Oh gosh, the heat!

- Photo courtesy Pixabay
- Photo courtesy Pixabay

Culture Matters

“HEAT!” “Oh gosh!” “This sun stinging, gyurl!”

It has finally happened. People in TT are increasingly speaking to each other in a different language – the language of weather.

This was not invented by us, as the British have famously (or notoriously) been talking in weather for decades.

Indeed, the apparent British obsession with the weather has been extensively analysed. The Scots actually have an entire weather-based lexicon featuring words like snell – meaning freezing cold; drookit – soaking wet; and the favourite word of them all, dreich – gloomy, devoid of sunshine.

And in Japan, their haiku poems, only 17 syllables long, are often about the weather. This is a beautiful example by Matsuo Basho: “I’m a wanderer/ so let that be my name/ the first winter rain.”

If I were to analyse our latest weather-influenced greetings, I would say they are typical of how we behave even when we are not discussing the elements. For example, people who greet me with the word “heat!” are not particularly interested in a response. Rather, it is a confirmation of present conditions. Like how sometimes we would ask a question without even listening for the answer – “Aye, how you going, boy? Yeah, yeah.”

Our tendency to be dramatic is also reflected in this new language, providing another opportunity to gesture with our hands on our hips or communicate with our entire bodies how we feel about a subject.

Culturally, some of our traditions already celebrate or reflect particular types of weather or the changing of seasons. Growing up, even though this season did not occur here, we accepted that Phagwa was a spring festival originally from India, celebrated primarily by Hindus. Carnival is now synonymous with the hot and dry season at the beginning of the year, while Hosay is commemorated in accordance with the Islamic lunar calendar.

But viewed seriously, the new language of weather goes beyond cultural observances or our love of a good gossip. Our climate is changing and the fluctuation in weather patterns continues to have grave implications for our long-term survival.

The more mature of us acknowledge that the extreme heat, frequency and force of storms and rise of sea levels all occur as a direct result of irresponsible human behaviour. Fortunately, the recent change in attitudes to our environment may now also be witnessed across our cultural industries. For instance, tadjahs – the large temple structures built for Hosay – used to be disposed in the sea. Today, they are discarded in a more environmentally friendly manner.

Some Carnival bands have started to use recycled materials as a base for their costumes. And recently, when I was disposing of my plastics, someone proudly mentioned they were planning a wedding with centrepieces made from plastic bottles.

But while these gestures are steps in the right direction, is it too little too late? Data surrounding the pollution of the ocean by human beings is extremely discouraging. Some “eight million tonnes of plastic per year end up in the ocean...fish eat plastic, and we eat the fish.”

As man-made fires in the nearby Amazon forest burn out of control, we are reminded that “the world has already lost 80 per cent of its forests.”

In our region, the United Nations has documented an increase in greenhouse gas emissions as a result of urbanisation, dairy farming and non-sustainable energy consumption practices, among other things. We are literally heating up at an alarming rate.

Citizens and cultural workers should be applauded for their efforts, but right now, plastic centrepieces and recycling of plastic bottles are not enough. For every time that I use my recyclable bag, I observe dozens of plastic bags being given to other customers. We casually quote statistics of one million cars on our roads, as if this reality is detached from increasing air pollution and the heating up of our physical environment.

Caribbean governments must be more innovative, community-based and incentive-driven in generating change at a faster pace. They also need to take the lead concerning the business community, such as creating building codes that mandate the planting of trees for new construction. As calypsonian Baron sang back in the 90s, “We got to become more competent/The way we protect the environment/And fight, fight for all that it’s worth/Fight to save Mother Earth.”

I have to leave you now to go in town, and yes, I confess my a/c is on more regularly these days. But, oh gosh, heat! Or as my mother’s generation might say, “Bonjay, sa ces chalay meme!”

Dara E Healy is a performance artist, communications specialist and founder of the NGO, the Indigenous Creative Arts Network – ICAN

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"Oh gosh, the heat!"

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