Sunday Magazine 10th Nov 2013

Sunday

Times November 10, 2013

Star Times Bollywood:

Amitabh Bachchan: ‘I can't sing that well’ See story on page 14

Magazine

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The Women of Pageantry Page 5

Essequibo Businessman Invests in Aquaculture

A passion for volunteering

Page 2

‘There is No Stopping Me’ Leroy Phillips, who is totally blind, is one of the many significant voices who has travelled far and wide to represent his country and those with disabilities Page 4

Says investment worthwhile

Page 3

The Shaping of Guyanese Literature The 2014 Walter Rodney Award for Creative Writing Page 6

Ratha Yatra

An age-old festival of Indian arts

Page 21

Welcome to Shulinab

Page 23

2 Times Sunday Magazine

guyanatimesgy.com

november 10, 2013

Times Feature

S

oft-spoken volunteer Shaminee Rohit, affectionately called Shako, has over the years blossomed into a confident young woman who is known for her selfless giving.

At just 13, Shaminee was already very concerned about the lack of reading materials for children, so when Roadside Baptist Church established a small community library in the early 1990s, Shako did not hesitate to offer her service, becoming the centre’s very first volunteer. She would spend two hours after school, three times weekly, to assist young people with books and homework.

Unfortunately, because of an illness, she was forced to leave school during the first term of fifth form. That, however, did not daunt her passion for volunteering. She coopted the support of her sister, Sharo, to fill the gap during her prolonged illness.

Then, in October 1995, Roadside, through support of Futures Fund/CIDA, was able to establish a fully organized library, and Shako was back on her feet and ready to undertake the responsibility of the librarian, with no expectation of any remuneration.

Her experience with the small library had prepared her for the task and for interacting with older people. She was also able to motivate her sister to stay on as an assistant and to offer fulltime library service to the public.

Shaminee was first to enrol in a newly introduced income-generating skills training class in 1995 to pursue training in cake decoration – in which she excelled.

Additionally, she has benefitted from other programmes in Indian cuisine, decorative cushion making, and catering at Roadside.

Later, she became the instructor of several other such classes as it was very expensive for the centre to hire experienced professionals. During that time, Shaminee

Overseas-based Guyanese author Kamil Ali

O

verseas-based Guyanese Kamil Ali is living his dreams of being a writer, and he encourages youths to persevere in making their dreams come true.

Kamil was born in Kingston, Georgetown in British Guiana. After attending high school and University of Guyana, he mi-

Shaminee Jaipersaud

Seama Balram

was preparing for Pitman’s English, typing and shorthand examinations at a private school. Her success in that examination was the catalyst for her enrolling in the London Business English Correspondence where again she excelled.

With the introduction of Information Technology in 1998, through support from the Embassy of Japan, Roadside was eventually able to pay at least one staff and sure enough Shako was that person. To date, she has equipped numerous women and girls with income generating skills. She presently heads the Information Technology department at the centre where about 80–100 persons are trained annually.

With hard work came blessings.

Shaminee found love at Roadside Baptist.

She met her husband, Terry Rohit, who also shares her passion for volunteerism. He joined the team at the centre in 2001 at the start of a project implemented in collaboration with the Building Community Capacity Project/CIDA. That project targeted out of school youths. It was an income generating skills training project and Terry was employed as the instructor for the Domestic Electrical Installation programme. They couple has been happily married since 2006 and have two beautiful children, Jonathan and Akira.

grated to Canada in the early 80s, and now resides in Ontario with his family.

“I have always been a prolific reader and always kept a dictionary close at hand. I was fortunate to attend Saint Stanislaus College which had a strong influence on my latent talent for writing and brought out the creativity in me. The environment was conducive to the arts. I recalled playing the Bishop in a house-play called ‘The Bishop's Candlestick’.

We also did elocution contests which brought out the poet in me.

“Of note is my fellow classmate, the late Sir Ian Valz, who made a movie and received knighthood from the queen of The Netherlands.

At UG I was a biology ma-

jor and chemistry minor for two years before migrating to Canada. I am a financial planner/broker and I have an insurance industry designation called CAIB, in addition to Certification in Specialty fields of insurance,” the venerable writer related in an interview with Guyana Times Sunday Magazine .

Kamil’s passion for writing started in high school due to his love for reading. As an ardent reader of mostly books on paranormal, Kamil was inspired to pen “The Appointed Collection”. He later published “Profound Vers-ATales” in which he shares his philosophical ideas.

“In December 2008, I published “Profound Vers-ATales”. It contains 12 poems covering a variety of topics.

Seama Balram

Another long standing volunteer at Roadside Baptist is Seama Balram. Shortly after her CSEC examinations, Seama pur-

There are storytelling poems dealing with morality and human tragedy and an assortment of philosophical topics. I have recently had my second book published by eTreasures Publishing as an e-book soon to become available in print.

It is called, “The Initiates”.

“It is the first book of ‘The Appointed Collection’ which will consist of five novels, and will encompass the genres of paranormal occult, fantasy, thriller, and indications are trending toward a young adult readership. The second novel of the series is called, “The Order of the Mirror”, which is completed and in the editing stages,” he disclosed.

Kamil believes he is a citizen of the world with universal beliefs. He is on an eternal quest for knowledge and feels an obligation to share his findings for the benefit of anyone willing to acknowledge his offerings.

“Writing is more a passion than a therapy. I do my writing between four and seven every morning. This is the time when my inspiration is at peak. I am in my zone, without distraction. So what’s next for me? “Gateway to the Dark Site”, the third of the series of The Appointed Collection, should be released about a year after “The Order of the Mirror”. I have also planned, at the recommendation of my wife, to convert “The Beggar”,

sued training in information technology at Roadside and requested to offer her service as a volunteer.

Sadly, due to a lack of funds to reimburse travelling expenses, Seama was put on hold, although she clearly stated in her interview that she was not looking forward to any monetary compensation. She wanted to serve because she was inspired by the work done at Roadside.

After about two years of waiting, she was called to assist in the library. Shaminee trained her to become a library assistant. Today, Seama has the full responsibility of the library where she is now employed fulltime. The annual subvention from the Government of Guyana, through the Ministry of Education, is a great help towards this.

Seama teaches basic keyboarding skills and manages the snackette at Roadside.

Over the years, like Shaminee, Seama has benefited from several training programmes and has assisted diligently with the afterschool programmes for orphans and vulnerable children.

“Roadside will miss this dedicated person when she leaves to join her husband abroad. Yes, she is now married. It must be noted that Roadside thrives on volunteerism and, over the years, very many have served for short periods but Shako and Seama are our longest serving volunteers– at least five successive years The board of directors and staff of Roadside will like to thank Shako and Seama for their labour of love and wish them continued success,” Yatrawatee Katryan, the centre’s director, expressed.

Roadside Baptist Church Skills Training Centre has always stressed the importance of volunteerism and there are those who, despite challenges, are willingly offering their time and resources in giving back to their community.

a poem from “Profound VersA-Tales”, to a novel format. I am also a contributing writer for the Indo Caribbean newspapers on topics relating to Guyana,” he outlined.

The writer pointed out that his biggest inspiration has always been his father.

Moreover, he is inspired by his drive to accomplish the dreams he had since his teenage years.

“My advice to youths is to believe in yourself before ask-

One of his recent works, 'The Initiates'

ing people to believe in you.

Dare to dream but don't forget to persevere whenever the nagging feeling of self-doubt wants to creep into your mind. My dream was to become a published author and I made my dream come true,” Kamil declared.

For more information on this Guyanese author visit his website at www.kamiltheauthor.com, there you will find pages filled with inspiration for all ages.

guyanatimesgy.com

november 10, 2013

Times Sunday Magazine

3

Times Focus

Says investment worthwhile more staff as he is looking to expand his farms, with production reaching 500 tons per year. He said his fishes will be exported to overseas markets.

Plans

Samaroo (R) and the minister (centre) discuss the farm

By Indrawattie Natram

A

fter clearing more than 135 acres of dense forest in the Red Lock area on the Essequibo Coast, today businessman Doodnauth Samaroo is literally reaping the benefits of owning an aquaculture farm. Samaroo is the owner of his own fish farm located in the Red Lock Area, a village located just before Mainstay\Whyaka, on the Essequibo Coast.

Sunday Times caught up with Mr Samaroo for an interview, and he explained his investment in detail. Unfolding his venture, Samaroo, formerly a local contractor of Hampton Court Village on the Essequibo Coast, said he branched off from the business of house construction to fish farming.

Speaking from his fish farm in Red Lock, Samaroo

said the main reason for his move is because he is a "lover of fishes" and he is fascinated with taking care of them. He related that due to his love for fishes, he was prompted to invest more than $100M on the fish farm project in the dense forest.

"Stepping stone"

Samaroo said the project commenced a year ago with help from the agricul-

ture ministry. He said he was able to acquire the land, which was at first "dense forest" and waterlogged savannah. The land acquisition, he recalled, was a stepping stone for his fruitful investment. “I am very thankful for the land. My mind was always on the opening of a fish farm, but land was the problem. Today I am so proud I made a move," he declared.

Samaroo said his farm has its own fishing farm where fingerlings (small fishes) are grown, and before he constructed the nursery, he did research on the ideal construction of the building. As such, compartments were erected in the building with different compartments where fingerlings are grown in fresh water and given oxygen via electrical pumps, before being transferred to the ponds.

He said his farms keenly follow procedures in nurturing the fishes.

The businessman also set up an incubator and hatchery at the farm, in an effort to boost production. He said in the extension phase of the farm, piggery, cattle rearing and sheep and goats will be added on a large scale, while sweet water shrimp will be introduced.

Plans are also in the pipeline for Samaroo with the construction of a feed mill which would provide local feed for the fishes and animal on the farm. He said

Fish farm owner Doodnauth Samaroo

as such, he will be soon begin purchasing corn, copra and broken rice for the manufacturing of the feeds.

The farm’s electrical appliances are being powered

by Guyana Power and Light.

Agriculture ministry approved

Minister within the Ministry of Agriculture, Alli Baksh recently visited the fish farm and expressed his satisfaction on the massive development and transformation that is taking place on the farm. Baksh congratulated the businessman for venturing into the fishing business and helping to boost the fishing sector in Guyana.

The minister, accompanied by Samaroo, during his visit inspected several ponds on the 135-acre plot, and expressed his amazement over the rapid transformation.

Fresh water paku fishes caught in a seine from a pond

He said since he is an established buildings contractor, he had machinery readily available at his disposable, and as such did not hesitate, so clearing and excavation commenced immediately on the land.

After weeks of clearing, the ponds were then dug and the construction of offices was established.

Record keeping

Looking at some sweet water paku

The ardent businessman said he built offices to accommodate staff so that proper record keeping can be conducted on his farm.

At present he noted he has some 32,000 hassar in stock along with fresh sweet water paku.

He projected that within six months he will need

Minister Baksh (1st right) inspects the fish farm nursery

Baksh said he is really impressed with the businessman’s activities, considering that the first time he visited the farm several months ago, Samaroo just had seven ponds.

The minister also viewed the fishes and machinery and equipment available.

Baksh assured Samaroo that technical officers from the Ministry of Agriculture will be sent shortly to advise him on the expansion technically. He advised the businessman to share his experiences with other fish farmers so that they can be motivated by his operations.

Baksh revealed that the Ministry of Agriculture is encouraging persons to get into aquaculture since there is a huge demand on the international market. He noted that once persons venture into the business, the agriculture ministry will support them.

