To be or not, that’s the question
DEAR EDITOR,
The first few words of a famous monologue of Shakespeare’s Hamlet play received humorous, ironic and sarcastic comment in a recent pronunciation. It was fun in its dreamlike, velodramatic nature, and at the time, it seemed to place the knee on the neck as a suffocating choking and to hold the victim forcibly for a handsome ransom. To be, or not to be, that’s the question. Do you want to be your friend or do you want to be befriended as an enemy? Maybe, you want to be an ally or an enemy and stay neutral. Again, another option will be to not be anyone. Finally, you can settle to be all the things mentioned above. Strange but in fact, you can exercise choices or you can be manipulated or forced to do so. Conditions can trigger a contingency factor and you remain free of choice. But you can’t be a friend and stay neutral or an enemy and stay neutral. Guyanese are motivated to take a stand or side at some point in the other, especially living at home under continuous testing times. In fact, there are Guyanese who are naive or gullible, many are sensitive or clever, others are intelligent or ordinary and then, you will find some that are easily deceived or pampered.
Would you as a Guyanese want to befriend someone who is lying, dishonest, slanderous and slick? How would you react to someone who is shady, foxy, sly and crooked? Then again, would you want to socialize with a person whose hand is stained with blood, who is callous, who lurks in the dark with tears, who sets booby traps, who digs holes for you fall in, which misleads you into error. , who takes your bread away, denies you the necessary support and who arranges for your demise? Do you want to be associated with a crook, a criminal, a callous character, and a catastrophic disaster? Are you ready to deal with a traitor, a racist, a brutal and a violent person? Can you share a company with a double crusader, hypocrite, cheat and unreliable person? Undoubtedly, should you not abstain from a dangerous, fraudulent, vicious and fraudulent element? Why be in a friendship with a person who steals, hides his neighbour’s property, deceives you and is a perpetrator of evil?
The mind tends to play tricks with us as we progress in age and as we become amnesic. Sometimes we deliberately forget some things conveniently and tend not to remind ourselves or others of fraudulent events. Again, we hope that others would not remember that some of the alarming calls we encountered did not occur. Cause and effect are beyond reproach and the controlling factor slips away from us. Doubt and uncertainty strike uncertainty, leading a man to blur the line between action and inaction. On the other hand, in life and death, there is a fear of uncertainty in dying, causing torture and the possibility of ending up in a place labeled as hell, an even more miserable place than life. Unsurprisingly, an intelligent person may be trying to tackle a difficult decision, considering whether to attack, defend or stand aside in this crazy rush to live life decisively, decisively and deliberately and then , only to re-trace, distort or run off the tracks. .
As the remaining days become less and less available, the clock ticks steadily, forcing us to look back and reduce our burden with a gentle heart. Guilt strikes our conscience for us to wander openly. The urgent need to admit is becoming more and more convincing. When the bell rings, we want to be prepared to accept any story or toll. We want to be frail, bold or brass to answer the knock on the door with a smile. Isn’t it time for us to stop, pause, reflect and have the privilege that there is still a chance and a moment to be redeemed? Don’t let the opportunity slip away, because the cry will be too late. Hopefully, being, or not being, undoing the masquerade. Choose carefully who should be your friend and who should not. Don’t forget, a friend in need, a friend indeed. Man’s best friend has never been a man.
Respectfully,
Jai Lall