THE EDITOR: I reviewed the article written by Mr George Alleyne dated 05/03/2003 via the internet entitled “Hindus today, tomorrow?” I am a regular reader of your internet posting. Please accord me the opportunity to thank and congratulate Mr Alleyne for a very intelligent and brilliant article.

A lot of people have forgotten the immortal motto of TT: “Here every creed and race find an equal place.” As a practcing Hindu, I must let you know that the majority of Hindus are very knowledgeable and conversant about the other major religions ie, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Juadaism. Sadly, the bulk of people from the other religions are ignorant and arrogant about Hinduism. Most have not studied the Shreemad Bhagwad Gita (The Song Divine) which is available from any Hindu organisation and reputable bookstores.

In addition to my Hindu religious text, this writer has done a comprehensive study of the Koran, the Bible and the Kabbala. By perusing these religious texts I was able to extract and digest the nectars as outlined in these scriptural writings. Today I stand in stature as an educated and inspired soul. I became a better Hindu without conversion. In the realisation that there is only one God, I am now able to converse diligently and respect all my Moslem, Christian and Jewish brothers and sisters from all over the world who work with me and they do the same to me.

Hinduism, because of its ever embracing nature, has produced great and unknown personalities such as Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Dayanada Saraswati, Swami Vivekananda and the great Martin Luther King (who met Gandhi and preached non-violence). In any given day, by reading the dailies and the community newspapers and magazines, one can glean that the fastest growing religion in North America is Buddhism combined with yoga and meditation. In the USA, Christian churches are failing miserably because of the many sexual abuse cases. Please let my fellow brothers and sisters in humanity remove the veil from their eyes and the cobwebs from their brains and educate themselves about each other because the mind is a terrible thing to waste. Adolf Hitler, like some of the hate mongers amongst us, preached hatred against humanity and as a result nine million Jews died.

Since the government is the biggestowner/employer, Mr Manning should make the study of comparative religions a necessity for all civil servants and students. Promotion should also be based on employees’ knowledge about every creed and race that exist in TT. Then and only then, we will have production and tolerance in our cosmopolitan society. The Beatles once sang a beautiful poem. “Imagine all the people living in Harmony.” Thank you very much and may God bless you and your family.

D  LAL
New York

The Editor: Andre Tanker’s passing has left a chasm in the many lives he touched, either personally or through his music. 

Andre first penetrated my consciousness as a child in the, 60s, with songs like Linstead Market and Living for Lena. He rocked my teenage world with the funky groove of Basement Party and the patriotic Come Back Home  (later changed to Forward Home). Once I attended my first Tanker concert, I was hooked for life. Memories of concerts at the Pelham Street and Little Carib Theatres, Astor Cinema, Normandie Car Park, Queen’s Park Savannah and Cascadia Club, are etched on my brain forever. 

His music lives on, it is true, but it is hard to imagine a world without another Andre Tanker concert.  When I learnt of his death, I envied the hundreds who were privileged to attend his last performance at the Mad Hatter’s fete. His 1996 CD, Children of the Big Bang and subsequent work with Rituals, temporarily satisfied our hunger for a tangible memento of his exhuberant performances. What is needed now, is an anthology of the work that allowed him to reinvent himself over and over and bridge the generation gap like no local artistehas ever done.  A compilation that will do justice to his invaluable cultural legacy to Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbean and the world.

Cathy Shepherd
Long Circular Rd

THE EDITOR: We should get a Privy Council for pre-Carnival social activities — calypso and steel band competitions for starters. The IMF and World Bank are already calling the shots that influence our economic and social life in TT. We could now do with the implementation of a pseudo Privy Council to instruct us about the “dos” and “don’ts” with regard to our pre-Carnival celebrations including the Dimanche Gras show.

However, I would be remiss if I fail to point out the flawless judging in the Soca Monarch show.  Chairman William Munro should start teaching Course 101 “How to manage a successful social event,” for the benefit of TUCO and Pan Trinbago, which would serve both in good stead. The Privy Council’s job would be to reverse all the unpopular decisions made by the judges in our pre-Carnival shows.