4

Times Sunday Magazine

guyanatimesgy.com

november 10, 2013

Times Feature

A Distinctive Commitment ‘There is No Stopping Me’ Brother Martin Mairena of St Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Church believes choosing priesthood is a direct call from God

By Indrawattie Naitram

R

eiterating these sentiments in an interview with Guyana Times Sunday Magazine before his ordination to the Acolyte, Brother Martin Mairena, who hails from Nicaragua in Central America, said it is something he wants to do, not only for himself but for the entire Catholic community.

The order of Acolyte allows Mairena to assist a member of the clergy in the performance of Church rites.

“To be ordained to the Acolyte is not the end of my life, it’s a stepping stone to becoming a priest; it’s a direct call from Christ, God Himself; for that I do not stand alone, I have the Catholic Church; Christ, who is the founder of the church. I will be officially accepted as another member of the church as a minister," Mairena stated.

He related that he has received the necessary teaching and grooming to

Commitment

Mairena said his new phase of life will begin this

A

lthough living with a disability since he was six, Leroy Phillips, a broadcaster at NCN and a member of Guyana’s blind cricket team headed by Ganesh Singh, continues to exude optimism and continues to amaze many with his conviction and dedication in never allowing his disability to deter him from doing great things.

One of his recent achieve-

then flew finally to Nairobi, Kenya.

“I was excited to meet other Young Voices members who also had other disabilities, and also to tour the location we were in. I heard about Kenya being a poverty stricken area but the part I stayed apparently was a developed location. I visited a mall similar to the Westgate Mall which is located in Kenya. I was told of other huge build-

One of the main purposes of being in Nairobi, Leroy recalled, was to formulate a plan that will sustain LCD/ YV beyond its current funding. He pointed out that he was floored by the “SOAR” analysis. The 4-letter acronym stands for Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations, and Results. The SOAR initiative, according to Leroy, will help Young Voices members to use their resources

Brother Mairena, positive and optimistic about his life-changing ceremony, declared that it is a blessing to honour Christ’s teachings

Sunday, after he is ordained

by Bishop Francis Alleyne of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, otherwise known as Brickdam Cathedral. He said that the Bishop is especially visiting the Essequibo Coast for his ordination ceremony.

“The ceremony does not make me a priest, however it prepares me for the duty of one," he explained, saying that accepting the po-

Father Hugo Carde Nas

enter into this new phase of his life after spending almost three years in Guyana, and has decided to progress from being a brother to a priest.

He said he has freely accepted God’s calling by saying yes and honouring Christ’s teachings.

Although living with a disability since he was six, Leroy Phillips, who is totally blind, is one of the many significant voices who has travelled far and wide to represent his country and those with disabilities

sition is actually separating him from a lay person and making him a more religious one.

Mairena said after undergoing rigorous teachings on philosophy and theology among others, he is confident he can pass on the teachings of Christ, and receiving the order is a fulfilment for him. He is very happy about his service and

intends to spread the word.

“I have attained internal peace, having accepted this proposal from God. At this point I must thank my parents for the support given to me during my studies and to Christ Himself who died for all of us," Mairena said.

Dedication

Mairena disclosed that after his ceremony he may spend a few months more in Guyana then return to the mission’s headquarters in Washington DC in New York where they will decide where to send him.

He advised those focusing on furthering their priesthood studies to remain focused and trust in God. Believe in oneself and remain positive, he also advised.

Father Hugo Carde Nas, who oversees the St Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Church in Charity on the Essequibo Coast, congratulated Mairena for stepping into the priesthood.

A priest for 44 years, Carde Nas said that it’s a new phase for Mairena and it is indeed a call that comes directly from God. Mairena will receive the order of Acolyte on Sunday, and Carde Nas explained that on this Sunday, the usual Sunday Mass will be conducted and the ordination will be carried out.

Father Carde Nas also explained that persons who want to become a Catholic priest would have to undergo studies and be dedicated.

At the Giraffe Center, Leroy (far right in red shirt) and other members of Young Voices from across the world enjoyed feeding a giraffe

ments was visiting Nairobi, Kenya. It was an unforgettable trip made possible by the Leonard Cheshire Disability’s Young Voices, (LCD/YV) an international movement of more than 1,200 young people worldwide with disabilities. The organisation speaks out for the rights of people around the world living with disabilities.

In an interview with Guyana Times Sunday Magazine, the 23-year-old said he is fortunate and thankful to be given numerous opportunities to travel around Guyana and internationally through the Young Voices (Guyana) group.

“Recently, I attended Young Voices Global Meeting 2013 held in Nairobi, Kenya.

My experience of being in Nairobi, Kenya, for the four days or so was awesome.

While in Nairobi I spent most of my time networking with people from the various parts of Africa and other continents. I even spent a great deal of time understanding the language. The Nairobi experience was one to remember for a lifetime. Not very often I hear or know of opportunities like these being offered to people, particularly those living with disabilities. However, thanks to Leonard Cheshire Disability, these unforgettable opportunities are made possible, especially the Nairobi visit, which was a dream-cometrue experience for me,” he declared.

Leroy stated that his journey took him from Guyana to Trinidad and then to Miami where he spent about six hours. He then headed to France, an approximately eight-hour flight, and

ings in the area. I was lucky to have an informative driver, Hassan, who took me around shopping and visiting various places. The most exciting place was the Giraffe Centre where I got the chance to feed one of them. It was truly a surreal experience. I stayed at Milele Hotel which was about 10-15 minutes away from the airport. They told

and time to create a clear path to a brighter future.

“When I was six and had lost my sight, I didn’t think that I would get opportunities to travel and be able to represent my country at international forums.

I’m happy and thankful to the Guyana Society for the Blind (GSB), Guyana Blind Cricket, and Young Voices for

Leroy poses with a member of Young Voices and displays his Certificate of Participation at Young Voices Global Meeting in Nairobi, Kenya

me it was a low-risk area because of the recent attack on the Westgate Mall and had to take extra precautions,” Leroy related.

The Young Voices’ member said that it is important for the Leonard Cheshire Disability’s Young Voices to continue its work because of the support and services it provides for those with disabilities. He also mentioned that learning about the organisation’s development over the years and its significant achievements helped to cement the fact that Young Voices is not only being promoted by voices but by pertinent ideas and strong conviction from all those who have disabilities.

the work being done for persons with disabilities. These organisations have done a lot for me and others who have disabilities. My encouragement for those with disabilities is to get yourself involved in organisations that will help you develop as an individual. I have never allowed my disability to stop me from achieving my dreams.

I’m currently part of GSB’s CSEC project and will be sitting my exams next year, and then I want to go on to UG to do a degree in public communications. The sky is the limit and with the support from the organisations I’m part of and from family and friends, there is no stopping me,” expressed a confident Leroy.

guyanatimesgy.com

november 10, 2013

Times Sunday Magazine 5

Times Women

Umblita Van Sluytman

Morvinia Sobers

Alana Earnest

Meleesa Payne

Mia Rahaman

Jenel Cox

Leanna Damond

Tamika Henry

Part II

B

eauty pageants have always been hugely popular – as well as controversial. As with anything involving aesthetics, it’s often a subjective experience. Miss Guyana pageants have been no exception.

Guyana Times Sunday Magazine this week looks back at the women of the Miss Guyana Universe pageant who went on to represent their country at Miss Universe over the years. Last week, we looked back at the highs and lows of the Miss Guyana World pageant.

Miss Guyana Universe

Records of a Miss Guyana Universe can arguably be said to have begun in 1956 as a Miss British Guiana Universe, when Rosalind Iva Joan Fung was crowned and sent off to the fifth Miss Universe competition held in the U.S.A where she was unplaced. The 1956 Miss Universe was an unusual pageant when compared to today, since it was a combined Miss USA and Miss Universe pageant, which was won by Miss U.S.A. – won by Miss Iowa.

There was no representative in 1957, but in 1958, a young Clyo Fernandez was Miss British Guiana Universe, who went unplaced in the 1958 Miss Universe, won by Miss Columbia. Fernandez reportedly died in 1998.

No representative of the British colony would take part in the pageant from 1959 to 1962; then in 1963, Gloria Flackman became Miss British Guiana Universe 1963 and travelled to the USA where the pageant would be held until 1971. She too remained unplaced and the event was won by Miss Brazil.

Mary Rande Holl became Miss British Guiana Universe 1964 and was in the USA for the twelfth Miss Universe, which was won by Miss Greece – but not after some drama when Miss Nigeria had to be escorted kicking and screaming from the stage after failing to place in the semis. Rande Holl also failed to place.

The 1965 Miss British Guiana Universe, Cheryl Viola Cheeng, would also not gain a place in the 1965 Miss Universe pageant, but she would see Miss Thailand become the shortest Miss Universe, at just 5’4”.

It was 1966, and British Guiana was now independent Guyana. The first Miss Guyana Universe was Umblita Van Sluytman. Though she did not place in the competition won by Miss Sweden, by virtue of being the country’s first Miss Universe contestant, she remains a familiar name to local pageant followers. Umblita was one of the very few

Reigning Miss Guyana Universe Katherina Roshana

Guyanese to represent Guyana at both Miss World and Miss Universe pageants. She was also the last Guyanese contestant at a Miss Universe pageant for 33 years.

Like Miss Guyana World, there were dark days for the Miss Guyana Universe pageant in Guyana, until 1999 when Morvinia Sobers became the representative of Guyana’s return to the Miss Universe pageant. However, the country’s fortunes at Miss Universe pageants remained unchanged as Sobers failed to place, and Miss Botswana won the 1999 Miss Universe crown.

There was a three-year hiatus for the Miss Guyana Universe pageant; the country’s return was anything but graceful.

The year 2002 was fraught with controversy for both Miss Guyana Universe and Miss Universe title holders. When Mia Rahaman was announced Miss Guyana Universe 2002, displeased members of the audience staged a walkout, while the last Miss Guyana Universe, Sobers, felt cheated out of protocol that dictated she crown the new queen as the last titleholder. At the Miss Universe pageant, Rahaman failed to place; Miss Russia won the crown but was dethroned some four months later for dereliction of duties and Miss Panama received the coveted title. Rahaman found herself in the headlines again a few years later for importing a controlled substance into

Odessa Phillips

Candisie Franklin

Kara Lord

Ruqayyah Boyer

Canada.

Calm appeared to have been restored in 2003 when Leanna Damond was crowned Miss Guyana Universe; she too however, failed to impress at the Miss Universe pageant which was won by Miss Dominican Republic.

Odessa Phillips represented Guyana at the Miss World 2002 and Miss Universe 2004 pageants, placing her among the few who represented Guyana at both international pageants. She did not place at the 2004 Miss Universe pageant, won by Miss Australia.

Linden-born Candisie Franklin became Miss Guyana Universe 2005 and arrived in Thailand to compete in the Miss Universe pageant. Though she too failed to place and it was won by Miss Canada, Candisie went on to earn her law degree and is now governance and compliance officer of Caribbean Governance Consultants Inc. in St Kitts Alana Earnest became the 7th Miss Guyana Universe in 2006, though the Mahdia-grown queen failed to break Guyana’s Miss Universe jinx and Miss Puerto Rico won the contest.

Meleesa Payne represented Guyana at the 2007 Miss Universe pageant and also failed to place at the event won

by Miss Japan. Payne remains however, a pageant participant, having recently won the Miss Tropical Paradise title, and continues her professional dancing and fashion designing careers.

There was no Miss Guyana Universe representative at the 2008 Miss Universe pageant, but Jenel Cox became the 2009 Miss Guyana Universe winner. Though criticised as somewhat brash, she headed to the Bahamas for the 58th Miss Universe pageant. She too failed to make an impact and the crown went to Miss Venezuela.

