BUMPER BALL

 BUMPER BALL IS LIFE UNADULTERATED.

Harry Bissoon 


Listen! If you do not know the intrinsic beauty and drama of Bumper Ball, then you have really missed out on an important ingredient of redemption and second chances. It is a game of giants and people who walk tall.


In the afternoons, after school, when you should have been tired and weary, a renewed vigor took hold of you, as you hurried home to grab a snack that mom made, rushed through your 'have to do' chores, and then raced to the village ballfield.


Your friends were already there, some of them skipping their chores, mindful that they will be punished by whip, or, belt. But Bumper Ball was too sweet and full of excitement and energy. You had to beat someone, or, some team, that scored more runs, or, took more wickets than you yesterday. 


Bumper Ball gave you a chance to build on your weaknesses and offered a pathway to becoming better than your best friend. On many occasions you had to take a physical thrashing by someone whom you didn't want to give batting because you chose to slip away in the appraching dusk to beat your sundown curfew. But you always came back next day to even the odds, and to strive for higher achievements in a game of champions.


Bumper Ball made us better students because it instilled in us the art of winning. After the game, we went home took the same principles of winning and buried ourselves in our books, illuminated by the flickering lights of the hand lamps, or the more steady glow of gas lamps.


It's a game of giants. It has made many giants; giants in all walks of life!

THE PICTURE IS WITH THE COMPLIMENTS OF MY FRIEND LLOYD GONSALVES.  HE IS NO LONGER WITH US. HE SPENT HIS LAST DAYS IN FLORIDA. HERE, HE IS THE WICKET KEEPER IN A GAME WITH FAMILY WHEN HE VISITED HIS HOMELAND, GUYANA.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

OUR CHANGING TIMES: DOOM OR GLORY

OUR CHANGING TIMES: DOOM OR GLORY Two particularly useful and significant lessons of human behavior that I have learnt in my social progression on the ladder of upward mobility, still habitually gnaws at my intricate psychological constructs. During my early years in the upper echelon of management, I was told by my management mentor, in simple terms, that in any social engineering of humanity, it is the living thing that has the capacity to deceive and lie, and not the inanimate objects that I will be dealing with.  Intricately connected to this observation, is the remarkable ability of  living things to decieve, and celebrate a dance of intrigue and camouflage.  We have developed this art form into means of survival, deception, treachery, vengeance,  jealousy, and unmitigated tragedy. It is amazing how this web of deceipt has embedded itself in the socio-political milieu of our existential behavior. It has become an intrinsic part of our lives, and for many it's a ...
Read more

FIRERASS

FIRERASS  Harry Bissoon 2/13/2026 Mabel, up before sunrise, long before the cock, Natty, crows.  In haste, amidst hazy and foggy mist, she pushes herself to limits anew, to meet deadline, daily vows,   The light shines through neighba Aunty Breto's windows, in an eerie brightness.  It flashes,dances,and speeds into the still darkness,  Look! Mabel laments! She gone again! To roam and suck blood, before light approaches! Firerass she is! Firerass, oh god, is Breto, a never-ending nighttime seeker of gourmet secrets.  Nay,she cannot be. She laughs and talks,day after day, with a face of neighborly goodness.  But yet,  flies and seeps through cracks, in hungry nighttime flurries of wanton, thirsty adventures of mysterious gourmet madness.  Let her go, Mabel sighs. Make your way, Breto! Make your way! You are the village night walker! @highlight
Read more

THE PANGS OF DEATH

Death is ever present, and  like a dark specter of doom, it hovers above and around us, waiting in the shadows to attack and devastate. It is envious of birth, which brings joy and happiness to us. Envious of our struggles down paths of thorns and roses.It follows us, breaching our defenses when and where we least expect it. Maybe this is why some of us celebrate death and mourn the coming of new life. Maybe this is why some of us glorify death and its painful throes of the unfettered release of our souls to be free of the agonizing clutches of life. Maybe, this why birth and new life are lamented by some, knowing of the trials, tribulations, and bumpy paths that lead us into the hands of Death Itself. Nonetheless, whatever views and opinions we hold close to our bosoms, we still ponder upon this dilemma, trying to reconcile the beatitudes of life and death,being fully aware that death is always filled with agony and sadness.  We are children of promises and faith. We are chil...
Read more