Life, Culture and the Arts

Here is a touching story. The people of the Russian town of Beslan, where terrorists killed a bunch of kids, is giving US$36000 to tsunami relief, out of the funds the world sent them after their ordeal. That’s the kind of thing that gives me a little hope.

In fact, everyone’s response to the tsunami crisis –with the exception of George Bush and the Ayn Rand Institute– has been so passionate and genuine that I, ever the grey cynic, am actually moved. The response in Toronto and Ottawa to our call for help has been grand, with, for example, entertainers organizing themselves into fundraising events. There’s nothing wrong with feeling good about yourselves, people; you’ve earned it.

Meanwhile, the US military is looking for a way to legalize the lifetime incarceration of terror suspects without trial. An official policy of torture -in some cases to death- and now of lifetime imprisonment without due process: welcome to Orwell’s 1984 two decades too late.



On a completely unrelated note, a new movie called Guiana 1838 finally tells the tale of the arrival of Indian indentured servants to Guyana. Those people were my direct ancestors, and I’m happy their story is finally being told.



And this Guyanese fellow has some personal good news. For a while now, my work has been studied at Cornell and Columbia Universities in New York. Last year both, Ryerson University (in Toronto) and the University of New Brunswick (in Fredericton) added my bibliography to their English classes. And today I learned that my short story “Motherland” is being included as material for a new undergraduate course called “India, Life, Culture, and the Arts.” Whoohoo!

Don’t forget, if you live in Toronto, try to attend our fundraising event at Andy Pool Hall tonight!