Tamika Henry and Kara Lord were the 2010 and 2011 Miss Universe contestants respectively, representing Guyana. Both were unable to quench the national thirst for a place in a Miss Universe pageant. Instead, it was Miss Mexico and Miss Angola at the 2010 and 2011 pageants respectively, who won the crown.

Surinam-born Ruqayyah Boyer is the most recent pageant queen to represent Guyana at both the Miss World and Miss Universe contests. Though she failed to place in the 2012 Miss Universe, the country gained some headlines when she fell during the preliminary evening gown competition. The crown went to Miss U.S.A. At the time of writing, the reigning Miss Guyana Universe, Katherina Roshana, was preparing for the 2013 Miss Universe pageant.

6 Times Sunday Magazine

guyanatimesgy.com

november 10, 2013

Times Book World

The Shaping of Guyanese Literature

The 2014 Walter Rodney Award for Creative Writing

By Petamber Persaud

I

n recent times, I’ve done a few articles, mainly book reviews, on Walter Rodney as a writer of children’s literature. Here is something I had once to say about the man as a writer: “Rodney knew the importance and value of writing our own history against the distortions peddled by our colonial masters who reported a history in a conqueror/ vanquish relationship.”

In 2005, I wrote a short biographical sketch of Rodney to mark the twenty-fifth year of his passing.

Now I am happy to use this column to pass on a significant initiative made in Rodney’s honour to further enhance the literature of this country.

The Walter Rodney Foundation has established a literary award to sustain the legacy of Rodney. The name of that award is the ‘2014 Walter Rodney Awards for Creative Writing’.

Please find below terms and conditions of the award. For more information contact: walterrodneyfoundation@gmail.com Terms

and

Conditions of the 2014 Walter Rodney Awards for Creative Writing 1. Name: The Walter Rodney Awards for Creative Writing (Short Story and Poetry Competition) 2014.

2. The Walter Rodney Awards for Creative Writing are named in honour of the scholarship, research and writings of Dr Walter Rodney, a PanAfricanist historian, educator and political activist; recognized as one of the Caribbean’s most brilliant minds. Rodney spoke about research, scholarship and creative writing, noting that even in challenging times, great literature has been produced.

3. The inaugural Walter Rodney Awards for Creative Writing (Short Story and Poetry Competition 2014) will be awarded to current UG students or UG graduates within the past three (3) years who are currently living in Guyana.

4. All entries must be original unpublished works of the applicant in prose (2000 words or less) or poetry (a maximum of 60 lines). There is no restriction on the subject matter of the writing, i.e. writers are free to choose whatever themes/topics/subjects

they wish.

5. Entries can be extracts from longer works.

6. Writers are invited to submit one entry only.

A writer cannot submit for both categories.

7. Award Values: The winner of each category will receive a cash prize of 100,000 Guyana dollars.

The runner-up of each category will receive a cash prize of 50,000 Guyana dollars. Up to six “Special Mention” awards, each worth 15,000 dollars, will be given to writers of merit and promise, from each category.

8. Entries must be submitted via email to walterodneylegacy@gmail.com with the subject heading: Walter Rodney Creative Writing Award – Short Story or Walter Rodney Creative Writing Award – Poetry, as appropriate for the type of submission.

9. Name, Address, Year of Study or Graduation, Email address, telephone and any required contact details must be placed in the body of the email.

10. Entries must be submitted on or before midnight on the 15th day of February, 2014. Entries will not be accepted after this date and time.

Walter Rodney (March 23, 1942 – June 13, 1980)

11. Winners will be notified at the email address stated in their entry.

12. Submissions will be not returned.

13. The Walter Rodney Foundation has ongoing permission to publish the works of all award winners in any format that the WRF determines. Copyright will remain at all times with the writers. Apart from publication by the Walter Rodney Foundation, writers are also free to publish elsewhere.

14. A total of 500 copies of the winners’ entries will be published. Twenty copies will be given to each prize winner; remaining copies will be donated to schools and libraries in Guyana.

15. Winners agree to participate in publicity events in connection with the competition.

16. Winners of the inaugural competition will be notified in March 2014,

in conjunction with or at the 11th Annual Walter Rodney Symposium.

17. The decision of the competition judges will be final and no correspondence will be entered into.

18. Judges will be provided by the Walter Rodney Foundation and include a minimum 3-judge panel; pre-judges may be used to short-list the entries depending on volume.

19. The Walter Rodney Awards project is a nonprofit, non-commercial one.

20. By submitting an entry, the writer agrees to all terms and conditions of the competition.

Earlier I had indicated my delight in promoting this award because of my ongoing interest in local literature; all of my projects are biased towards the appreciation of literature, on the whole, and, in particular, the appreciation and enhancement of local

literature.

Rodney was a man of many parts but in my mind, in my book, I have always associated him with books: a gifted man of letters since I came to the realisation that he triggered a ‘literary revolt’ in the Caribbean region, and while in Guyana attending Queen’s College, Rodney made the Carnegie Library (now the National Library) his second home from where he started a dialogue with local, regional and international thinkers.

This reading eventually led to his writing, expanding the dialogue for present and future generations. His literary output included “A History of the Upper Guinea Coast, 1545-1800”, “How Europe Undeveloped Africa”, “Groundings with my Brothers”; “People’s Power, No Dictator”, “Guyanese Sugar Plantations in the 19th Century” and “A History of the Guyanese Working People, 1881 – 1905”. His contribution to children literature included “Kofi Baadu Out of Africa” and “Lakshmi Out of India”.

Rodney’s literary output has elicited numerous and varied responses, adding to our literature. And this new award for creative writing will contribute enormously to the shaping of our literary heritage.

Responses to this author telephone (592) 2260065 or email: oraltradition2002@yahoo.com What’s happening: • Your are invited to the launch of “An Introduction to Guyanese Literature” by Petamber Persaud on Friday November 22, 2013, in the Conference Room of the National Library, starting time 5 pm (17 hours).

This 150-page-book is a rich collection of Guyanese literary pride and joy, containing more than 100 photographs.

guyanatimesgy.com

november 10, 2013

Times Sunday Magazine 7

Times Feature

YOUNG PROFESSIONALS

Star of the week

By Vahnu Manikchand

G

rowing up, Arvindu Sukhram was always determined to be successful, and managed to maintain a balanced life with his academics along with social activities.

Coming from of family of five he is the eldest of three children, and grew up in Alexander Village, Greater Georgetown. Despite coming from a family with comfortable means, he understood the importance of hard work.

Sukhram attended the West Ruimveldt Primary School where he wrote the-then SSEE in 2002. He was awarded a spot at Queens College and wrote 12 subjects at CXC in 2007 from which he gained 11 grade ones and one grade three. Sukhram, in his drive to become successful continued school, this time spending two years in Sixth Form to write seven CAPE subjects.

With his exemplary performance at CXC, Sukhram received the award for outstanding performance in Business Education. He was presented with his award from the examinations council on Dec 6, 2007, in St Lucia.

Suhkram explained that he had a balanced life while in school, giving importance to both his academics and extracurricular activities. “I was not a nerd. I used to be active in a lot of clubs and societies. I was even the president of some of those societies, but I still maintained my academic performance. I think you should have a balance between them the two.”

Along with his award from CXC, Sukhram was also given a scholarship to the University of the West Indies. As such, he moved to Barbados where he spent three years earning a double major in Economics and Management.

At UWI, Sukhram continued with his co-curricular activities and was an executive member of several clubs. “It was a great experience because I got to learn about difference cultures and people from difference nationalities, not only in the Caribbean but other parts of the world.”

He related that his experience in Barbados was challenging as he was very young and on his own for the first time. “It was hard especially during the holidays because I was away from my family, but I came home during the August break and Christmas. I don’t regret being on my own because I learnt to do everything for myself. It was hard at first but with time I began to manage it, and I am glad I had to do that because now I am fully independent and don’t need to depend on anyone to do those things for me.”

After completing his studies, he returned to Guyana in 2012 and began working as sales manager at King’s Jewellery World, a position he currently holds.

In school, Sukhram was keen on becoming an economist – hence the direction of his academic pursuits.

“Right now I am just working to gain experience, however I plan to pursue my masters’ degree. However I am still deciding whether I should do so in finance management or economics.”

Sukhram’s advice to young persons with dreams and ambitions is to work hard. “You should not be myopic: think about long term and the future, don’t be settled on the present. You have to work hard and I am sure it will pay off in the long term.”

A

former West Indies Under-19 captain, Steven Anthony Jacobs has expertly proved himself with his tight off-spin for Guyana over the last three years. He is a righthand batsman who also bowls off spin. He made his first-class debut for Guyana during the Carib Beer Cup in 2006, and played two matches, after which he captained the West Indies Under-19s in the 2007-2008 KFC Cup. The pro cricketer started as a batting all-rounder, but found more success with the ball since graduating to the senior ranks. Jacobs is also known as an athletic fielder, which helped him to be drafted on the Guyana Amazon Warriors. The Malteenoes Sports Club cricketer showcased his proficient cricket skills and was instrumental in helping his team gain many victories.

Speaking to Guyana Times Sunday Magazine Jacobs disclosed that he plans to excel in the upcoming first class season, Super 50 and CPL so that he can gain a spot on the West Indies A Team and, more notably, the senior team.

8 Times Sunday Magazine

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Times Kids Page

Barracuda

Did you know?

T

he barracuda (Sphyraena) is a large species of fish found in the warmer, coastal regions of the world's oceans. There are more than 20 different species of barracuda that range in size from less than 50cm to nearly 2 meters in length.

Although barracudas can be found in the deep ocean, they tend to prefer coastal habitats along continental shelves and close to coral reefs.

Barracudas are able to swim at more than 40 km/h in short bursts, which they do to overtake prey that may be trying to swim away.

The carnivorous barracuda primarily feeds on smaller species of fish, marine invertebrates, crustaceans and squid, which the barracuda usually ambushes with its tremendous power.

Despite the difference in size and colour between barracuda species, all species of barracuda have a similar elongated appearance, and pointed head with powerful jaws, containing rows of sharp fang-like teeth.

T

he barracuda is known to be an aggressive and dominant predator, and often acts aggressively towards humans diving or snorkelling in the water.

Due to the fact that barracudas can grow into very large sized fish, the barracuda has few natural predators in the ocean besides sharks and killer whales; and humans who hunt them for food.

DOG BREED WORD SEARCH

The objective of the game is to fill all the blank squares in a game with the correct numbers. Every row of 9 numbers must include all digits 1 through 9 in any order. Every column of 9 numbers must include all digits 1 through 9 in any order. Every 3 by 3 subsection of the 9 by 9 square must include all digits 1 through 9.

please see solution on page 22

Colouring Fun

ALSATIAN BOXER BULLDOG CHIHUAHUA DACHSHUND

DALMATIAN DOBERMAN GERMAN SHEPHERD HUSKY LABRADOR

MASTIFF POODLE ROTTWEILER SHARPEI TERRIER

FUN FACTS

Human Body

The brain uses over a quarter of the oxygen used by the human body.

The smallest bone found in the human body is located in the middle ear. The staples (or stirrup) bone is only 2.8 millimetres long.

The left side of your body is controlled by the right side of your brain while the right side of your body is controlled by the left side of your brain.

It takes the body around 12 hours to completely digest eaten food.

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Times Sunday Magazine 9

By Laurie Triefeldt

Once home to the Vikings, the Kingdom of Denmark in Northern Europe is a Scandinavian country. It consists of the Jutland Peninsula and 406 islands. Visitors come to enjoy this land’s natural beauty, sandy beaches, blue lakes and green fields, along with its modern cities, quaint villages, castles and canals.

