In 1978 I fell in love with Barbados; I still am

Dec 04, 2016 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

Barbados is presently celebrating its 50th year of Independence. I would like to share my thoughts on this lovely island. I went to Barbados for the first time in 1978. It was time to leave Guyana to do my Masters and even if I wanted to postpone that, President Forbes Burnham drove me away. His edict was that I should not be employed. I remember being interviewed several times for a teaching job, but was turned down, even though I won the President’s Medal and four top awards on the completion of my history degree at UG.
I did not get a scholarship as yet, though I applied to several universities abroad. My parents decided it was best for me if I spend a holiday with my sister, Janet, in Barbados. Life is one big crazy ride that has perhaps, no meaning. My favourite sibling was Janet named after Mrs. Janet Jagan. I married a woman named Janet, whose parents named her after Mrs. Janet Jagan. I never liked Mrs. Jagan and still believe up to this day she was the purest Stalinist mind that ever roamed the territory of Guyana.
I went to Barbados and had a lovely time with my sister, Bajan brother-in-law, Carl Straughn (Straughn is as common a Bajan name as Persaud or Kissoon in Guyana) and my Bajan nieces and nephews. I have sisters and brothers who have children that are born Bajans. When my sister Gwendoline died, one of my Guyanese nephews had a big quarrel with one of my Bajan nephews on the bridge of the Brickdam Cathedral. My Bajan nephew was livid and was speaking loudly. Everyone within listening distance was laughing, including my wife, because none of us could understand even one word he was saying.
I fell in love with Barbados in 1978. I still am. Ask me why and I don’t know. I went to Barbados at a time when Engelbert Humperdinck was the most popular crooner in the world. He bought a house in Barbados and everyone wanted to see it. I asked my nephew to show me it, but he couldn’t make it, since the supermarket he worked at couldn’t give him time off. I went back several times to Barbados, but Humperdinck’s house went completely out of my mind, though Humperdinck the singer would never. I love his crooning. I think he is the best crooner, second only to Johnny Mathis.
There is something indescribable about this little, incredible, fantastic, beautiful, poetic, serene, delectable island. I once wrote in these columns that my three favourite countries are my own (I wouldn’t leave Guyana; Karl Marx wrote; “the philosophers have interpreted the world, the point is to change it”; I want to change my country), Canada and Barbados. I wouldn’t live in Canada. It is too cold and the architecture is too North American, but it is a superb country. And Barbados of course.
There is something about Barbados that’s inviting to you, but you cannot comprehend why you are drawn to it. I can only speak for myself; that is my emotional reaction. I have never tried to figure out why I like this place second to my home out of all the countries on Planet Earth. Could it have been my favourite sister? Is it because she lived and died there and I loved her so much that I have made a Freudian transfer? I don’t know, but I know Barbados is a lovely place to enjoy and to live in.
I do believe at the academic level, there is a plausible argument for Guyana to seek closer relationships with South America than CARICOM. I believe Guyana should have an enduring closeness with Brazil. But never for a moment would I want Guyana to lose its closeness with Barbados. When you spend time in Barbados, the emotions of that neat, little pond in the Caribbean Sea, stays with you forever.
You are not going to believe this, but the first time I ever danced with a woman other than my wife was in Barbados to Jimmy Cliff’s song “Reggae Nights.” I made a monkey of myself. In 1978 on my first visit, when I was leaving, my sister gave me a Johnny Mathis album, titled, “Love Theme from Romeo and Juliet.”
This remains my favourite album of all times. Whenever I play it, I remember the first time I saw Barbados. I don’t like crowds or else I would have paid a visit for its Golden Jubilee. I would have taken my wife to try dancing with her. Congratulations on your Golden Jubilee, little Barbados.

Apology

In yesterday’s edition, it was carried in the Freddie Kissoon column that then Chief Education Officer, Genevieve Whyte –Nedd had not been confirmed in her position during the tenure of Education Minister, Priya Manickchand. In fact, it was Minister Sheik Baksh. We apologize for the mistake.

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