Christmas in Guyana – From the mind of a re-migrant

Dec 25, 2022 Features / Columnists, News, The GHK Lall Column

By GHK Lall

The first thing to be said about living and sharing Christmas in Guyana as a re-migrant, is that it is not the same as the experience of a Guyanese Christmas, as a visitor. Just about everything is different, which goes a long way in proving that old adage that, ‘familiarity breeds taking things once treasured for granted.’ To be clear, my love for the Christmas Holiday Season is still there, but now it is tempered by the reality of being in Guyana for the days and months that went before.

GHK LALL

I think that the buildup and anticipation for the delights that lie ahead as a visitor, are not anywhere as intense when residence has been taken up as a re-migrant. Perhaps people like me see too much, hear too much, learn too much, and absorb too much. Things of Guyana are now too close-up, and like an old shoe, what enchanted and thrilled does not possess as much sparkle as before. To emphasize, so that the wrong impression does not register, December and Christmas still have a special place in my heart, especially with new presences now around. But, the pent-up discipline of the demands of work, the grueling schedule, and the constant drives to deliver, which were all required in America, are not there, and their absence serves to reduce the Guyana Christmas experience to less than what it was before.

I think that this comes from me being too much in Guyana, too close to what is going on in Guyana, and too engaged in the everyday, be they good or bad, or neither of the two. The gleaming edge, the enticing pull of the clock, the newness of it all, regardless of how many times renewed, have worn off slightly, for being right here. In other words, the magic of the moment of ‘I’ll be home for Christmas’ and ‘I’m going home’ is slightly tempered by the fact of me being already here, and I might add very much with my ear to the ground, and my mind set to the sights of whatever it is that unfolds.

For sure, the cooler air of December still has that familiar and welcomed Christmas tang, which I still can’t find the right combination of sentiments and words to express powerfully and profoundly, because that air has become second nature. So, too, the sweet music of the insects and birds that can still be a rollicking good time all by itself, if one were to know how to listen to their songs. The dawns of December still have that inexplicably lush beauty about them. I must admit, though, that notwithstanding the nearness, the palpable embrace of these mysteries of life and nature, that that extraordinary sense of something special in December and Christmas is always a part of the soul, the quiet contemplations that come without effort.

Without going too deeply into the spiritual side of Christmas, it is a truly Guyanese holiday. For that alone I am not just grateful, but very much at home. There is that timeless serenity that wafts across busy homes and congested thoroughfares, which in and of itself has a certain mystical depth to it. The mood is right, and whether sunlight or moonlight, there is that majestic sense of something beyond understanding that touches this re-migrant to the core.

The question comes ever so often-sometimes from others, on other occasions from deep within-as to whether I would want to be anywhere else but in Guyana during the days of December, and all that those mean, how they now compile. The short answer is ‘NO!’

I don’t wish to be in any other place at this time of the year. Oh, there is that long, fearsome snake of traffic that spread its presence all over, with nary an inch of space to maneuver, sometimes even to breathe. But, like everything else about life in Guyana, that too has to be taken in stride. A certain built-in reserve goes a long way to cushion the downside of Christmas in Guyana nowadays. Again, it is about the haves and have-nots, and those for whom the season of joy is joyless, and Christmas Day is no different from any other day. Whether returning visitor or re-migrant that would be the day for me. I hope that it never comes.

Just as how I sidestepped delving into the religious, I also leave alone the politics of Guyana. As difficult as it is, I am not prepared to tarnish Christmas with thoughts or words that distract from the glorious luster of this special season. I think that we Guyanese are lucky, economics and all, for there is no deepfreeze, no rushing about and then running for the warmth of the inside. The warmth of this country puts on its best face at Christmas, and for just a few minutes and hours, there is something indefinable and indescribable that takes hold of just about every Guyanese, be they observer or merely bystander.

As a re-migrant I am now in a position to savor Christmas slowly, like a vintage wine, or a refined cognac. Foods and smells, sounds and attractions, all touch and hold and stay a while. Though this is being written in the first week of November, it is my hope and prayer that all Guyanese will have been given opportunity to be of good cheer. I think it is overdue, given the thresholds that we have crossed, the insides of the places that have been made possible.

I like being here, no matter how pressing it can be at times. And at Christmas, there is no other place that I would prefer to be but right here. Merry Christmas my fellow Guyanese! May 2023 be a great year for each one of us.

Merry Christmas my fellow Guyanese! May 2023 be a great year for