Peeping Tom – Who gat more seeds?

Jun 08, 2008 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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There used to be a time when Uncle Freddie thought that he had more seeds that Bharrat. Well, the President set aside that challenge a long time ago.
He showed real guts and character when he took a risk that not even the all-powerful Forbes Burnham ever took. Bharrat went to the United Nations Law of the Sea Convention to arbitrate on the maritime boundary dispute between Guyana and Suriname.
It was, as I mentioned in a previous article, an enormous gamble. Had the ruling turned out different, had the tribunal ruled in favour of Suriname, President Bharrat Jagdeo would have had to resign the very next day; the PPP government would have had to demit office for having ceded territorial waters.
After that ruling, Uncle Freddie dropped all pretensions about having more seeds than boulanger and without publicly conceding, retreated into his old world where he wept bitterly because Bharrat had more seeds than he could ever put together.
From Bharrat we have now come to Robert. He is now the new “seeds” man. He sharing out seeds all over the country in his Grow More food campaign. He said he gat literally more seeds than boulanger. He sharing out pepper seed, watermelon seed, tamarind seed and cucumber seed.
Well, the AFC decide that they also have to do something about the food crisis and they too begin to share out seeds. So the AFC now has a “seed” man challenging Robert to see who gun share more seeds.
I do not know what will germinate out of all of this. But it seems that the political battle lines are drawn and the race is on to see who can share out more seeds.
Robert is taking to the highways and byways with the call to Grow More food with seeds. The AFC on the other hand, is campaigning under the banner, Seeds for Change.
This must be slack change because since most of their supporters are middle class persons, the money that they will get from these seeds for change will only amount to pocket change.
A lot of seeds are being shared out, but it takes more than seed for production. You have to have the land prepared and no political party so far is offering help. So if you are old like the Peeper and need some help, you may have to resort to what one Russian resident did during the Cold War.
The story went like this:
The phone rings at KGB headquarters.
“Hello?”
“Hello, is this KGB?”
“Yes. What do you want?”
“I’m calling to report my neighbor Yankel Rabinovitz as an enemy of the State. He is hiding undeclared diamonds in his firewood.”
“This will be noted.”

Next day, the KGB goons come over to Rabinovitz’s house. They search the shed where the firewood is kept, break every piece of wood, find no diamonds, swear at Yankel Rabinovitz and leave.
The phone rings at Rabinovitz’s house.
“Hello, Yankel! Did the KGB come?”
“Yes.”
“Did they chop your firewood?”
“Yes, they did.”
“Okay, now it’s your turn to call. I need my vegetable patch plowed.”
A great many seeds are being shared out, but just how many will find fruitful soil. I end today with an abridged version of a very popular children’s story.

It has a moral that I hope all who read it can find and contemplate on at this time when the sharing of seeds is taking on added political significance.
Once upon a time there was an emperor. When the time came for him to choose his successor he decided not to pick one of his assistants or children but rather, he called some children and to each one he gave a seed.

He told them to go home and plant the seed and after one year to come back and tell him what they had grown from the one seed he had given each.
One little boy named Ling went home and planted his seed. He carefully watered it and each day he would look to see what was grown. Low and behold for over one year, nothing sprouted from his plant pot.
When the time came for him to appear before the emperor, he went with his plant pot which had no plant. He felt ashamed and disappointed that his seed did not germinate.
This was quite in contrast to the other boys who sported large plants of all descriptions and sizes. They all laughed at the plant pot of Ling which had nothing growing.
When the emperor saw Ling, he called him to front and said to all gathered, “Behold your new emperor! His name is Ling!”
Ling couldn’t believe it. Ling couldn’t even grow his seed. How could he be the new emperor?
Then the emperor said, “One year ago today, I gave everyone here a seed.

I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds which would not grow.

All of you, except Ling, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you.

Ling was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new emperor!”

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