Let’s address calypso first: The current process in the selection of qualified   calypsonians for the semi-finals leaves a lot to be desired. What yardstick is used in the selection process when a four time, consecutive Calypso Monarch like Duke is omitted from the finals for Bomber. Even if the age factor weighed heavily on this decision, it still seemed outrageous. Cro Cro, on the other hand, was treated as a disruptive schoolboy with his omission being nothing short of a good “scolding” for just being his inimitable self. A true artist can only express his innermost feelings through his art.

Most of us may not be as fortunate as Cro Cro, who has been blessed with an enviable talent which should not be stymied or disregarded. (If only the judges’ deliberations on the Cro Cro matter was as bonafide as Cro Cro’s calypsos). Cro Cro, Luta and Duke’s misfortune stem from all of them being from Point Fortin.
They were all victims of the anti Point Fortin sentiment that was pervasive in the decision meted out by the judges. The judging, like the selection process, also laid an “egg”.
The selection of Sandra as Calypso Monarch was a grave injustice when taking into account that this was not “1999”, which was her year. This year belonged to Chalkdust, Mystic Prowler or Heather Mc Intosh.

On the matter of the choice of Singing Sandra as Calypso Monarch, if this was intended to be a Carnival dedicated to “women”, Heather Mc Intosh, beyond the shadow of a doubt, would have been a most worthy and more deserving choice than Singing Sandra. With impartial judging, either Mystic Prowler or Chalkdust could have easily run away with the crown. Carnival 2003 would best be remembered as the year that the title of the Calypso Monarch was given away — “just so.” Let’s move on to the judging of the Dimanche Gras steel band finals. What must Petrotrin Phase II Pan Groove do to catch the favour and eyes of the judges? This steel band final should rightly be called: “A congeniality contest”. Popularity took precedence over musical harmony. All of Boogsie Sharpe’s efforts and hard work were lost on the judges. Petrotrin Phase II was penalised for being slow in getting on stage for its rendition.

Minor infringements in the arts are treated very harshly and at times very stringently, while gross misconduct and tardiness are habitually condoned in our everyday endeavours. Both commentators covering the show on television gave Phase II very high marks. One of the commentators, Alvin Daniel, on interviewing Boogsie Sharpe told him that Phase II’s renditions were the best he had ever experienced. His co-commentator who was doing the analysis gave Petrotrin Phase II Pan Groove the highest score of the night, because of its spectacular performance. The remarks of both commentators did not seem like idle talk or posturing because I shared their sentiments. In the eyes of the judges Petrotrin Phase II Pan Groove could do no better than an unconscionable third.

Our myopic way of doing things in every endeavour is hurting us “to the bone”. We should all become a little introspective and ask ourselves how much do we care about calypso, our steel band and our arts in general and our country? The answer is — very little. In conclusion, as talent would have it not luck, the Road March title went deservedly, to another by-product of Point Fortin — nothing succeeds like success. Fortunately, for Fay-Ann Lyons, this decision was not left to the judges with their pre-conceived ideas about the rural south in general and Point Fortin in particular. The people, the true arbiter, made their feelings known with their choice of the tune for the Road March title. Raw talent will always supersede petty indifferences.

ULRIC  GUY
Point Fortin

THE EDITOR: I smell a rat! There is a foreigner in our midst! I refer to the paid full page ad dated February 22, 2003 in a leading newspaper (in response to an article in the Newsday dated February 21) which stated, “we are keen to engage in public policy reform and dialogue with our national government, and will not be provoked into a pointless debate with a (foreign anti-choice) group that can do nothing to improve poor women’s health in Trinidad and Tobago.”

The author is obviously a foreigner for otherwise he would have known that, in the land of Euphemisms, the above just does not cut it. The author has inadvertently communicated the following to the general public: “we do not want to show that we are afraid of being publicly exposed. (by locals or foreigners), as to having a hidden agenda that works against the national interest and the development of our people. Neither do we have a good excuse to get out of the awkward debate challenge, …so let’s bluff our way out, by transcribing a letter previously directed to the government and hope to save face with the general-ly ignorant) public who, not being able to properly distinguish what is being said, will unquestioningly accept the arguments there presented.”

