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The message of Phagwah
Editorial…
Kaieteur News- Phagwah is a time of celebration, of anticipation, and of joy. So much of those three ingredients should be part of the blessing that belongs to Guyanese on this Phagwah Day, a national holiday. Greetings and blessings to all of our Guyanese brothers and sisters on this Phagwah Day.
We extend the thanks for every citizen of this country, we delight in reaching forward with hope in our hearts to all, regardless of whether they agree or not with us. We, the Guyanese people, are owners of great blessings, and we must do our best, put our best foot forward, to ensure that we get the best out of the bounties of our patrimony.
For us to extract the most and the best out of national gifts, we must have goodness in our hearts, gladness in our minds, for our fellow citizens- without exception. This is the essence of Phagwah: the conquest of good over evil. Because the only way that evil can be mastered is when we start out with goodness in our own hearts, and bless those who come into our presence.
For too long, too many decades, we have held hate in our hearts, and we are the worst of losers for it. We have weakened ourselves to such an extent that the best we can do is allowing ourselves to be scattered to wherever the wind blows us, whatever direction pulled. Too much darkness has flourished in Guyana, and all are more shortsighted for it. We see only enemies, when we should be brothers; we perceive evils everywhere and in everyone because the good in us has been banished, and selfishness and all its woes that have overtaken us, have now consumed us. The simple joys of Phagwah are lessened.
In a country that is a dazzling light in the eyes of others, wherever they may be, we are a chronic blight to each other. As far away as China and now India, more and more are interested in being a participant and a beneficiary in our great riches, yet we ourselves are so unlearning that we remain doggedly, wretchedly poor. We are too poor in too many material things, which is the tough lot of too many Guyanese in this time of great developments, and greater promise. The light and color of Phagwah must empower us to see the light in others, and that it knows no color nor no limits. Let us for once be this bright so that we can see past the smallness of our existence, in that none is allowed to divide, dominate, and last, enslave us.
We have grown too preoccupied with sensing the worst in our fellow citizens, and concluding that there are only enemies present. This is sure to bring smiles to the exploiters who evilly and callously pit us against each other. As they have done before elsewhere, and right here before, they do again in order that they can richly gain at our expense. This is the unending context of exploited and brutalized Guyanese: as we stay poor, we continue to be hungry and angry, while the cunning and crooked make utter fools of us- the ordinary citizens of this country. Phagwah is a celebration of good over evil, and this we must all see. For this is neither religion or culture, but what must become our way of life; good triumphing over the powerful, evil, local and foreign forces that rule. It is those same evil forces that drive us to uninterrupted quarreling and jabbing at each other.
In this time of great national light, there is that other aspect of Phagwah- the one about anticipation of a fruitful harvest. As a people, Guyanese have many anticipations about the offshore harvests that are due to them. To this point, their anticipations have not been met, not even fractionally, with one leadership failure and feeble excuse, after another. The offshore and on-land harvests belong to the Guyanese people, but so far they have not reaped what is their due. This is Phagwah beyond the chanting and colour. This is the light and delight of Phagwah that every Guyanese should be living with daily.
(The message of Phagwah)
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