Carnival........ what can I say ...... other than IT'S OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes, so while for the past few months many people in Trinidad and Tobago were consumed with this "festival" ; or while many were partying every night, getting drunk and doing it all over again the next night; while others were trying desperately to get those last 5 lbs off their hips so that they can fit into the "bikini" costume, that they paid $3000TTD for and others taking in the calypso tents and steelpan; there were some who were waiting patiently for today - Ash Wednesday - which marked the END of carnival and life back to normal; the beginning of Lent and did I mention life back to normal!
It was very interesting to hear on the TV yesterday, announcers talking to band leader after band leader as their masqueraders crossed the stage. I must have heard a million times the commentators make comments about band leaders having to defend the "bikini and beads" mas! I'm not a band leader so I don't know what it takes, but sometimes as a spectator and as one looking forward to seeing Carnival return to it's former glory and decency, I have to wonder what these "bikini and beads" band leaders really know about carnival. If you have to defend bikini and beads mas so much maybe you should go back to the origins of Carnival - A REAL COSTUME. A Bikini (better known as swimwear) and some Beads does NOT make Carnival!
Bikini and beads creates the Carnival that so many of our citizens today absolutely HATE. It creates a Carnival that sends people into a frenzy and behave as if they are animals just released from Emperor Valley Zoo; it creates a behavior that each and every person will be ashamed of the next morning; and yet this is what they love!
I was told that this is what Carnival is (obviously by a bikini and beads lover). "Carnival is about letting loose and freeing up yuhself" . If "freeing up yuhself" means behaving like a harlot in the streets of Port of Spain - thanks, but no thanks.
I do however applaud those bands that are trying desperately to hold true to what Carnival is - an expression of our culture and creativity.
I applaud those bands who made a stance during the past two days - saying to our nation and to the world that there are still people who know how to have a good time and not sin their soul in the process.
I applaud those bands that hold true to modesty and decency everyday of the year - regardless of whether it is Carnival Monday or Carnival Tuesday.
I applaud those bands for really stretching the imagination and going that extra mile to design costumes that send a message and not just make you think of a Brazilian Mas or a Southern French nude beach.
Although I missed the presentation of Genesis, (loosely known as the Catholic Carnival Band) I did see their costumes beforehand. I know this band received a lot of criticism - but I will say one thing to the critics (especially the Christian critics) - Do you think we should allow a cultural festival to be dragged into the gutter the way it has been going for the past five to ten years, or should we try to make that change, take OUR culture back and send the devil packing!
I salute the bands like Genesis and Brian Mac Farlane's Humanity - Circle of Life Presentation for holding ground and taking a stand and "preaching" to the nation that Carnival is more than bikinis and beads, drunk and disorderly behavior.
Carnival is our culture and our heritage, it is our pride and our joy and if (as I witnessed on countless occasions) you are ashamed to be seen on television in a bikini and beads then you should be ashamed to consider it Carnival.
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