Denmark’s official flower is the red clover. Its official tree is the beech.

Just the facts

Area 16,562 sq. mi. (42,916 km ) Skagerrak

Form of state Constitutional Monarchy

Danish is the official language of Denmark, but most adults also speak English. Danish is related to the Norwegian and Swedish languages.

Head of state Queen Margrethe II Highest elevation Møllehøj 561 ft (171 m) above sea level

Thisted Alborg

Fredericia Esbjerg

North Sea

Denmark has been a member of the European Union since 1973.

Denmark is one of the world’s largest food exporters.

Denmark is home to two of the world’s oldest amusement parks, Dyrehavsbakken (Deer Park Hill), which opened in 1583, and the famous Tivoli Gardens, which opened in 1843.

The Lego toy company is based in Billund, Denmark. The first Legoland amusement park is located next to the original Lego factory.

Zealand

GERMANY

Bornholm Mon

Falster

Rodbyhavn

ASIA

AFRICA

Denmark has a temperate climate with damp, mild winters and cool summers.

The Vikings

The Danes are very proud of their Viking heritage.

The Vikings (or Norsemen) lived more than 1,000 years ago. Originally from Scandinavia (Denmark, Sweden and Norway), the Vikings were warriors and explorers, but they were also traders, poets, shipbuilders and craftsmen.

Viking raids on European towns were feared for centuries. The Viking Ship Museum in Roskilde has many Nordic boats and five Viking ships on display.

Ronne Baltic Sea

Far and away Climate

Many Danes believe storks bring good luck.

Godnat (guh hnad)

Thank you

tak (tack) Undskyld (UN shkuld)

How are you? Hvordan går det?

(VOR-dan gore deh)

Copenhagen Odense Funen (Fyn)

God morgen (guh MORN)

Good night Sorry

Roskilde

Lolland

Iceland was under Danish rule until 1918. It continued to recognize Denmark’s monarch until 1944.

Because flooding is a threat to many areas of Denmark, a system of dikes has been built to protect the land.

SWEDEN

Kolding

Danish author Hans Christian Andersen wrote many popular children’s stories, including “The Ugly Duckling,” “The Emperor’s New Clothes” and “The Little Mermaid.”

On May 5, 1945, at the end of World War II, Denmark was liberated from Germany. To celebrate, people placed lit candles in their windows — a tradition still practiced today.

Helsingor

Vejle

Abenrå

Farvel (far vel)

Good morning

Randers

Arhus Billund Horsens (Legoland)

Natural resources Petroleum,

natural gas, fish, salt,

limestone, chalk,

stone, gravel and sand

Did you know?

DENMARK

Herning Jutland

Agriculture Barley, beef and dairy cattle, chickens, hogs, potatoes, rapeseed, sugar beets and wheat

Hej (hi)

Good bye

Thyboron

Danish krone

Manufacturing Bacon, butter, cheese, engines, electronics, furniture, ham, machinery, pharmaceuticals, ships, textiles and clothing

Kattegat

Hello

Lowest elevation Lammefjord

23 ft. (7 m) below sea level

Fishing Blue mussel, cod, herring, lobster, mackerel, plaice, sand lance, sprat and whiting

Coat of arms

Learn Danish

5,602,536 (2013)

Capital city Copenhagen

Monetary unit

The famous Little Mermaid bronze statue by Edvard Eriksen can be seen in Copenhagen Harbor.

Skagen

50 km 50 mi

2

Population

The ancient Danish flag is called the Dannebrog which means “flag of the Danes.”

Although it lies off the coast of Canada, Greenland is a territory of Denmark. The Faroe Islands, north of Scotland, are also a part of Denmark.

The landscape Denmark’s landscape tends to be low and flat with rolling hills. About three-fourths of Denmark is farmland; almost all of the country’s natural forests were cut down long ago.

The coastlines are characterized by lagoons, gulfs and inlets — some have sandy, white beaches, while others are wild dunes or marshes.

The people

The people of Denmark are known as Danes — many have blond hair, blue eyes and are quite tall.

About one-fifth of all Danes live in or near Copenhagen.

The people of Denmark have one of the world’s highest standards of living. Some surveys say that they are also the happiest people in the world.

Food for thought

A Danish breakfast might consist of cereal and juice or tea. But a favorite breakfast treat is a crumble called ymerdrys, made with grated rye bread and brown sugar.

It is not unusual for Danes to pack a brown bag lunch to take to work or school. This meal typically consists of an open-faced sandwich called a smørrebrød, made up of dark rye bread topped with a variety of fish or cold cuts, egg, cheese or special spreads such as liver paste.

The land is largely covered by glacial stone and dirt called moraine.

The mute swan replaced the lark as Denmark’s official bird in 1984.

Smørrebrød

Dinner is usually eaten at home with family — this meal is called middag, because it used to be eaten in the middle of the day.

In addition to pastries and puddings, pancakes or crepes filled with jam and topped with sugar might be served for dessert.

SOURCES: World Book Encyclopedia, World Book Inc.; http://denmark.dk/; www.cia.gov; www.worldatlas.com; www.infoplease.com

10 Times Sunday Magazine

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Times Fashion

M

arcie De Santos now has her name written among the stars after she was chosen by the Caribbean Export Development Agency (CEDA) to represent Guyana at the prestigious Dominicana Moda in the Dominican Republic.

The Guyanese designer was one of a chosen seven, with the other six hailing from Bahamas, Barbados, Haiti, Trinidad, Jamaica and Dominican Republic.

Dominicana Moda can easily be called the Caribbean’s most international runway presentation, as it has attracted celebrity designers like Ellie Saab and Italian Fashion Mogul Frankie Morello.

At the event, Marcie’s label MARSAE offered casual and semi-casual female collections where bright coloured clothing were made from linens, chiffon and stretch taffeta. The lines of the clothing were relaxed and less structured, and reminded the viewer and wearer of aquamarine Caribbean Sea waters and white sandy beaches.

In a press release, Marcie said that she chose to move away from her usual fabric tones paired with hand painted accents, to offer clients a more ready-to-wear line. Her decision was based on two factors: cost to the client in these harsh economic times and the fact that brighter colours are trending internationally at present.

Marcie is thankful for the coverage she received at the event and to Caribbean Export for the opportunity of showcasing her collection.

She also is grateful to God because since her trip she now has a renewed perspective on fashion after being exposed to the epitome of professionalism.

The fashion veteran looks forward to marketing and selling her new line in chic boutiques across the Caribbean. She also plans to showcase her best at upcoming regional and international trade and fashions shows.

For more information call 685-4545 or 2170294 or email at marcie.fashion@gmail.com (Cover : Photos by Obrey James)

Designer Marcie De Santos

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Times Sunday Magazine 11

Star Times Hollywood

C

harles Michael Davis is an American actor and model. He is best known for his role on the CW television drama, “The Originals”. Davis got his start with the talent agency Actors, Models, and Talent for Christ (AMTC).

He has done print modeling and commercials for Nike and FootLocker.

The actor has had guest and recurring appearances in several notable television shows, including “That's So Raven”, “Switched at Birth”, and “Grey's Anatomy”. In 2011, he landed a recurring role on BET's “The Game” as Kwan Kirkland, a quarterback for the San Diego Sabers. In February 2013, it was announced that Davis was cast in a lead role on The CW's new show “The Originals”, a spinoff of “The Vampire Diaries”, centered on the ‘Original Family’ as they move to New Orleans, where Davis' character (a vampire named Marcel) currently rules.

12 Times Sunday Magazine

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Times Hollywood

Grande mobbed Eminem's childhood Detroit Ariana in Paris: ‘I almost died!’ home goes up in flames S J

ust two days after the world at large got a glimpse of Eminem hanging out on the steps of his dilapidated childhood home in Detroit in the booklet to his just-released “The Marshall Mathers LP 2”, the modest twostory bungalow went up in flames.

According to the Detroit News, a fire sparked by as-yet-undetermined causes damaged the home on Detroit's east side Thursday evening. When members of the Detroit Fire Department's Engine 60 arrived at the vacant house at 19946 Dresden at 6:30 p.m. they were not aware that it was Mathers' former home.

Crews were met by flames shooting out of the second floor and were able to put out the blaze, which damaged the home's upper portion. As of Thursday, the Michigan Land Bank website had listed the home for sale with a reported worth of just under $33,000.

The 747-square foot brick building, now owned by the Michigan Land Bank, was listed as the address of Eminem's mother, Deborah Mathers,

from 1989 until 2003. After changing hands close to 10 times sine 2003, it failed to sell at a recent auction and was taken over by the bank.

A Slim Shady superfan, Shelly Hazlett of Clarksville, Tennessee, put in a $100 bid on the home as well as a $500 deposit on Monday with the intention of turning the house into an Eminem museum. Despite the water and fire damage, Hazlett, 28, said she is still determined to go forward with her plans.

"I'm really upset about it," Hazlett told MLive.com. "My question: 'Can I still get it?' If it's not completely gone, can I still get it? That's this first thing I went through my mind when I heard the news." Hazlett could hear whether her bid has been accepted within five business days. "If they would still let me have it, I would have it in a heartbeat - as long its still sort of standing ... The first thing I do every morning is check on the house and see if there's any news about it." (MTV)

light exaggeration from Ariana Grande, there. But still. Being mobbed by scores of fans on the streets of Paris must have been a terrifying experience.

The American singer, 20, who is currently dating The Wanted's Nathan Sykes, was barely able to take a single step as fans rushed forwards, forcing her bodyguard to take action and lead her out of the crowd.

"Thank u to my French luvs for the overwhelming welcome, I love you too much! even tho we almost died today lmao! See u soon," she tweeted after the stampede.

But things were far calmer after she touched down on British soil. Grande was snapped on the streets of London wearing a tartan skirt and a cute, pussyboy top as she took to Twitter once more to share some big news with her followers.

"The 1st song #LastChristmas out Nov 19.

I can't wait for u to hear our spin on it. There will be originals as well! Hope u love the music," she tweeted.

"I'm releasing new music

for Christmas! New song every week as a countdown to the holidays starting Nov19.

Beyond excited to share them w/ U!" The star made sure she caught up with her British boyfriend Sykes, too. ‘The Wanted’ singer took time out of his busy schedule, promoting the release of the band's new album “Word Of Mouth”, to attend Ariana's special show at Rise Club in the city. (Glamour)

David Beckham named ‘Most Stylish Man of the Year’

S

urprised?

David Beckham has been named the Most Stylish Man of the Year at the 2013 GQ Men of the Year Awards. The event took place at the Komische Oper in Berlin, Germany on Thursday, Nov. 7.

Looking dapper, the retired soccer player wore a dark suit, white shirt, and pencil tie for the evening.

Like Kate Middleton and Prince William earlier in the day, he also donned a poppy pin to honor London Poppy Day. "Like no other athlete, David Beckham represents style and fashion influence," José RedondoVega, editorin-chief of GQ Germany, said of the 38-year-old at the event.

He continued: "With his trendsetting and sometimes daring appearances he has created a bridge between

the world of design, models, and photographers, and the world of world-class sports, and brought glamour back to a male sport."

The father of four with fashion designer Victoria Beckham wasn't the only famous face in the audience. "Blurred Lines" crooner Robin Thicke and actor Kellan Lutz were also in attendance. (US Magazine)

Margot Robbie 'goofing around' with Will Smith

N

othing to see here!

That's Margot Robbie's response to speculation that's been swirling ever since suggestive photos of her and Will Smith, taken in a photo booth, emerged this week.

