Category: ANURADHA DEV

‘A reputation once broken may possibly be repaired, but the world will always keep their eyes on the spot where the crack was.’ –Joseph Hall Have you ever thought of doing something, even for just a fleeting moment, but decided against it because it might damage your reputation, or give you a ‘bad name’ as some might say? Most of us have, I guess. And usually almost everyone tries to weigh the possible outcomes of whatever decisions he/she is planning to make. And that’s all well and good, but what…

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We’re so young. We can’t, we MUST not lose this sense of possibility because in the end, it’s all we have.” – Marina Keegan, ‘The Opposite of Loneliness’ Whoooooooooooooo!!!! The holidays are here at last! Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty school children are free at last! Never mind what your teachers say about hitting the books during the holidays (those can wait for a while more!) – go out:  catch a movie! The new Spiderman movie is out! Read all of those books you might have…

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By last Wednesday sixth graders all over the country would have found out whether or not they achieved their dream school or dream ‘space’ in the country–unfortunately we sixth formers have to sweat it out worrying for a few more months before we find out how we did at CAPE. Reading about the results made me more than a little nostalgic about when my results had come out back in 2006. And thinking back on everything has also made me quite a bit envious of the sixth graders because they…

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Third formers in Guyana are poised to write their “National Third Form Exams” (NTFE) next week. But most of them are probably “throwing back” and viewing these exams as a break from their internal exams. I know that’s certainly what we did in our year! I guess it’s because these exams aren’t really given the same hype that surrounds NGSA, CSEC and CAPE. I mean, most of us weren’t even aware that there was a NTFE until we were in Third Form, and it was a pity, since we didn’t…

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My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me. – Jim Valvano An article in the Washington Times titled, ‘Top 10 TV dads who broke the mould’ caught my eye, especially the dad who charted at number four… (Drum roll please!)… Homer Simpson! He certainly was a dad who broke the mould – he blew the mould to smithereens actually! We’ve all cracked up at Homer’s ridiculous and borderline insane behaviour, but I guess we all have moments where we glance at our…

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 “Born in the land where men sought El Dorado, Land of the Diamond and bright shining gold, We would build up by our faith, love and labour, God’s golden city which never grows old.” – The Song of Guyana’s Children, W Hawley-Bryant Because of my exams (conscientious me!), I only just saw some of the highlights of the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations. From what I saw, I was certainly impressed! It was a spectacular show with great performances by JLS, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Sir Paul McCartney and so many, many…

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Beating sense into children? “Spanking is simply another form of terrorism. It teaches the victims that might makes right, and that problems can be solved through the use of violence by the strong against the weak.” – Anonymous I thought that Inter-national Children’s Day was commemorated in Guyana on June 1, but somehow it seemed to have slipped under the radar. Or maybe because I am boning up for my last two CAPEs later this week, I didn’t notice? I did notice, however that Minister of Education Priya Manickchand (an…

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  “Put it before them briefly so they will read it, clearly so they will appreciate it, picturesquely so they will remember it and, above all, accurately so they will be guided by its light.” – Joseph Pulitzer Ever since I started this column in the Guyana Times/ International, friends and acquaintances ever so often ask me about writing and journalism. I feel like a bit of an imposter, since I have been trained in neither field. What I do tell them is that my efforts are the result of…

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  “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” – U. S. Declaration of Independence. On Saturday our country Guyana will be celebrating “Independence Day”. What does “Independence” mean to me? For one thing it reminds me that at one time we were not “independent”. We were “owned” and controlled by another country – in our case Britain – which made every decision…

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Contention is inseparable from creating knowledge. It is not contention we should try to avoid, but discourses that attempt to suppress contention – Joyce Appleby One of the positive innovations of CXC after becoming our official examination institution was to insist that “communication studies” and “Caribbean studies” be compulsory if a student wanted to write our version of Advanced Level – CAPE. As a ‘science student’ I’d always been a bit sceptical of the narrow focus of some in the field. I wasn’t comfortable with looking at the world through…

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