By Francis Quamina Farrier
MOST elders can recall some of the little things they saw or heard as pre-teens and teenagers! As we celebrate Easter 2019, I can recall an early Easter experience of mine. It occurred on the Georgetown Seawall beach at the Camp Street section. My two brothers, our older first cousin Neville and I, had gone there to raise our kites. As is the Easter tradition in British Guiana/Guyana, that Georgetown seawall beach was packed to capacity on that Easter Monday, with hundreds vying for a special space to raise their kites; from the humble ‘Caddy Ol Punch’ to the glamorous star-point, the beautiful singing-engine to the dancing box-kite and the imposing large ones; all types. Back then, every kite flying on the Georgetown seawall was, “Made in British Guiana”. No imported kites were ever seen.

On that long-gone Easter Monday mentioned, some conflict blew in to my group; the Farrier brothers and their first cousin Neville. A bully was targeting us for our space on the beach. That was a long time before Gabby of Barbados composed his very popular calypso with lyrics that include, “This beach belong to me.” The aggressor was a tough fellow who the Farrier brothers conceded would wallop all three of us at the very same time. However, our cousin Neville who was a little older than us, though not anything near the size of the aggressor- who was built like a ten-tonne truck- took him on and beat the living daylight out of him in minutes, as some onlookers cheered.

Meanwhile, there was a strong breeze blowing from across the Atlantic Ocean, from the north-east, lifting kites of all designs and sizes. But there was a fellow nearby who just couldn’t get his kite to lift off from the beach. As we all know, a kite is made to fly, especially when there is a nice strong breeze. Unfortunately, some kites are poorly designed, or the loop is not properly set, or the tail is either too long or too short and as such the kite just won’t function as desired and expected – like the constitution of some countries. So, no matter how much breeze is blowing, that sub-standard kite will zip and zap, and plummet right back to the ground. It is flawed and should either be scrapped entirely or restructured in part.

For a kite to be raised, and immediately take to the sky, it must have been well-made with suitable material, a proper loop and a tail of the correct length. Referring to the kite tail, there were some kite flyers who are wicked in their ways. They would insert razor blades into their kite tails and operate their kites in such a way, that the tail would come into contact with the twine of another kite and cut it, resulting in that unfortunate kite to become detached from the kite line and simply sail away like a balloon into the distance. That action by the wicked flyer and the victim sometimes results in fist-fights. Those were the days when people never took weapons around with them to plunge into the bodies of others at the drop of a hat, the loosing of an argument or the falling of a kite. Fists were the weapons of choice.

Kites are made to be flown and give pleasure to the flyer and to spectators. So, have you ever flown a kite in peace with yourself and friends in harmony, somewhere in a quiet place, away from the maddening crowd and from electrical wires? Could you consider our Cooperative Republic of Guyana, which has few Coop Societies, as a kite struggling to get off the ground even though there are strong breezes such as gold, diamonds, manganese, bauxite, timber, rice, sugar, fruits galore, fish in abundance, ground provisions and excellent weather and coming on the horizon, “Just off the Atlantic”, as Hilton Hemerding sings in his patriotic song “Beautiful Guyana”, oil and gas galore.

Guyana also can boast of having some of the most brilliant people on the planet. You might ask yourself: Why is it that ‘Kite Guyana’ is just a few feet off the ground instead of soaring way up in the blue sky? Is it because of a land breeze blowing in the wrong direction in the form of criminal activities at all levels in our society? Also, selfishness in many areas of the beach in which bullies attack others who they feel that they can suppress and oppress? Is it a typhoon-type breeze from abroad ripping the ‘Kite Guyana’ into shreds?

Looking back some 70 years to my Easter Monday experience mentioned earlier, I still vividly remember my first cousin Neville, taking on that big bully and beating him to a pulp. Neville flew away at age 80. I can’t inform you of the life span of that Easter Monday Kite flying Bully. But this I know, ‘Kite Guyana’, small though it is, is taking on the bully to the west, as all Guyanese patriots sing along with Dave Martins, “Not a Blade of Grass”.

Tomorrow is Easter Monday, and many families – fathers, mothers and their children – will go kite flying. And so, as the song in the musical “Mary Poppins” states, “Let’s go fly a Kite”. However, make sure that you do so away from electrical wires. Let’s hope that there is nuff, nuff breeze tomorrow and your kite, no matter what size and design, will take to the sky in glory.
HAPPY EASTER to one and all.