lying occurs for more reasons than that. but I honestly do not remember anyone I know not regarding shive as a great batsman.
Shive does not command the imagination as a batsman. Kanhai did... as a great warrior who cut down our tormentors all around the world especially in Oz and England people by the devils who enslaved us and indentured us. Kanhai not only cut down our enemies but did so like heaven sent him to do it with all the flair and style that inhabits the west indian soul...like our music displays, the way we dress, walk, sing, dance, the food we prepare that must not only look good but taste goo and contain the most fresh and healthful ingredients.
Kanhai will never die for that reason. he is passed along the generations in story by all the generations who lived him acting like a collective Griot, handling with love, care and awe, a story that cannot be lost..a story we cannot afford to loose.
it is the same with the W's, Richards, Lara, Butcher and Sobers. none captured the imagination like those magnificent, true champions, who embodied the spirit.. almost the totality of spirit, a new people in the world held dear, came walking into history bearing.
but these champions do not happen alone. there must be a supportive cast, the selfless who make the flair of Kanhai and Lara possible. if its not Hunte it is Gomes and Shivenarne.. and all who played that role in between. without them, the supports... nothing is possible. Shivnarine Chanderpaul is the very greatest of all of that type, a basic building block without which nothing stands upright
somebody must sing their praises, currently, today in Shives case... not when they are gone and their value remembered too late. We must Sing Shive's story now, for him to hear and know of his appreciation in the social base.
I know allyuh bias but I would not have it any other way because through you all Shive can hear and see his reflection in a positive way, know his story is known fully, and embedded in the record, in the minds of the people
I can hear and deal with allyuh bias, tell allyuh about it. and at the same time I can see whats true in it and appreciate its value..appreciate the job allyuh doing by keeping in our faces the contributions of a very great west indian..unassuming, quiet, not full of Kanhai flame but competent to an extreme degree, excellently efficient and cumulatively extraordinary. that too is greatness.
the west indies cant be against you all for celebrating Shive, keeping his flame alight as we are drawn like moths to the flamboyant, the fi'ah, the embodiment of the style that captures the imagination as represented in 'the great bastmen'. you all are doing a fine job.. no doubt about it making sure we know that Shive also is great. but I have to keep allyuh in line too, honest: keep allyuh to allyuh task. help allyuh to streamline, be more accurate. what allyou do you see, is also a historical record...Griot! it must be right as possible, in need of little revision as the years flow....
