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I don’t know about you, but for years I have listened to David Rudder’s music on an almost daily basis—some song calls me just out of the blue.
Sometimes it’s from YouTube, often from my collection of CDs which remind me of when I bought them: soundtracks of those times.
In those penny-pinching days (which have returned), it was my big splurge to walk out to the distribution outlet right there on the Eastern Main Road in Petit Bourg to get the latest release. It made me feel part of a special community.
Apart from the sheer beauty of his poetry and his music, I have always been struck by the way Rudder can capture large chunks of our history within the framework of just one song.
Not to diminish the value of academic work, but you will probably learn more just by listening to him. And his range is phenomenal. His subjects cover history, cricket, music, our social life, global events, politics, romance and of course, the intimate details of carnival and its characters.
How was he able to commandeer the commonplace and transform it to profound insights into the human condition? I never cease to be enthralled by the layers of meaning he has brought to us.
Truth be told (a Keith Smith expression, and why not? It was Keith who introduced me to the miracle of Rudder), you can find a phrase of Rudder’s to best describe any situation imaginable.
And so, this past week, as I was obsessing with ideas about character and some of the elements that go towards rendering a person with remarkable traits, I found myself fixating on someone within the domain of cricket.
Naturally, one of Rudder’s songs, Legacy, alit on my thoughts and perched relentlessly there.
The opening lines are full of gratitude for what we have received:
“I thank God in my life and time/ That I have known these men/ Confirming and reconfirming my Caribbean energy/ Striding to the centre/ With their arrogant beauty/ Every blur of red and flashing blade means so much to you and me.”
Every single time I listen to it, I see Viv Richards.
How perfectly does he epitomise that phrase of arrogant beauty!
(via SkySports.)
I was thinking about presence. That indefinable quality that tells us that we are spectators to something extraordinary.
I racked my brain trying to identify individuals within that realm who have invoked that gasp of drama simply by walking, by just being present—and I have to say I couldn’t come up with anyone who could match that Richards aura.
I wrestled with names, majestic ones, imbued with personal halos on account of their superb performances, and lord knows there are many such. But I genuinely couldn’t come up with anyone whose natural carriage elicited such awe.
He was a symbol (still is) of that Caribbean energy that has sadly wilted considerably.
Viv Richards was one of many who represented this madcap nation which calls itself the West Indies. He was one of a phenomenal pantheon who gave us a sense of ourselves as a collective, capable of everything we could possibly aspire to.
If you live in the world of cricket, you know the journey; if you live in the Caribbean, you know it too well.
(Copyright Wisden.)
Among these titans, he carries something imperious. I wouldn’t call it charisma, which suggests a kind of persuasive charm that was not quite at the forefront of his character during his career.
Yet, his gusto for life, his passion and his sense of humour made him a magnetic figure even after his cricket dominion.
Viv is the most appropriate example I could find to illustrate what I mean by this elusive thing I am calling presence. Many have their own version of a swagger—but who else but Viv?
(via BBC.)
He has often said that the most significant bit of advice that came from his father was the instruction that he must believe in himself. If he didn’t take on anything else, he certainly absorbed this.
From early in his career, it was clear that he carried that absolute confidence in his ability. He never doubted that he could achieve whatever goals he set himself. Was that the fundamental characteristic that set him apart?
We’ve seen many players talk about that self-belief, especially when they have delivered an outstanding performance. Nicholas Pooran has repeatedly said that he believes he is a special talent, and he has some swagger himself.
Photo: Ashley Allen – CPL T20/CPL T20 via Getty Images.
Despite his achievements, it’s hard to picture him in the same category as Richards. I can’t imagine Viv showing his frustration at a runout in the way Pooran did on Wednesday.
Unfortunately for him, it was described as being akin to a childish tantrum, and the image has been gleefully pounced on by the global media. To be fair, it was an expression of his rage with himself, but Viv would not have given anyone the satisfaction of seeing him like that.
I come back to this business of trying to grasp that something extra that sets a person apart. I was walking through the field of cricket to find Viv Richards, but I know these creatures stride through different pastures, and not always with swagger.
(Copyright Maria Nunes/ Wired868.)
I feel they embody our aspirations—they show us who we can be at our best. Viv Richards is one, David Rudder is another.
Give praise, children.
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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.