"Been working non-stop, just catching my breath.

There's absolutely no truth to the ridiculous rumor," the Australian actress wrote on Twitter.

She adds: "It's disappointing that goofing around on set could be taken so out of context."

That echoes what an insider told PEOPLE on Thursday – that Robbie, 23, and Smith, 45, "are just friends and were just being silly" by baring their chests in a photo booth on the set of the movie Focus.

Smith has not commented publicly on the controversy. But the source told PEOPLE that the incident poses no threat to Smith's relationship with wife Jada Pinkett Smith, saying: "Will and Jada's marriage is fine.

Everyone there knows it was nothing." (People)

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Times Sunday Magazine 13

Star Times Bollywood

Anushka Sharma is an Indian film actress and model who appears in Hindi films. In 2008, she was signed by Aditya Chopra for a three-film contract with Yash Raj Films and consequently made her acting debut in Chopra's “Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi”. She later received critical acclaim for her role as an ambitious wedding planner in the 2010 romantic comedy “Band Baaja Baaraat”. Both films earned her Best Actress nominations at the Filmfare Awards. In 2012, the actress was praised for her performance in the romantic drama “Jab Tak Hai Jaan”, which earned her the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress. Sharma is currently shooting for Rajkumar Hirani's political satire “P.K.” alongside Aamir Khan as well as Anurag Kashyap's periodic love story “Bombay Velvet” in which she is cast alongside Ranbir Kapoor. She will also star in and co-produce Vikramaditya Motwane's action thriller “NH10”.

14 Times Sunday Magazine Times Bollywood

Amitabh Bachchan: ‘I can't sing that well’ M egastar Amitabh Bachchan, who has lent his unique baritone to many hit Bollywood tracks, considers himself a mediocre singer.

"I can't sing that well, I haven't even learnt it. I do it when some people ask me to sing. Due to modern technology today one can sing in tune. And with the help of it I have sung songs," said Bachchan, who has sung memorable songs like “Rang Barse”, “Mere Angane Mein” and “Neela Aasmaan”, in his films.

The 71-year-old actor attended the

launch of Saregama India Limited's ghazal album, “Destiny”, last night.

The album features songs by legendary singers Anup Jalota, Talat Aziz, Pankaj Udhas, and Sumeet Tapoo.

"I would urge everyone to hear this beautiful album. It will give you all a lot of peace and a good sleep as well," Bachchan said.

"I am thankful to be here. Anoop Jalota has contributed tremendously to the world of music. We have had a close relation with Pankaj Udhas. I have liked Talat Aziz's songs," he added. (Hindustan Times)

Kareena Kapoor: 'I don't feel insecure about Saif's intimate scenes

K

areena Kapoor has said that she is not insecure about seeing husband Saif Ali Khan in intimate sequences with other heroines on-screen.

The actress claimed that the couple is able to separate their personal and professional lives.

Speaking to PTI, she said: "We do not feel insecure. This is my professional life and my personal life has got nothing to do with it at all.

They are two separate areas of my

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november 10, 2013

life. There is no insecurity that I feel. He is an actor and that is his job.

"He should get intimate with other actresses. If it is a romantic song he should look like a romantic hero. He should look good all the time [with his co-stars]. I want him to do that and vice versa."

Kapoor also described Khan's “Bullett Raja” co-star Sonakshi Sinha as his best on-screen pairing.

(Digital Spy)

Imran Khan fights for stray dogs

I

mran Khan is known for his calm and composed demeanour, but the actor recently got into a scuffle while shooting for his next, “Gori Tere Pyaar Mein”.

It was reported that while he was shooting a scene, which shows him getting scared of dogs and jumping on a car, Imran got into a fight with the dog trainer on set.

Imran explains, "The scene involved Kareena (Kapoor-Khan) feeding stray dogs and I'm supposed to be afraid of them. While I was walking to the location, I noticed that the local dog trainer was present there. He had a stick in his hand and, at one point, he whacked a dog. That's when I got angry."

He further elaborates, "I walked up to him and pushed him, indicating that he stop at once. At that time, one of his assistants came from behind and hit me. But

before I could turn around, the security personnel had intervened."

In the past too, Imran has been involved with a campaign that advocated the adoption of stray animals and is a pet parent as well. "I have adopted two stray dogs and five stray cats. They're all in my house, so I strongly support this cause," says the actor.

(Hindustan Times)

Aishwarya, Sharon Stone join hands for charity

S

haron Stone will get together with Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan to host the first fund-raising gala in Mumbai for amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research.

The high profile event will take place in November and the “Tik Tok” pop star

Kesha will perform on the occasion.

"I would like to thank the people of India for their conscientious work in the fight against HIV/AIDS and for allowing amfAR the privilege of joining them in this important global effort," Stone said. (Mumbai Mirror)

Hrithik Roshan mobbed at Mumbai screening of 'Krissh 3'

H

rithik Roshan has been mobbed while attending a Mumbai screening of “Krissh 3”.

According to The Hindustan Times, the actor was groped and pinched by the over-excited crowd.

Commenting on the incident, Roshan said: "Yes, that did happen. Frankly, I can only take it as a compliment. It's all good and I guess such things happen.

"I am quite certain that actors in Hollywood will be really jealous of this (the attention). The way Indians shower love on us, with all the hooting, whistling and cheering, you don't get to see it anywhere else. Guys in Hollywood won't ever get to experience this."

The 39-year-old star said he was overwhelmed by the public reaction to the film, saying: "The kind of response people have given to the film is insane. It's absolutely overwhelming and I don't get to experience this often. I have a few releases - once or twice in a year or two - so for me, looking at all of this is amazing."

The third film in the popular superhero franchise, “Krissh 3” has broken all box office records for the highest single day collections ever.

(Digital Spy)

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Times Sunday Magazine

15

Times Healthy Living

The Benefits of Slumber Why You Need a Good Night’s Sleep ting enough oxygen, and your brain disturbs your sleep to open your windpipe.

Apnea is dangerous.

“There’s little air exchange for 10 seconds or more at a time,” explains Dr. Phyllis Zee, a sleep apnea expert at Northwestern University.

“The oxygen goes down and the body’s fight or flight response is activated. Blood pressure spikes, your heart rate fluctuates and the brain wakes you up partially to start your breathing again. This creates stress.”

Apnea can leave you feeling tired and moody. You may have trouble thinking clearly. “Also, apnea affects the vessels that lead to the brain so there is a higher risk of stroke associated with it,” Zee adds.

If you have mild sleep apnea, you might try sleeping on your side, exercising or losing weight to reduce symptoms. A CPAP machine, which pumps air into

S

leep affects both mental and physical health. It’s vital to your well-being. Of course, sleep helps you feel rested each day. But while you’re sleeping, your brain and body don’t just shut down.

Internal organs and processes are hard at work throughout the night.

“Sleep services all aspects of our body in one way or another: molecular, energy balance, as well as intellectual function, alertness and mood,” says Dr Merrill Mitler, a sleep expert and neuroscientist at NIH. When you’re tired, you can’t function at your best.

Sleep helps you think more clearly, have quicker reflexes and focus better. “The fact is – when we look at well-rested people, they’re operating at a different level than people trying to get by on 1 or 2 hours less nightly sleep,” says Mitler.

“Loss of sleep impairs your higher levels of reasoning, problem-solving and attention to detail,” Mitler explains. Tired people tend to be less productive at work. They’re at a much higher risk for traffic accidents. Lack of sleep also influences your mood, which can affect how you interact with others. A sleep deficit over time can even put you at greater risk for developing depression.

But sleep isn’t just essential for the brain. “Sleep affects almost every tissue in our bodies,” says Dr Michael Twery, a sleep expert at NIH. “It affects growth and stress hormones, our immune system, appetite, breathing,

blood pressure and cardiovascular health.”

Research shows that lack of sleep increases the risk for obesity, heart disease and infections. Throughout the night, your heart rate, breathing rate and blood pressure rise and fall, a process that may be important for cardiovascular health. Your body releases hormones during sleep that help repair cells and control the body’s use of energy. These hormone changes can affect your body weight.

“Ongoing research shows a lack of sleep can produce diabetic-like conditions in otherwise healthy people,” says Mitler.

Recent studies also reveal that sleep can affect the efficiency of vaccinations. Twery described research showing that wellrested people who received the flu vaccine developed stronger protection against the illness.

A good night’s sleep consists of 4 to 5 sleep cycles.

Each cycle includes periods of deep sleep and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, when we dream. “As the night goes on, the portion of that cycle that is in REM sleep increases. It turns out that this pattern of cycling and progression is critical to the biology of sleep,” Twery says.

Although personal needs vary, on average, adults need 7 to 8 hours of sleep per night. Babies typically sleep about 16 hours a day. Young children need at least 10 hours of sleep, while teenagers need at least 9 hours. To attain the maximum restorative ben-

efits of sleep, getting a full night of quality sleep is important, says Twery.

Sleep can be disrupted by many things. Stimulants such as caffeine or certain medications can keep you up. Distractions such as electronics—especially the light from TVs, cell phones, tablets and e-readers—can prevent you from falling asleep.

As people get older, they may not get enough sleep because of illness, medications or sleep disorders.

By some estimates, about 70 million Americans of all ages suffer from chronic sleep problems. The two most common sleep disorders are insomnia and sleep apnoea.

People with insomnia have trouble falling or staying asleep. Anxiety about falling asleep often makes the condition worse. Most of us have occasional insomnia. But chronic insomnia— lasting at least 3 nights per week for more than a month—can trigger serious daytime problems such as exhaustion, irritability and difficulty concentrating.

Common therapies include relaxation and deepbreathing techniques.

Sometimes medicine is prescribed. But consult a doctor before trying even overthe-counter sleep pills, as they may leave you feeling unrefreshed in the morning.

People with sleep apnea have a loud, uneven snore (although not everyone who snores has apnea).

Breathing repeatedly stops or becomes shallow. If you have apnea, you’re not get-

your throat to keep your airway open, can also help.

Another treatment is a bite plate that moves the lower jaw forward. In some cases, however, people with sleep apnea need surgery.

“If you snore chronically and wake up choking or gasping for air, and feel that you’re sleepy during the day, tell your doctor and get evaluated,” Zee advises.

NIH is currently funding several studies to gain deeper insights into sleep apnea and other aspects of sleep. One 5-year study of 10,000 pregnant women is designed to gauge the effects of apnea on the mother’s and baby’s health. Zee says this study will shed more light on apnea and the importance of treatment.

Good sleep is critical to your health. To make each day a safe, productive one, take steps to make sure you regularly get a good night’s sleep. (NIH)

16 Times Sunday Magazine

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Times Home & Cooking

Sweet Potato Squares with Lemon-Garlic Mayonnaise Add to your home’s curb appeal, without breaking the bank, by considering these few simple ideas.

Think symmetry. Symmetry is not only pleasing to the eye, it's also the simplest to arrange.

Symmetrical compositions of light fixtures and front-door accents create welcoming entryways.

Ingredients: 2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 32 (1-inch) cubes 2 tablespoons olive oil 1/2 teaspoon pepper 1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 pound spicy smoked sausage, cut into 32 (1/2-inch) pieces 32 wooden picks Lemon-Garlic Mayonnaise Garnish: fresh thyme sprigs

Method: 1. Preheat oven to 450°. Place sweet potato cubes on a lightly greased 15- x 10-inch jelly-roll pan.

Drizzle potatoes with 2 Tbsp. oil, and sprinkle with pepper and salt. Toss to coat.

