VS Naipual in his book A Writers People describes former PM Eric Williams as, a proper black leader...with dark glasses and a hearing aid, stylish (a necessary quality) with these simple props, and soon overwhelmingly popular. An apt description I guess. I reflected on this sentence when I saw an full-page political advert by the UNC in the Trinidad Guardian today touting their St Joseph candidiate Ian Alleyne Man of Action. Bespectacled in a stylish duo tone frames, tailored dark suit betrayed only by a simple yellow-gold tie indicating political affiliation, smart cuff-links and a bejewelled right hand, he points to the reader suggesting behind a smug expression that when you get past my TV personality, you will find a real person. The coiffure, the furniture, the setting, the style and the props! Naipaul described the politician correctly. The façade falls apart though. The mauli (the red string bracelet sacred in Hinduism) is on the wrong wrist; right hand for men. I may assume (incorrectly) there is a Hindu nexus with the bracelet so close to Divali and from a party that boasts a Hindu base. He may in reality be channeling celebrity fascination with Kaballah; the red string is worn correctly on the left hand and mimicked by many Western celebrities. Trendiness and faddishness aside, Ian Alleyne represents our continued compulsion to be swayed by style over substance in how we select representatives. He hasnt been elected as yet, and if the polls are correct, he may never be elected in St Joseph, but the trotting out of this charismatic and clearly popular culture hero as a kind of avatar of the future of politics in our country makes 50 year old descriptives of our country are either ironic or pathetic: Trinidad has always admired the sharp character who, like the sixteenth-century picaroon of Spanish literature, survives and triumphs by his wits in a place where it is felt that all eminence is arrived at by crookedness. (VS Naipaul The Middle Passage, 1962)
Posted on: Mon, 28 Oct 2013 17:19:00 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015