Dear Editor: Chutney has a place in Carnival no matter what Cro Cro says!

“[George] Singh’s outburst was a public exposé of what the Indo-Trinidadian (Indian) community had always known, i.e. Indian culture (e.g. chutney, pichakaree) is given marginal or no space in ‘national’ and regional shows (e.g. CARIFESTA). […]

“In all his anger, Singh was careful not to confirm what almost every Trinidadian suspected i.e. that Government had initially denied him funding because he was allowing ‘Massive’ to perform his chutney hit, ‘Rowlee Mudda Count’.”

The following Letter to the Editor on the importance and relevance of chutney music to the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival was submitted to Wired868 by anthropologist and author Dr Kumar Mahabir, who is an assistant professor at UTT.

When people get angry, they tend to speak their mind. Their emotions explode in words that they have been suppressing for some time.

Psychologist Dr Jeffrey Huntsinger proved this theory after conducting experiments at Loyola University in Chicago in the USA in 2012.

Chutney Soca promoter George Singh really spoke his mind when he became upset on learning that his 2018 show was not going to be funded by the National Lotteries Control Board (NLCB), an agency of the Afro-dominated Government in multi-ethnic Trinidad and Tobago (T&T).

At a news conference which he convened, the Express reports Singh as saying that “the decision by the Government not to support chutney soca was an insult to the art form.”

“The Government, over the last three years, has consistently reduced funding to Chutney Soca Monarch,” Singh raged, “and various members of the present administration have stated directly to me that chutney soca brings no value to Carnival.” (emphasis added).

At the same news conference, Singh said that the Government had approved a budget of TT$146 million for the National Carnival Commission (NCC).

“I think this administration is hell-bent on seeing that it [chutney soca] has no place in Carnival,” he said. “It is a slap in the face to Indo-Caribbean entertainment.”

Singh’s outburst was a public exposé of what the Indo-Trinidadian (Indian) community had always known, i.e. Indian culture (e.g. chutney, pichakaree) is given marginal or no space in “national” and regional shows (e.g. CARIFESTA).

Singh’s rant is more revealing since he has admitted that he has “family ties” to Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi (Express 27/12/17).

In all his anger, Singh was careful not to confirm what almost every Trinidadian suspected i.e. that Government had initially denied him funding because he was allowing “Massive” to perform his chutney hit, “Rowlee Mudda Count.”

The satire on Prime Minister Keith Rowley’s mother has been arguably the most controversial song in the history of calypso, soca and chutney in the country.

I have always contended that chutney concerts, competitions, tents and fêtes must be recognised as part of Carnival and must be given an equitable share of culture funds, media space and stage presence.

My argument is contained in detail in the book Caribbean Dynamics: Re-configuring Caribbean Culture (2015), in a chapter entitled “Chutney Music in Carnival: Re-defining National Identity in Trinidad and Tobago.” In that chapter, I discussed how Carnival in Trinidad has long been the cultural preserve of the Afro-Trinidadian (African) community. To this day, the major players and champions of calypso, soca, extempo, steelpan and masquerade, whether in Jouvert (“Jour Ouvert”) or Dimanche Gras, remain people of African descent.

The emergence of chutney music and artistes in 1995, the year in which Basdeo Panday was elected as the first Indian prime minster of T&T, was historic. In 1996, the rendition of Sonny Mann’s runaway hit “Lotay La” during Carnival by DJs in soca parties and by steelbands as their choice for Road March tune signalled the advent of chutney into the national urbanised festival/centre.

In the following years, Indians continued to change the ontology of “the national festival” to the extent that Carnival has to be re-defined to include Chutney Monarch, Chutney Brass, Chutney Soca, Chutney Calypso, Chutney Glow and Chutney Mardi Gras.

For the first time this year, a new chutney show is being introduced to the Carnival calendar. It is the International Chutney Queen Competition to be held on 2 February at Guaracara Park in San Fernando, the second largest city in the country.

Chutney is being strongly influenced by calypso and soca rhythms and dance styles but the genre is also used as an alternative to the Afro-Creole music formats. There have been two institutionalised chutney calypso theatres, which are “D” Massive Gosine Roving Calypso/Chutney Tent and the National Chutney Calypso Touring Tent. Now in its eighth year is the National Carnival Schools Intellectual Chutney Soca Monarch Competition, held at the Queen’s Park Savannah in Port-of-Spain.

These chutney competitions-cum-fetes allow Indians to gain a sense of inclusion in this grand “national” festival although they remain on the periphery of the capital city. These cultural incursions also allow Indians to actively participate in Carnival without losing their (sense of) ethnic identity.

Chutney has been able to resist the domination of calypso as the heartbeat of Carnival music. The subversive spirit of calypso and Carnival is perhaps being re-incarnated in chutney.

Calypsonian Cro Cro and others should accept that chutney soca has become part of Carnival. When he learned that his Icons Calypso Tent was not getting additional funds from Government, he fumed: “Kaiso and Carnival is what supposed to keep this country alive and we supposed to get enough to run the kaiso business. How come chutney get?” (Newsday, 19 January, 2018).

More from Wired868

Daly Bread: The road make to walk; preserve Pan On The Avenue!

The centrality of the Panorama competition to the steelband movement cannot be doubted.  However, there are some downsides to it Read more

Vaneisa: Searching for a form—how to preserve our heritage

It’s an idea just taking root, and having thrown it out last week, I figure I could try to see Read more

Daly Bread: Supporting the authentic mas

How do we get our brilliant steelbands and their significant numbers of youthful players and supporters back on the road Read more

Vaneisa: A Ministry of Festivals can be revolutionary—with Manwarren at the helm!

I don’t actually mean that we should have a ministry of festivals, in the sense of a state-controlled body—that kind Read more

Early Bird: Machel’s Monarchy triumph; mafia or merit? Mission for the media?

“What shit you talking, bro?” Bobby asked, his jaw literally dropping. “We talking bout the same song?” Even before Calypso Read more

Daly Bread: “Conglomerate mas” subduing our authentic Carnival experience

There is speculation how tomorrow and Tuesday’s Carnival will turn out, as it is taking place amid concern about the Read more