Nothing holding me down!

Facing the uncertainty of exactly where I will be parading in my Fireman costume come Carnival Monday and Tuesday, I have noticed many people having unsure, negative and worrisome feelings about what their Carnival 2007 experience is going to be like, especially with the latest developments in the Savannah Saga. Now, I will admit at times I do get annoyed at our Government for not giving the Savannah a last lap for 2007, but you know what I have faith that when all is said and done Carnival 2007 will be amazing!

We are Trinis, God made us resilient and though we may suck our teeth at change, when all is said and done we embrace it and find a way to make it our own. For those who left Trinidad for whatever reason, journeying to another country where memories of home are all that makes the day bearable sometimes, don’t you find a way to adapt? And not only adapt, but still retain the core of what it means to be Trini. You know exactly which shop sells the West Indian groceries, you can make callalloo from spinach leaves and you have all the Carnivals across the United States of America, Canada and even across the pond in London, marked on your calendar. Just the fact that there are so many statewide and worldwide spin-offs of our Carnivals should say something about us, about the fact that we might be in “their” country, but that does not mean we have left “our thing” behind. Our culture is something that has bridged the gap across oceans for West Indians everywhere.

So, when other islands are now boasting about and promoting their 2007 Carnival, I get the sense that they think Trinidad Carnival in 2007 is in some sort of jeopardy from which they will benefit. But, and no offense to any other “small island”, even if the worse predictions for Carnival come true I will still have 100% of a better time than celebrating Carnival on any other island. You know why, because I LOVE my culture, I LOVE my country and nothing anywhere else can come close to our Carnival; even with all the bacchanal and all the drama Trinidad Carnival is still a festival so unique, spellbinding and exhilarating that it can never be replicated or duplicated by any other country. Nevermind there are Carnivals all over the world, there is only ONE true Trini Carnival.

Today I am confident, I am confident that picking up the newspaper and reading another headline about the NCC or NCBA is not going to get me down. I take comfort in the fact that change is inevitable and with it comes an opportunity to make history. In 2006 for many of us, we were part of the generation that crossed that Savannah stage for the last time, and in 2007 we will again go down as legends. We will be the first to experience this “mas on the move” and each and every masquerader has a duty and a responsibility to inject all their Carnival spirit into this parade and make it work. And even though we may not wholly embrace this change, it’s time to start looking at it as something positive; lets begin to see the glass as half full, instead of half empty.

When I am too old for the bikini mas, swathing my body in some sort of fabric in a band that has “meaning”, I want to me able to tell my children that the very fact that they can enjoy Carnival as it will be then is because I was one of the troops that took up the challenge in the face of uncertainty and charged forward knowing that I only had that one chance to contribute in making Carnival 2007 a success.