…and Divali’s light
Your Eyewitness has gotta be on a sugar high after valiantly (weakly?) sampling all those sweets (why do some folks insist on calling them “sweet meats”? Shouldn’t that be “sweet eats”?) that were plied on him yesterday on Divali Day. But which is actually properly celebrated in the night. Divali is a real easygoing kind of celebration…just smiles, dressing up, lighting diyas, and handing out sweets. Nice, eh?
And of course, “the meaning of Divali is good will overcome evil” – if you believe all those ads that were chockful in all the dailies. But is that what really what Divali’s all about? Does “good” really defeat evil just like that? Look around you, dear reader, is that the reality in the world you live in? Point of the matter is that no matter what folks might want to tell you, there ain’t no things out there like “good” and “evil” outside of the actions of us human beings. Do you think there’s evil on the Moon or on Mars or Jupiter or an any of the other planets other than Earth? Thought so! And the reason that’s so is that it’s only here on Earth that we have humans.
Therefore, it’s us humans who do either “good” or “evil” deeds. Simple as that! So that if there’s “evil rolling over the land” it means that it’s bad people who’re doing bad things across the land. Simple as that! And if those evil deeds are to be stopped, then good people have to start doing good things – which include going after the bad people and stopping them from committing their bad deeds, Simple as that!
But it ain’t so simple, is it? Most of us don’t like to make waves…we go along to get along. Even when it means going along with evil. And that’s the plain truth. So, if we get back to Divali and its message – if we expect “good to overcome evil” – it means that WE, THE PEOPLE, have to take a stand against the evil as we encounter it in our daily lives. And it’s not like we all have to pick up swords and go out in shining armour to battle evil. We can simply start with speaking out. It has truly been said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to remain quiet.”
So, let’s start with simple evil things – like traffic cops arbitrarily stopping you and shaking you down. Refuse to go along if you know you’ve committed no infraction…let them take you to the station…call their bluff.
And then, and only then, we will begin to know the real meaning of Divali!
…and trafficking
There were two incidents as we got ready to wipe out evil at Divali – that reminded us that a mega evil’s being perpetuated right here in Guyana. And we’re closing our eyes to it. This is the Trafficking of Persons – especially girls. The first was when 26 Haitians on the way to Lethem were intercepted. They were obviously on route to being smuggled into Brazil. There’s been so many reports of what lies ahead for them that we cannot be complicit in that exploitation – at a minimum. Then there’s the mundane matter of them breaking our border laws.
The second was when twenty-four foreign working girls – from Cuba, Venezuela and Dominican Republic – were nabbed in some joint called “Baroombar” in the city. Now who’s kidding whom? How many times are we going to have these raids at the same locales that are nothing less than “houses of ill repute”? These places have to be closed down – permanently.
Unless or until we decide to go the route of the Netherlands.
…and “flipping lands”
No…your Eyewitness isn’t expressing his frustration by using a euphemism as an expletive, “Flipping lands”! But he might as well be doing that!
Can you imagine the chutzpah of this cut-rate 007 fella selling state lands??
