“Can a man still be brave if he’s afraid? That is the only time a man can be brave” – George R R Martin Sunday marked the 175th anniversary of Indians arriving in Guyana. 175 years since the first batches of Indians arrived on the shores of Guyana aboard the ‘Whitby’ and the ‘Hesperus’. And in Grade Two, around this time, our project was to make a model of either the Whitby or the Hesperus. I remember those days (not so very long ago) when my dad and I would…
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“If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.” – Oscar Wilde Last week, the 23rd of April, was the anniversary of Shakespeare’s death and also the day chosen by the UN to celebrate books and their influence on our lives. But books, in the traditional sense are fast going out of ‘style’ and are quickly being replaced by the much more versatile eBooks. Novels and even textbooks are being sold as digital reproductions, rather than in actual print.…
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Monday marked the 43rd anniversary of Earth Day, It’s always struck me how differently different cultures personify the Earth. As Hindus, we view the Earth as ‘Dharti Mata’…Mother Earth – nurturing, caring, like a mother. Every morning before getting out of bed, we are exhorted to ask forgiveness for stepping on her. The Greeks used to view the Earth as ‘Gaia’, personifying the Earth as a giant connected ecosystem, working to maintain balance and harmony within the environment. But how do we view the Earth today? We certainly don’t treat…
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“Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Life is full of ups and downs. Everyone has those times where they feel completely and absolutely miserable. But for some people, those downs last much longer. For people suffering from depression, those downs, those feelings interfere with their everyday life. Interfere with their relationships, interfere with the way they treat the people around them, prevent them from enjoying things they normally…
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“To keep the body in good health is a duty… otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.” – Buddha Sunday was World Health Day! Every year World Health Day is celebrated to mark the anniversary of the World Health Organisation in 1948. And every year, a specific area of public health is highlighted as the theme for World Health Day. This year, the theme was high blood pressure. And high blood pressure is a massive problem, including in Guyana – even more so because…
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“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars”. – Oscar Wilde Usually, like any schoolchild, I love the holidays. Two weeks to stay home just lazing around? Can we get another two week’s extension on that? But this holiday, there was still school on at QC for the entire upper school. And so, I had new-found enthusiasm for the (already passed) four-day weekend. I guess I never realised what a big deal this four-day weekend could be since, I’m usually at home anyway.…
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“Arey Hori Khele Raghuveeraa Avadh Mein Hori Khele Raghuveeraa…” On Wednesday, the entire country was splashed with colours as Hindus and also non-Hindus celebrated Phagwah – the festival of colours. In the morning, females of the home were busy cooking all types of traditional Holi sweets like Gujiya, Gulgula, Ras Milai, and Gulab Jamoon so that everyone was free to go out and play Phagwah. Last Wednesday, the Queen’s College Hindu Society held its annual Phagwah show, and it was a special show in so many ways. It’s my last…
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There are people who smoke every day. You see them everywhere, surreptitiously puffing away on their cigarettes. And it’s no secret that smoking is bad for your health – even the cigarette packets are marked with a warning that “Smoking is dangerous to your health”. And while the smokers might be quite happy to do whatever it takes to die of lung cancer, they’re actually harming non-smokers as well. Second-hand smoke, smoke inhaled by non-smokers from smokers around them, contains over 4000 carcinogenic (cancer-causing) chemicals. So when you light up…
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“Fighting for identity is something that is very much in my life” – Ang Lee On Sunday, Hindus all across Guyana celebrated Maha Shivaratri. Every month there is one day dedicated to worshipping Lord Shiva (“pradosh”) but Maha Shivaratri is the yearly, ritual worship of this one of the three major ‘personalised’ forms of the ultimate reality or ‘Brahman’ that Hindus worship. We are all projected out of Brahman (making us and the rest of the universe part of God) – and we call that aspect “Lord Brahma”; we are…
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“Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult.”− Charlotte Whitton This Friday, March 8, is International Women’s Day. Every year, all around the world, International Women’s Day is celebrated on March 8, since the early 1900’s. And though respect for women has come a long way from the days when women were confined to only domestic duty, it’s still proof that we still have a long way to go if there still needs to be a…
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