2. Bake at 450° for 15 to 20 minutes, turning cubes twice.

3. Cook sausage in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until browned. Drain on paper towels.

4. Place 1 sausage slice on top of 1 sweet potato cube; secure with a wooden pick. Repeat with remaining sausage slices and potato cubes.

Serve with Lemon-Garlic Mayonnaise.

Garnish, if desired. Makes 8.

Tilapia Al Ajillo (Garlic Tilapia) Ingredients: 1 1/2 lbs tilapia fillets 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced 3 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper Lemon, for serving Chopped parsley (to garnish) Method: Season tilapia fillets with salt and pepper.

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat.

Put fillets in first, and when they start to turn colour a bit (after 1-2 minutes) add garlic slices.

Continue cooking about 4 minutes or so, and then flip fillets.

Fry until cooked through, and fish flakes easily with a fork-- this will depend entirely on the thickness of your fillets, so you will need to watch them carefully.

The garlic should turn a dark golden brown, but not be burned, if you notice that the garlic is starting to burn, spoon it over the fish, so it is no longer in contact with the pan.

Serve with freshly squeezed lemon juice and garnish with chopped parsley.

Serves 4.

Greatest Cooking Tips Most of the time pizza crust dough should be wet and sticky (use a little extra water). Toss in plenty of spices. Oil your pan with olive oil. Try baking the crust first, then add any topping and bake only to melt the cheese. Try dipping your fingers in olive oil when you flatten the crust in the pan. Use plenty of olive oil and the crust will be flavourful and crispy.

Dry food well with paper towels before adding to the pot; it helps reduce splattering.

Whenever barbecuing, use tongs to turn the meat. A fork should never be used for it will punch holes in the flesh and allow the natural juices to escape and loose flavour, and become chewy.

Home Help One of the easiest and cheapest ways to make a statement front is to give your front door a makeover with a coat of paint that coordinates yet contrasts with the rest of the house.

Notice too how potted plants, moulding and decorative door hardware add to the appeal

Polish stainless-steel cutlery by rubbing the pieces with a cloth dipped in vinegar.

If you lose the tiny cap to your glue or caulk tube, stick a screw in there instead. It’s preferable to use long screws to caps, because they’ll clean out the narrow area in the tube and make sure the glue or caulk doesn’t harden between uses.

To remove tar from your car's exterior, make a paste of baking soda and water then apply it to the tar with a soft cloth. Let it dry then rinse off with warm water.

Iodine stains can be removed by rubbing the spot with a freshly cut lemon.

guyanatimesgy.com

november 10, 2013

Times Sunday Magazine 17

Times Sunday Puzzle

50 10 10 8 6 3 Using all the numbers above just once, can you make the number 832?

see solution on page 22

see solution on page 22

see solution on page 22

18 Times Sunday Magazine

november 10, 2013

guyanatimesgy.com

Times Creative Writing

Perhaps you do not know it, but the monkeys think that all the bananas belong to them. When Brazilian children eat bananas they say, "I am a monkey."

I once knew a little boy in Brazil who was very, very fond of bananas. He always said, "I am very much of a monkey." If you are fond of bananas the Brazilian children would tell you that you are a monkey, too. This is the story they tell to show us how it all came about. nce upon a time when the world had just been made and there was only one kind of banana, but very many kinds of monkeys, there was a little old woman who had a big garden full of banana trees. It was very difficult for the old woman to gather the bananas herself, so she made a bargain with the largest monkey.

She told him t h a t if he would gather the bunches of bananas for her she would give h i m half of them. The monkey gathered the bananas. When he took his half he gave the little old woman the bananas which grow a t the bottom of the bunch and are small and wrinkled. The nice big fat ones he kept for himself and carried them home to let them ripen in the dark.

The little old woman was very angry. She lay awake all night trying to think of some way by which she could get even with the monkey. At last she thought of a trick.

The next morning she made an image of wax which looked just like a little black boy. Then she placed a large flat basket on the top of the image's head and in the basket she placed the best ripe bananas she could find. They certainly looked very tempting.

After a little while the biggest monkey passed that way. He saw the image of wax and thought that it was a boy peddling bananas. He had often pushed over boy banana peddlers, upset their baskets and then had run away with the bananas. This morning he was feeling very good-natured so he thought that he would first try asking politely for the bananas.

"O, peddler boy, peddler boy," he said to him, "please give me a banana." The image of wax answered never a word.

Again the monkey said, this time in a little louder voice, "O, peddler boy, peddler boy, please give me a banana,

O

just one little, ripe little, sweet little banana." The image of wax answered never a word.

Then the monkey called out in his loudest voice, "O, peddler boy, peddler boy, if you don't give me a banana I'll give you such a push that it will upset all of your bananas." The image of wax was silent.

The monkey ran toward the image of wax and struck it hard with his hand.

His hand remained firmly embedded in the wax. " O , peddler boy, peddler boy, let go my hand," the

monk e y called out. "Let go my hand and give me a banana or else I'll give you a hard, hard blow with my other hand." The image of wax did not let go.

The monkey gave the image a hard, hard blow with his other hand. The other hand remained firmly embedded in the wax.

Then the monkey called out, "O, peddler boy, peddler boy, let go my two hands. Let go my two hands and give me a banana or else I will give you a kick with my foot." The image of wax did not let go.

The monkey gave the image a kick with his foot and his foot remained

stuck fast in the wax.

"O, peddler boy, peddler boy," the monkey cried, "let go my foot. Let go my two hands and my foot and give me a banana or else I'll give you a kick with my other foot." The image of wax did not let go.

Then the monkey who was now very angry, gave the image of wax a kick with his foot and his foot remained stuck fast in the wax.

The monkey shouted, "O, peddler boy, peddler boy, let go my foot. Let go my two feet and my two hands and give me a banana or else I'll give you a push with my body." The image of wax did not let go.

The monkey gave the i m age of wax a push with his body.

His body remained caught fast in the wax.

"O, peddler boy, peddler boy," the monkey shouted, "let go my body! Let go my body and my two feet and my two hands or I'll call all the other monkeys to help me!" The image of wax did not let go.

Then the monkey made such an uproar with his cries and shouts that very soon monkeys came running from all directions.

There were big monkeys and little monkeys and middle-sized monkeys. A whole army of monkeys had come to the aid of the biggest monkey.

It was the very littlest monkey who thought of a plan to help the biggest monkey out of his plight. The monkeys were to climb up into the biggest tree and pile themselves one on top of another until they made a pyramid of monkeys. The monkey with the very loudest voice of all was to be on top and he was to shout his very loudest to the sun and ask the sun to come and help the biggest monkey out of his dreadful difficulty.

This is what all the big-sized, littlesized, middle-sized monkeys did. The monkey with the loudest voice on top of the pyramid made the sun hear. The sun came at once.

The sun poured his hottest rays down upon the wax. After a while the wax began to melt. The monkey was at last able to pull out one of his hands.

The sun poured down more of his hottest rays and soon the monkey was able to pull out his two hands. Then he could pull out one foot, then another, and in a little while his body, too. At last he was free.

When the little old woman saw what had happened she was very much discouraged about raising bananas. She decided to move to another part of the world where she raised cabbages instead of bananas. The monkeys were left in possession of the big garden full of banana trees. From that day to this the monkeys have thought that they own all the bananas. (South American Folktale from “Fairy tales from Brazil�

by Elsie Spicer Eells; 1917)

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveller, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that, the passing there Had worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I marked the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I, I took the one less travelled by, And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost

What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?

Only the monstrous anger of the guns.

Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle Can patter out their hasty orisons.

No mockeries for them; no prayers nor bells, Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs, The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells; And bugles calling for them from sad shires.

What candles may be held to speed them all?

Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes Shall shine the holy glimmers of good-byes.

The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall; Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds, And each slow dusk a drawingdown of blinds.

Wilfred Owen

Send your creative writing to sundaymagazine@guyanatimesgy.com

guyanatimesgy.com

november 10, 2013

Times Sunday Magazine19

Times World

The Global Stray Dog Population Crisis

T

he scope of the stray dog problem in many parts of the world is unimaginable. Street and village dogs have always been part of the developing world’s landscape, but exploding populations, increasing attacks on citizens and spiralling rabies epidemics have transformed this issue from a third world problem to a global public health priority.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that there are more than 200 million stray dogs worldwide, and that every year, 55,000 people die from rabies, while another 15 million receive post exposure treatment to avert the deadly disease. 95 percent of these cases occur in Asia and Africa, and 99 percent of the fatalities are caused by dogs.2 In Bali alone, the number of stray dogs is estimated at 500,000 and a rabies epidemic underway since 2008 has already killed 78 people. Despite culling somewhere between 120,000 and 200,000 dogs, and vaccinating an estimated 262,000 dogs, the epidemic rages on.

In the face of the continuing epidemic and shortages of human anti-rabies vaccines, the government has banned dogs from the streets alto-

gether -- perhaps the first at-large law imposed in this part of the world.

The stray dog-driven rabies crisis in Bali is hardly unique: India culls as many as 100,000 strays at a time, while attacks by marauding packs of dogs in Baghdad have led to a reinstitution of the same eradication program that was operated under Saddam Hussein. Its goal: the culling of over one million stray dogs.

In Bangkok and many other Asian and African locales, living with strays and rabies is just an accepted fact of life. An estimated 200 dogs per square kilometre occupy Bangkok, fouling sidewalks and streets, causing traffic accidents and serving as vectors for rabies and other diseases. A nip on the ankle by a stray dog in any of these developing countries quickly jolts Western tourists into the life and death reality of the situation.

Thankfully the stray dog overpopulation crisis has earned the attention of humanitarians, animal welfare organizations and businesses, and they’re rallying to the cause. The World Health Organization is working aggressively, often partnering with Non Government Organizations (NGO’s), to assure that the production

and distribution of rabies vaccines and post-exposure treatment keeps up with demand.

One of the most effective NGO’s working on the stray dog issue in the developing world is a group of veterinarians and volunteers called Veterinarians

cue groups are springing up throughout Asia, Eurasia, the Middle East, parts of Latin America and the Caribbean. Some jurisdictions, notably Shanghai and Singapore have built pounds to hold strays, while in other locales, private citizens have formed humane soci-

Without Borders. They can be found in many of the poorest countries of the world helping impoverished communities develop safe and healthy food supplies and eliminating some of the most dangerous diseases.

Neutering and vaccinating stray dogs against rabies is an important part of their work today.

At the same time, animal shelters and dog res-

eties and loose-knit groups of volunteers to care for rescued dogs.

These are all good signs.

But when Western activists contemplate solutions for the stray dog crisis in the developing world, they need to keep in mind the differences between third world problems and the ones we’ve experienced here. Pet ownership is less common in developing countries; third

BlackBerry’s Bad Timing Buries Its Own Flicker of Good News

T

iming is everything. Too early and your product will shrivel; too late and it will be overlooked no matter how shiny. Just ask BlackBerry — a company with spectacularly bad timing in recent memory. A string of hesitations and bad decisions made the BlackBerry maker too late to the mobile party again and again.

Clinging stubbornly to old QWERTY keyboard habits left its hardware out of touch — literally — when it came to competing with Android and iOS, and allowed RIM to delay the necessary refocusing of its mobile platform for too long.

That next-gen platform arrived eventually in BlackBerry 10, but the BlackBerry faithful had already mostly departed for pastures new, leaving the company with a load of unsold BB10 handsets and a $965 million hole in its books.

That story is so much water under the bridge now, as the company appears to be on the point of break-up, shopping itself around to potential buyers. But its bad sense of timing persists. Old habits die hard.

