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Poui drizzling delicate pink blossoms like confetti over a population with little to celebrate has provided a welcome respite from the ashen pall that has been hanging over our heads.
The impulse to photograph the trees rising majestically over their fragrant carpets has become the latest pastime. It is a fitting response to the notion of the poui as a symbolic herald of change and beauty.
Photo: Daniel Prentice/ Arima Araucans Academy.
Mentioning the gorgeous spectacle invites warm reactions. One person said it overwhelmed her to think that this was ours, this stunning profusion raining over us all, without discrimination. It made her feel proud to be a part of this place.
It’s fascinating, isn’t it—to discover the things that touch us, that light up our spirits with quirky little beams.
It sent my thoughts drifting. What really brings us joy? What has the power to lift us out of the daily dross, if only momentarily? What makes us feel proud to belong to this country?
As we head towards a general election in just over two weeks, it seems appropriate to ask ourselves some personal questions. Ultimately, we are being asked to decide on what kind of country we want to inhabit.
(Copyright NCC.)
Admittedly, the colour of political parties is nowhere comparable to that of poui. But to be fair, nature trumps everything.
I’ve seen clusters of red, of yellow, and blue parading our streets—blaring their names and pounding out beats to make bodies rumble. Poui doesn’t make a sound and yet we are riveted.
The newspapers have reported that the Election and Boundaries Commission announced that 161 candidates will vie for 41 existing parliamentary seats. Of these, only three are independents and the rest come from 17 political parties.
Coalitions and purges; entries and exits—some grand, some shabby. It’s a season that suggests more disarray than organisation (not unlike the tizzy of US president Donald Trump’s tariff tampering).
Photo: UNC.
And it leaves one wondering if prospective candidates or their parties have a solid plan, even something akin to a manifesto—given the coyness about releasing them.
It’s impossible to ignore the haranguing and boasting that comes across every few minutes if you happen to be watching the nightly newscasts on your television.
As expected, the two biggest parties have commandeered advertising spots, and the rest have to hope that the media will give them a sound-byte here and there.
(via Trinidad Guardian.)
The party that currently forms the government has focused on what it considers to be its past accomplishments. It’s more or less a continuation of the tiresome full-page ads placed weekly in the newspapers.
So often there is nothing of substance to include that the template itself has to blush as mundanity of embarrassing proportions is dragged out just to fill the space.
There is something distasteful about dredging up as triumphs the supply of basic services to the country—especially as they are undertaken with fanfare and then abandoned when the spotlight is removed. But it’s all about image, right?
Photo: PNM.
Someone told me that she had cause to remark to the sitting PM that their messaging was off point. Although it was unsolicited advice, I asked myself what makes messaging on point? Is it when you can truly discern what people need, and perhaps what they want?
The other party has gone into the wholesale vending of sweets. The choice of words seeks to tempt a diabetic frenzy by offering all manner of delights.
Promises that seem to offer new goodies, as if they will be bringing dramatic changes to our lives.
Photo: UNC.
I have always been bemused by pronouncements about legal firearms enabling citizens to defend themselves from attacks. My understanding is that legal firearms have always been legal. My understanding is that self-defence has always been legally permissible.
Scoffing at the idea of reasonable force seems to go contrary to the principle of justice, and I’ve never understood why this was selected as a gift in the face of crime.
Even for my politically unsophisticated brain, some of the promises seem so far-fetched that I wonder how they are to be fulfilled. But again, during a campaign, anyone can become intoxicated by their own rhetoric.
Photo: UNC.
Trump’s excessiveness and subsequent backtracking on the issue of tariffs and trade wars looks like a let’s-make-a-deal gameshow. It reduces everything to empty words on a platform.
We are caught in a world that has reduced itself to a state of frenzy. There are no moments for reflection and planning. Chaos is the norm. We can’t pretend to be isolated within our little political gambits while the global upheavals churn around us.
What can we do?
Photo: PNM.
We could try shifting focus from the petty; to ask ourselves questions of gravitas.
Listen to the language of politicians. They are basically on a hustle. When they come to your home, ask them to tell you about their policies. Ask them how they will implement them.
Ask them how they will enable checks and balances to reduce the propensity to corrupt even good ideas. Ask them when next you will see them again.
Someone told me that some women came by with lists asking if he intended to vote and if he would vote for their party. This is unacceptable.
Photo: Chevaughn Christopher/ CA-images/ Wired868.
It may seem that options are limited, but we can think about what we need, and demand that we are treated as the people who matter most in building this poui country.
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Vaneisa Baksh is a columnist with the Trinidad Express, an editor and a cricket historian. She is the author of a biography of Sir Frank Worrell.
