H@rd Truths By GHK Lall – The man from nowhere, now everywhere

Jun 23, 2023 Features / Columnists, News, The GHK Lall Column

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Kaieteur News – First, they said that a phantom thrived, which brought a chuckle. Then they said something about prolific, which prompted a wider smile. But now that there have been consistent crossings from the prolific to the prodigious, everybody is up in arms. How can that be? Who is he?  For the enlightenment of fellow Guyanese-all good people-I am still the same ole me.

It is an intriguing contemplation regarding what would have been the conclusions if I used to share articles with the lustrous ‘Guyana Chronicle’, and the even more illustrious ‘Guyana Times’.  For then, I would have transformed into Guyana’s first truly nationally syndicated columnist in the face of the receptive and the rambunctious. But even without reaching into those media expanses, there are still these expressions of consternations about what is it that this man has, that he could be all over the place at the same time.

As a courtesy, my fellow Guyanese are let into a little secret.  It is what is called the American work ethic.  It is neither chic nor political antic nor partisan hysteric, but studying the terrain, and not liking what is seen.  What has been observed is Her Excellency Sarah Ann Lynch and Exxon’s Alistair Routledge running rings around my own people, which doesn’t sit well. It is all about oil and how Guyanese have to live with many a foil for what belongs to them.  When they are hungry, I am angry.  When they are made fools of-by foreigners, local political, and private sector, schemers-I see red.  When everybody else sees green (Yankee dollar), I see red, and the thinking should be of bulls and bullfighters.

Incidentally, when I took the liberty of describing Guyanese as my people, SN was mischievous enough to caption a letter dispatched as throwing hat in the ring.  My word! That threw a few people into a tizzy.  Is he serious?  What could this mean?  And since there is a growing consensus about political equation, the temptation comes.  Come on, there is flesh and blood on this side of the street, too.  Truthfully, if this is what it takes to get Guyanese going, and get the PPP and PNC all hot and sweaty with anxiety, then count me in.  Remember I have the precious missing commodities: they are called honesty, duty, country, and family, not necessarily in that order, and even though I say so myself.  For those who wish to take literally, one never knows how such could lead to a rally. I found that aside irresistible.  What becomes clearer is that Guyana’s politics is a barrel of fun, a load of laffs.

Now, the real story behind all the discombobulations of PPP agitated must be put before the public.  Nobody should care about man or contributor. But what is drilling a hole in their stomach starting from their esophagus is the sum of the messages and the substance of them.  What pertained in times of yore still has its place today.  The message not the messenger is what matters.  To emphasize it is the song not the singer that reverberates in the national psyche and pushes clearheaded and fair-minded Guyanese to slap themselves on the cheek, and ask themselves now why wasn’t that thought of, seen for what it is.

Another secret of the trade is freely shared, so that my fellow citizens (Guyanese not Americans) could get a better appreciation of how the real world of primetime and time is money work.  Americans do their homework. They strategize and rationalize and exercise almost every cell in their heads; it is about how to get an edge, how to get ahead.  For example, they had the goods on Desmond Hoyte and knew when to pounce at his weakest moment. For sure, they knew of the several loves of Bharrat Jagdeo, and how to reel him in first, and then use that against him by tying him into knots.  When he contracted laryngitis of the lips and tendinitis of the tongue, I had no choice but to run to the rescue of Guyanese by developing sinusitis of the pen.  Now, it appears that every time an attack of scribbler’s hay fever arrives, then I have to give expression to sneezes of ink, and what causes others to run for cover.

Though it may sound selfish, there is no undue concern with spreading some germs around; it may catch on.  Definitely the people at Freedom House, Congress Place, and Exxon-Ville sit up and take issue with their story being out on street.  Guyanese may come across as tenderfoot people, but they also have a keen sense of when mischief is afoot.  When anyone desires to see mischief firsthand, all they have to do is get an education about oil.  I got a good one from the feet of the masters of the universe themselves, but am learning all the time.

Every Guyanese should appreciate the free favors being delivered fairly frequently, so that they can be well-armed to do battle for their rights, oil superpower or no superpower. Pitiful leaders, or worse. This is what compels such concerns.  It is not about access, not even of me.  The messages are what mek some Guyanese peeple tek worreez.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of this newspaper and its affiliates.)

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• GHK Lall, Guyana Chronicle, Guyanese, H@rd Truths, Man

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