But this bluff may prove his undoing. For the public is neither so ignorant nor as undiscerning as the author may trust. The central argument of this foreign author and the movement he promotes, is construed in a formula expressing concern for “the injustices suffered by “poor women” with unwanted pregnancies and the welfare of their families.” But it has always begged the question: Who are these (faceless) “poor women” that are suffering, oh so incommensurately all these injustices? Unless of course the author (and his movement) is suggesting that what is unwanted is the injustice of becoming pregnant when one is a poor woman.

This foreigner and his group even have the gall to enter our country, segregate our citizenry into classes and then put a price on individuals by stating boldly, and in bold, that it is not convenient for our government to spend TT$3,000 on our needy women. And then turn around and say: “We will not be provoked into a pointless debate with a (foreign anti-choice) group…” The plot thickens when, behind all this talk of concern for the poor, an answer begins to emerge to the hitherto unanswered question. “What has this foreign author and his group done for the poor?” Having financed a paid full-page ad in the local newspapers, this foreign author and his group have shown to the nation that they have considerable resources at their disposal which are available at the drop of a hat, from one day to the next.

In so doing, they have effectively stated the following, unequivocally, to the nation:
“Even though we have considerable resources at our disposal, and even though we have and will continue to do nothing for poor women, we are keen (to pressure) the government into legalising abortion, and then there will be fewer poor to contend with and then… we will continue to do nothing for the poor.” Might I suggest to those Trinis who have been taken by this foreign author and his pressure group to disassociate themselves from such treachery, before they become implicated in the hidden agenda of this group (when it becomes known), which might lead indirectly to the destabilisation of our country and our government. Might I also encourage Trinis who remain steadfast, despite the propaganda machine of these foreigners, to prepare themselves for battle uniting their voices to sound the battle cry: “Rotted, dread,…do somet’in ‘ta’ uplif’ de poor, rather than annihilate dem before dey born.”

GERARD POUNDER
Port-of-Spain

THE EDITOR: The Red House is a beautiful structure, cherished and admired by many. We all know that whenever tourists arrive in the city they do take pictures of this beautiful structure.

However, the first structure was built on February 15, 1844 and the land was bought from eight different people. In that same area we had the then “Government House” with a sign in front of it reading “Government Offices.” The first “Ice House” which sold ice to the people who could afford it then was behind this Government House building. The first shipment of ice was consigned to one Mr DP Cotton, and it arrived on September 17, 1844. I am sure that this gentleman must have been an American to know about this item. The structure Mr Cotton built was a temporary one to store his shipment of ice. He was selling a pound to a customer, and nothing less, at a price of five cents; in 100 lb quantities at a price of four cents a pound. Mr Cotton used to advise his customers to walk with their woollen blankets as it seems that this material kept the ice longer. So it seems to me that in those days the blanket was used by some for covering ice and not the human body.

Mr Cotton did not sell ice after 9 am on a Sunday because of the churchgoers. Refridgerators which were introduced were small and did not make Ice. The temporary Ice House structure was in the St Vincent Street area and was behind the then Government House. The “Ice House” did not remain too long behind the “Government Office House” which also moved to a new location. I believe that it may have been after the first fire of the then Government House that the name “Red House” was given to it. The Ice House moved to Abercromby Street and Marine Square corner. The place is now known as “Independence Square North.” The Ice House disappeared in 1977, when fridges became popular and they were making ice.

With the imported ice came frozen vegetables, fish and meat from the US. The first shipment of ice cream came to Trinidad on September 17, 1844 and was seen on the table at Christmas time. At some later date, the “Ice House” changed hands and it was bought by the firm of Croney and Co and they changed the name to “The Ice House”. The popular “Hotel de Paris” was opposite, at the corner of Abercromby Street and Marine Square. It was a popular Dance Hall for high class people. So will the government people know that a thing of beauty is indeed a joy for ever and not to be destroyed.

SATNARAYAN
JAGGERNAUTH
San Fernando