SO the carnival is all over but what did we get out of it apart from the carnival babies?
With a slow down in the birthrate that may not be a bad thing unless, of course, these are the children who will be the miscreants that will disrupt our lives in time to come.
The jump-up and the revelry are not for me but if I had to jump it would be ole mas. I just love the creativity and thinking that goes into it; gives us a good laugh. “Five to stay alive” was very funny to me. Never made that connection before.Lots of deductions and divergent thinking going on there. Now if we can transfer some of that into government or even into the organisation of the event itself. I do not see why there must be so much reliance on government to fund our merry-making? But someone can enlighten me.
My thing is calypso. I am not so much for our present brand of Soca. In the days of Black Pearl’s “Bouchéyo”, we had something. Now we want to spend a week in someone’s coocoon. We have become too Trinidad-like. We have exchanged our unique brand for the inferior as we have done on so many counts including our education system which has been watered down.
I know of a time when our children would have migrated to metropolitan countries and at elementary and high school levels would be way advanced over their peers. But back to calypso. This year I did not get to hear too much of them and my critique cannot be as dicing as last year’s. Pricing for the tents was most affordable but yet it was difficult to get a full house for the quarter finals. The emceeing is as much an element of the show as are the writing and the music. A Lord Washer is a plus. Who remembers Papa Troublesome?
There are a few things that are happening that are on the right track. People like Little Nick who graduated from Junior Calypso into the big yard are definitely a positive and so we must continue to build that nesting ground and ensure that more schools are part of the endeavour.
Kudos to De CalypsoRevue that is trying to make calypso non-seasonal. That must be sustained and emulated by the other tents. TOT had made the effort before so we can learn from their mistakes. Decentralization has been banded around for a long time but I do not think that most of the titles going south was what was meant. But congratulations to all the winners. Calls are already out for players to be part of the Kwéyòl song competition organised by the Revue. I hope more people take advantage of it. Whatever happened to pay-per-view this year?
My final call is for the responsible ministry to look at building a cadre of new writers if indeed they want to make carnival the main cultural show piece of the island. I remind them of the existence of the Saint Lucia Writers Forum. But do or die I will be writing next year. Those who know me know that I am not just about cursing the darkness. The candle will be lit. Trust me.