanna snatch two-thirds of our national territory!! In addition to SYMBOLICALLY celebrating “good over evil” we ought to take an example from Sri Ram.
Realising that Ravan was very powerful, Sri Ram cultivated allies who amassed an army that could take on – and take out – Ravan and his army. Now’s the time to winnow out fair-weather friends and encourage the Yanks!!
A hint to Beneba mek Kwasi tek notice!!

…Caricom??
What’s with Caricom and its sanctimonious bleatings to the US that they mustn’t mess around with the Caribbean being a “Zone of Peace” – when T&T’s PM Kamla has taken the reverse stance and is actually cheering on the Yanks?? The point is – as Brother Bob preached – only those who know it can feel it!! Pres Trump says he’s after the Venezuelan Cartels – headed by Mad Maduro – that are shipping drugs to the States.
And Kamla knows more than she would wanna know about drugs and gangs from Venezuela since – being only 7 miles away – the criminals have made Trinidad their home away from home!! And, working with locals – have transferred the violent criminal culture into Trinidad that’s now a living hell for citizens who gotta face random, daily killings and kidnappings!!

Hey, Kamla knows that the US has additional objectives – but so does she for the betterment of her country. Didn’t she just have the US permitting them to develop Venezuela’s Dragon Gas Field??

…Chinese supermarkets
Here we go again with the Chinese Supermarkets that behave like they’re a law unto themselves!! This time the CH&PA had to close down one that opened up on the Highway near Conversation Tree – endangering life and limb.