Proud to be Bajan

Barbados will officially celebrate its 50th Anniversary of Independence on November 30th. Whilst many Barbadians have already decided how they will celebrate on that day, there are a few who have openly suggested that there is not much to celebrate.

 

The view held by these pessimists is that Barbados has a litany of woes that needs addressing before the country can even begin to think about celebrating in grand style. 

 

I am just wondering, however, if these persons who have such a negative outlook at present refrain from celebrating their birthday simply because things are not quite right in their corner of the world. 

 

While we all have to face reality and we accept that on the economic and even the social side, Barbados still has a long way to go to secure a good future for upcoming generations, why shouldn’t we celebrate our Golden Jubilee and all that we have accomplished to date as a small island developing state?

 

I would even go further to suggest that not one of those Barbadians who has suggested that this country has nothing to celebrate – since things are so bad here – would opt to go live in a neighbouring country or even an international one. By comparison, they may find that they have ten times the concerns that they presently do if they were to migrate.  

 

I am not by any mean saying that we ignore any of our issues or sweep them under the carpet. But what I am suggesting is that persons think twice before they make a blanket statement that is truly baseless.

 

That said, let me switch gears and declare to the world that I am a proud Bajan! I love driving to Bathsheba and the East Coast; taking walks on the shores of our beautiful breezy beaches while spotting the boats or ships in the distance. I love me some good ‘ole Bajan Cou Cou and flying fish, whipped to perfection. I love most things uniquely Barbadian.

 

What I will choose to reflect on now is our dialect. There are so many people who visit here who fall in love with it. Many of us can speak the Queen’s English, but at the drop of a hat, we can also deliver some good ‘ole Bajan dialect when we feel the need. I just love it when Bajans speak as only Bajans can, but of course, you have to be aware of the setting. 

 

So to hear one Bajan telling another that they will not be feeding information to a particular person because that individual likes “licking da mout”, I will chuckle to myself; and when I hear Bajans giving directions, telling motorists to “guh down dey so and turn lef and mek two rights”, I will stifle a laugh. When I also hear a Bajan telling another a juicy story and ending the storytelling with the retort, “Man I ent even unpick ma teet”, I just say to myself, well, well, well, now that is a real Bajan.

 

Of course, a new type of dialect seems to be taking over. With phrases such as “bout hey heavy” or things “pop down” being used to describe certain situations, I do believe that the next generation will have their own way and style of communicating that will drastically differ from generations prior.

 

Nonetheless, I believe you will always find a Bajan somewhere, who will still state: “reverse back dey so”; “put it ova dey”; or even “lower down de TV”. 

 

Now let me take time from chuckling to myself about small matters to finally wish every Barbadian a Happy Independence!