The latest case in point is a small example, but a telling one nonetheless. BlackBerry finally started rolling out its BBM messaging client to iOS and Android weeks later than originally planned, after a botched earlier attempt. And years late from a market point of view. If BBM had launched on Android and iOS back in 2010, how many users might it have now? And how many might mobile messaging giants like WhatsApp not have?

It was also the day Apple selected for its October iPad launch event. This date has been circulating as near-certified rumour since early October and had been officially confirmed since October 15. Yet despite that highly unfortunate marketing clash — a David and Goliath one when you’re going up against the hyperdrive of the Cupertino marketing machine — BlackBerry went ahead with its rescheduled BBM launch anyway. Why, BlackBerry, why?

Turns out there is still appetite for BlackBerry’s veteran messaging client — or at least people curious enough to take a look. But that story didn’t get a decent airing. The iPad Air stole its oxygen.

Into this attention vacuum, BlackBerry tweeted that BBM for iOS and Android had had 5 million downloads eight hours after launch. This was followed up by another official announcement saying BBM downloads had exceeded 10 million within 24 hours of its release. And that it had become the No. 1 free app in more than 75 countries, including the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Indonesia and “most of the Middle East”.

It’s just a shame that BlackBerry decided to bury this flicker of relatively good news under a tsunami of Apple-related PR. Once more unto the terrible timing breach.

Ten million downloads in a day isn’t bad. For BlackBerry it’s spectacular good news — the kind of news the company has been lacking for years.

So squandering the impact of having something positive to say for once seems like a seriously wasted opportunity.

Of course 10 million downloads does not mean BBM is alive and kicking, even as the company that created it heads for the breakers yard. The key test will be how many of those downloads turn into sustained usage. For some context, mobile messaging giant WhatsApp has some 300 million monthly active users, for instance, while Chinese messaging app WeChat has circa 190 million MAUs. Mobile messaging is now a very packed and fiercely competitive space, being attacked by giants like Facebook, as well as startups of all stripes. BBM’s 10 million downloads in a day is therefore a win, but a very small one. How many monthly active users would BBM have had on Android and iOS if it had launched three years ago?

It’s such timing-related questions that will haunt the company’s founders for years to come.

One more thing: BlackBerry is having to ration access to BBM — presumably so its servers don’t fall over again — meaning that people who have downloaded the app have to wait in a queue for an email notification before they can start using it.

Really, you can’t make this stuff up. (techcrunch.com)

world strays are seldom dogs that simply wandered off an owner’s property. Instead, they are often semi-feral dogs living at the outskirts of human communities, eking out an existence by feeding on human garbage.

So vast are the differences between the developing world and the US today, one must reach back to images of American cities in the 1800’s for comparison: an age when horses were still the primary mode of transportation, when domestic animals of all species often ran free, and garbage collection hadn’t yet begun.

The eradication measures employed by third world countries -- poisoning and shooting strays -spark sensational headlines and searing criticism in the West, but where people are still struggling to provide food and shelter for their families; where canine rabies is an epidemic, and where there are shortages of rabies vaccine and post exposure treatment, animal control is still a matter of human survival.

It is sad that stray dogs ever have to be killed, but to attempt to apply American no-kill philosophy to parts of the world where dogs are suffering as well as threatening human life is unreal-

istic and harmful. We recommend to the reader, the words of Mahatma Ghandi on the subject: “A roving dog without an owner is a danger to society and a swarm of them is a menace to its very existence... If we want to keep dogs in towns or villages in a decent manner, no dog should be suffered to wander. There should be no stray dogs even as we have no stray cattle... But can we take individual charge of these roving dogs? Can we have a pinjrapole* for them?

If both these things are impossible then there seems to me no alternative except to kill them... it is an insult to the starving dog to throw a crumb at him. Roving dogs do not indicate compassion and civilization in society; they betray instead the ignorance and lethargy of its members... that means we should keep them and treat them with respect as we do our companions and not allow them to roam about.” -- quoted from www.

Karmayog.com (Excerpted from The Global Stray Dog Population Crisis, by Patti Strand, National Animal Interest Alliance, USA) *A pinrajpole, such as the Madras pinrajpole in India, is a shelter for aged and infirm cattle.

20 Times Sunday Magazine

guyanatimesgy.com

november 10, 2013

Times Tech

On Internet, Brazil is beating US at its own game Guyana plans first IXP also (CONTINUED FROM NOV 3)

Domestic network equipment

Perhaps the most controversial portion of the Brazilian plan is to encourage private-sector network operators in Brazil, whether foreign or domestic, to use only Brazilian-designed and -produced telecommunication equipment in their networks. This is intended to address the fear that "back doors" will come installed in equipment sourced internationally, making it vulnerable to wiretapping by foreign intelligence agencies. This same precaution has led some countries to ban the use of Chinese-produced Huawei and ZTE gear from sensitive networks, but it also seems to penalize products from Cisco and Juniper that have not shown similar vulnerabilities.

The near-term winners from any such policy are likely to be Datacom and Padtec (based in Rio Grande do Sul and Sao Paulo, respectively), which are the current suppliers of networking equipment for Brazilian government networks. This is likely to backfire in the long term, however,

when those manufacturers try to grow beyond the Brazilian domestic market.

Like the satellite-development deal, this policy follows Brazil's well-established pattern of using high tariffs to displace foreign imports with domestic products. This strategy has worked brilliantly for Brazil in the past in the automotive and aerospace sectors and has been notably successful for many Asian economies. Nevertheless, stratospheric import tariffs on high-tech electronics have failed to jump-start a Brazilian electronics industry and have created substantial friction with international computer and networkingequipment producers.

Unlike the automotive and aerospace industries, computernetworking and information technologies scale with the network effect: Their value is partly determined by their relationship with other technology products and their users. Such products are entirely dependent on seamless interoperability between them and equipment made by different companies. So if Datacom and Padtec profit from Brazilian govern-

Global Distribution of Internet Exchange

mental protectionism in the near term, they will pay the price in the long term when they try to expand into international markets, since they will face the suspicion of other governments that the reason the Brazilian government favours them is that they incorporate unique Brazilian back doors.

In other words, this form of protectionism leads to the problems that Huawei and ZTE face today.

What about users?

In Brazil, as these plans unfold, more communication will remain within the country, creating a virtuous cycle with domestic content that is faster and cheaper while remaining more private.

Brazilian users' data will increasingly be subject to Brazilian governmental inspection only, not to both the Brazilian and U.S. governments. This is not speculative; it has been a clear trend for nearly a decade.

As always, users who want to protect their privacy should con-

sider storing data themselves, rather than in cloud servers where it may be accessible by intelligence services, and should consider employing strong encryption through standards like Pretty Good Privacy (PGP), with the longest encryption key lengths they have the patience for. As the cost of processing power lowers over time, intelligence agencies will be able to decrypt more and more recorded communications retroactively; the longer your encryption keys, the more years you have before your secrets are not just yours anymore.

Despite the clear benefits of these developments for Brazilians, their government's statements have been shrilly and incorrectly branded as extreme and decried as Soviet socialism by some U.S. media. This is largely due to a misimpression that what Brazil is doing is cutting itself off from the Internet or Balkanizing the Internet -- when in reality it's building more Internet faster.

Critics fail to understand that the path Brazil is taking was blazed in the United States. While Brazil may engage in aggressive rhetoric, its actions are sound. This may be the opposite of the United States' approach, which wallpapers over the NSA's damaging actions with the eminently reasonable diplomatic gestures of the State Department.

So far, local companies that have indicated their willingness to collaborate and build Guyana's first IXP (and produce our own bandwidth locally), include: Global Technology, I-Net Communications, Starr, E-Networks, Qualphon, University Of Guyana and NFMU; DigiCel has indicated a willingness to look at the local IXP proposal.

(Sources: ‘On Internet, Brazil is beating US at its own game’ by Bill Woodcock, Aljazeera America.

Local information from Global Technology)

Tech Byte

Tech news

But it may be premature to declare CAPTCHA technology dead

thumb is gone

New AI algorithms beat CAPTCHA tests Facebook 'likes': The

S

an Francisco-based artificial intelligence startup Vicarious has announced that it has developed software algorithms which can solve CAPTCHAs up to 90 percent of the time.

Though CAPTCHAs are any automated test which differentiates between humans and computers, they often take the form of strings of partly distorted letters and numbers which many websites use to check that a visitor is human, the idea being that a computer cannot read the disguised text while a human (hopefully) can.

It's this type of CAPTCHA that Vicarious's algorithms are designed to beat, and the high success rate renders the current standard of textbased CAPTCHAs ineffective, the company claims.

The main purpose of a CAPTCHA, which stands for ‘Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart’, is

New AI algorithms beat CAPTCHA tests 90 percent of the time

to prevent automated software bots accessing web services where they might get up to all sorts of nuisance, such as signing up for spam accounts, or adding or editing information in a directory or wiki.

Vicarious isn't the first to develop CAPTCHA-beating algorithms, but the company claims that its system, which uses its Recursive Cortical Network technology, can beat current text-based CAPTCHAS up to 90 percent of the time, including those developed or used by Captcha.com, Google, Yahoo and PayPal, defeating their very purpose in the process.

To put the success rate into perspective, Vicarious cites a 2011 paper out of Stanford, which deemed a CAPTCHA system "broken when the attacker is able to reach a precision of at least 1 percent."

Vicarious talks only in vague terms as to how the algorithms solve the problem, but it does claim that its system uses "relatively minuscule" amounts of data and computing power compared to other modern AI systems such as IBM's Watson, operating at "a level of effectiveness and efficiency much closer to actual human brains."

Commercial applications of the Recursive Cortical Network are still years away, according to Vicarious, and so it would be premature to conclude that CAPTCHA systems have been rendered obsolete over night.

Rather, the remarkably high success right would seem to mark this out as a significant step in the field of AI. (GIZMAG)

P

The new button features op quiz: What buttons are seen more than 22 the Facebook "f" logo instead. billion times every day, It is white on blue, rather than embedded on 7.5 million web- blue on white, as is the new sites? share button. The Share butAnswer: the Facebook Like ton will replace Facebook's Send button — deemed and Share buttons, according to new numbers released by the too confusing. social network. And now these The reason for the remost widespread of online design? The new version icons are both getting their is optimized for first ever rehigh-resoludesign. tion screens, The Facebook The bigaccording to "Like" button, on millions of Web Peter Yang, gest difpages, is being f e r e n c e a product redesigned you'll nomanager at tice straight Facebook, in the away: the comments section of the Facebook blog post thumb is gone from the Like button. Instead, announcing the change. it will appear in the dialogue Users should start to see box above the button that the change on those 7.5 million shows you how many Likes websites as it rolls out over the your post or page has. coming weeks. (Mashable)

guyanatimesgy.com

november 3, 2013

Times Sunday Magazine 21

Ratha Yatra T

he colours, sounds and ethnic diversity have made the annual Ratha Yatra, Festival of the Chariot, a widely anticipated festival of Indian heritage and arts.

This year, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness in Guyana (ISKCON) celebrated its 7th Georgetown Ratha Yatra festival on June 29 and 30. The festival is an ageold festival started in India.

Ratha Yatra is a joyous event celebrated for thousands of years in the Indian holy city of Jagannatha Puri, and more recently by Hare Krishna devotees, following in the footsteps of Srila Prabhupada- founder of ISKCON in all major cities around the world.

Today, Hare Krishna devotees hold Ratha Yatra parades in many countries, usually culminating in a “Festival of India” set up in a city park, with festival tents, entertainment stages, freefeast booths, and a variety of cultural artistic displays and exhibits. The biggest attraction is usually the parade along the streets which includes pulling a huge chariot with deities, chanting and dancing.

The entire festival is performed in a mood of love and

Times Art

An age-old festival of Indian arts along the main East Coast highway.

Special guest of honour was Bhakti Sundar Maharaja from Caracas, Venezuela, accompanied

by Ajamil Das from India.

Hundreds joined in the procession each day and the evening cultural programme attracted over two thousand.

Ratha Yatra has now become a yearly celebration for the past seven years in all three counties of Guyana where many visitors from overseas, local government officials, the business community and the general public attend.

Present at last year’s Georgetown Ratha Yatra was President Donald Ramotar and Prime Minister Sam Hinds.

The theme for this year’s festival was “Combating social and material problems

Colourful depictions of Hindu deities on the chariots

devotion that evokes auspiciousness for universal peace, harmony and good will for humanity at large.

A glimpse of Lord Jagannath, Hindu deity, on the chariot is considered to be very auspicious. It is said that a touch of the chariot or the ropes with which it is

pulled is considered enough to confer the results of several pious deeds or penance for ages.

On June 29, the colourful and artistic chariot was drawn from the Better Hope Centre Ground to the Lusignan Tarmac on the East Coast of Demerara and

One of the chariots during the parade

on June 30 from the Enmore junction to the Lusignan tarmac.

Each day the parade culminated with a grand re-

Another chariot artistically decorated at the festival

ligious and cultural stage programme. Hundreds of Hare Krishna members accompanied by villagers from adjoining villages paraded

with spirituality.”

ISKCON began in Guyana in the early 1980s and has to date established five centres countrywide.

22 Times Sunday Magazine

guyanatimesgy.com

november 10, 2013

Times Heritage

The ‘New’ New Amsterdam Town Hall

T

The renovated New Amsterdam Town Hall with its signature tower gone

he more than 140-year-old New Amsterdam Town Hall has seen some refurbishment and renovations in recent times that have also included the removal of most of its historic tower which once rose some 75 feet over the main entrance.

Constructed in the 1860s, the New Amsterdam Town Hall was an imposing Tudor timber building which once supported what has been described as a majestic tower capped by a sin-

gle storey smaller tower encircled by a widow’s walk (also called “widow’s watch” which is a railed rooftop platform often with a small enclosed cupola (small, most often dome-like, structure on top of a building) frequently found on 19th-century buildings).

The tower also once boasted large twelve-panelled casement windows with narrow timber hoods, each of which would have been supported by two elaborately carved timber brack-

ets. It also contained an expansive council room and large airy concert hall that was naturally cooled by an open gallery, which made it a popular venue for the town’s cultural activities.

Recent renovations also involved replacing the lower eight-panelled casement windows with more modern windows, and repainting. However, the open gallery on its eastern side remains.

Earlier view of the Town Hall with tower. It has been reported that renovating the tower was too costly an exercise for the Town Council

Brain Teaser Answer Solution: ((10 + 10) x 3 + (50 - 6)) x 8 = 832

SUDOKU

KID SUDOKU

CROSSWORD

The renovated open gallery on its eastern side

guyanatimesgy.com

november 10, 2013

Times Sunday Magazine 23

Times Travel & Tourism

Welcome to Shulinab

Entrance to the village

Houses in Shulinab

Breathtaking sunrise

Shulinab's Industrial Arts Centre

Main benab (left) where all community meetings are held

Shulinab is an Amerindian community in South Central Rupununi, Region Nine. Also known as Macushi Village, Shulinab is located on the main South Savannah road about 35 miles south of Lethem and about 12 miles southeast of Parikwarinawa village.

Shulinab has a population of approximately 500 people. It has several active organisations and serves as headquarters for the South Central People's Development Association.

The recent establishment of the Shulinab Industrial Arts Centre, financed by the New Zealand government, focuses on carpentry and joinery and enables community members to tap into the construction industry and capitalise on the growing market at Lethem and in Brazil.

Farming is a very important activity within the community, and is done along the banks of the Saurab, Shulinab and Sawariwau Rivers. Shulinab has a welcoming community spirit and village members eagerly share their life events, projects and personality with the rest of world.

24

Times Sunday Magazine

guyanatimesgy.com

november 10, 2013

Times Last Laugh

By Melvin Durai

D

id you hear the story of the University of Maryland mathematics professor who tried to write fiction? Poor guy.

He was rejected more than 50 times. He should have stuck to solving complex equations, leaving the business of making up stories to authors, playwrights and presidential candidates.

For more than a decade, Manil Suri's attempts at writing produced only one minor credit, a short story published in a Bulgarian-language journal whose editors somehow mistook him for a writer. The Indian native couldn't get a single short story published in English, yet he had the nerve to embark on a novel. What was he thinking? Or, more precisely, what was he drinking?

Surely he must have realized, after so many rejections, that bookstores wouldn't want to give up valuable space for his writing, not even on their bathroom walls.

Surely he must have realized, after so many rejections, that he'd have better luck trying to explain his complex equations to George W. Bush.

Suri: "Mr. President, I've come to the White House to explain the numerical analysis of partial differential equations."

Bush: "The numerical what of what?

Who sent you here? The Democrats? Those left-wing nuts are peeved at me for pushing a tax cut."

Suri: "No, Mr. President, it wasn't the Democrats. I'm just trying to see if this is easier than writing a book."

Bush: "You're thinking of writing a book?

We have something in common. I'm thinking of reading a book. My wife, Laura, knows a lot about books. She was once a librian. I mean, liberian."

Suri: "From Liberia?"

Bush: "No, silly. From Midland, Texas.

She used to work in the lie-bury. You know, that place where people lie buried in books.

She once brought a book home for me. It was long. Took me 10 years, but I finally got through the first chapter. I still don't know what happened to Hansel and Gretel."

Suri: "They moved to Liberia."

Bush: "Oh no, they became Liberals."

It's a good thing Suri persisted in writing his novel "The Death of Vishnu," for it eventually created a bidding war among publishers, earning him an advance of $350,000 and allowing him to immediately show support for Bush's tax cut.

Yes, the aspiring writer who endured years of rejection is now happily ascending the bestseller list, using his advanced math skills to extrapolate his royalty checks. For his next book, he'll be the one doing the rejecting.

"An advance of only $500,000? Sorry, that's way too little. My last book was translated into 42 languages and sold out within a day in Bulgaria. Simon & Schuster has offered me a cool million, as well as a Porsche, yacht, and Sony PlayStation 2."

As Suri knows, rejection may sting a little, but it's better than not trying. That's why I've always tried hard to get rejected.

I've been rejected so many times I should be in the Guinness Book of World Rejects. I've been rejected by women, employers, editors, women, banks, credit card companies, women, newspaper syndicates, colleges, and did I mention women?

Despite all that rejection, I'm following in Manil Suri's footsteps and trying desperately to get published in Bulgaria. From him and others, I've figured out something important: Learning to handle rejection is a vital ingredient of success.

$1 Hot Wheels car blinged out to $140,000 In 2008, jeweller to the stars, Jason of Beverly Hills, transformed this US$1 toy into a US$140,000 dustcollecting bauble. This one-of-akind car, the most expensive in Hot Wheels history, was made to commemorate the production of the four billionth Hot Wheels vehicle.

Almost every surface of the car is covered in some type of precious stone: the car's 18-karat whitegold body shimmers with blue diamonds, the base features white and black diamonds, rubies are set in the car's taillights and black diamonds were used on the car's tires. Even the tiny interior is jewelled, as is the engine. There are 2,700 jewels on the car, at a weight of nearly 23-karats.

The car was later auctioned off for charity.

The Lesson

A teacher asked her student, "If I say, 'I am beautiful,' which tense is that?"

The student looked at her for a while then replied, "It is obviously past."

Riddles for Kids

Q: What nails do carpenters hate to hit?

A: Fingernails.

Q: Who earns a living by driving his customers away?

A: A taxi driver.

Q: What is a polygon?

A: A dead parrot.

-Q: What do you call an American drawing?

A: A Yankee doodle.

Q: What did the tie say to the hat?

A: You go on ahead and I'll hang around.

Brain Cramp

"In Managua, people are cheering in the streets, which are deserted." - CBS reporter during a solar eclipse "An agreement is not an agreement until the parties to the agreement have reached an agreement." - Irish politician on radio "And I can see the strong wind blowing the sun towards us." - Brian Johnson, BBC Radio 3 "Andre Vandapole has four silver medals in cyclocross, and none of them gold."

- Phil Liggott, Channel 4 TV

The Calling Of Owls

Each evening bird lover Tom stood in his backyard, hooting like an owl - and one night, an owl called back to him. For a year, the man and his feathered friend hooted back and forth.

Just as he thought he was on the verge of a breakthrough in interspecies communication, his wife had a chat with her next door neighbour.

"My husband spends his nights... calling out to owls," she said.

"That's odd," the neighbour replied. "So does my husband."

Then it dawned on them.

Cooking Up A Storm

A man was always telling his wife that housekeeping would be a lot easier if she would just organize her time better.

Recently he had a

chance to put his theory into practice while his wife was away.

A friend of his popped over one evening to see how he was managing with his wife being away, and he boasted, "I made a cake, frosted it, washed the kitchen windows, cleaned all the cupboards, scrubbed the kitchen floor, walls and ceiling and even had a bath."

Then he added sheepishly, "Don't tell my wife, but when I was making the chocolate frosting, I forgot to turn off the mixer before taking the beaters out of the bowl, so I had to do all the rest."

A Better Excuse

Toby came into the office an hour late for the third time in one week and found his boss waiting for him. "What's the story this time, Toby?" his boss asked sarcastically. "Let's hear a good excuse for a change."

Toby sighed, "Everything went wrong this morning. My wife decided to drive me to the harbour. She got ready in ten minutes, but then the ferry didn't turn up.

Rather than let you down, I swam across the river, ran over the mountain, borrowed a bicycle and cycled the 20 miles through the field to this office. " "You'll have to do better than that, Toby," said his boss, disappointed. "No woman can be ready in ten minutes."

Blowing Out The Match

On his first day working at the gas station, John watched a senior co-worker measure the level of gasoline in the underground tanks by lowering a giant measuring stick down into them.

"What would happen if I threw a lit match into the hole?" John said as a joke.

"It would go out," the co-worker replied in a very factual manner.

"Really?" John asked, surprised to hear that. "Is there a lack of oxygen down there or some safety device that would extinguish it before the fumes ignited?"

"No, the force from the explosion would blow out the match."

Stair Ride

A mother was with her 18 month old son. She had him strapped into a backpack child carrier, and she was rushing to catch the bus. She tripped and fell down an entire flight of stairs. She was bruised, bleeding and had torn her jeans... but h e r m a i n c o n cern was, naturally, for her child.

Her fears were alleviated though when from behind her she heard a gleeful giggle followed by, "Again, Mommy!

Again!!"

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Sunday

Times November 10, 2013

Star Times Bollywood:

Amitabh Bachchan: ‘I can't sing that well’ See story on page 14

Magazine

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The Women of Pageantry Page 5

Essequibo Businessman Invests in Aquaculture

A passion for volunteering

Page 2

‘There is No Stopping Me’ Leroy Phillips, who is totally blind, is one of the many significant voices who has travelled far and wide to represent his country and those with disabilities Page 4

Says investment worthwhile

Page 3

The Shaping of Guyanese Literature The 2014 Walter Rodney Award for Creative Writing Page 6

Ratha Yatra

An age-old festival of Indian arts

Page 21

Welcome to Shulinab

Page 23