I am a bacchanalist. This is the house of bacchanal. Just you watch me… I love bacchanal. Bacchanal… Bacchanal…You will have to be living on another planet to not know that Mr Bacchanal and the Antilles Riddim are in heavy rotation on the airwaves and ruling things for Carnival 2012. Infectious it certainly is. Bacchanal… Bacchanal… Bacchanal… The bacchanal vibes can’t done. Its origin dates back to ancient Greece, antiquity and Greek mythology. Dionysus or Bacchus as the Romans called him is the God of wine, theatre and ecstasy. According to Greek mythology, he symbolises everything that is chaotic, dangerous and unexpected. Bacchanalian rites were steeped, allegedly, in all kinds of political conspiracies—nothing was regarded as impious and criminal. Bacchanalian behaviour and bacchanalism is therefore associated with crapulence, capriciousness, intemperance and overindulgence. Bacchanalian as much as it may be enjoyed has negative consequences. In T&T, bacchanal has a variety of meanings from wild partying, to scandal, argument and confusion. Plenty boof, crapaud smoke your pipe and who vex lorse. Wabean behaviour, mauvais langue and stirring up of trouble. It’s not only drunken celebration. Most Trinis love a bacchanal and Carnival is both king and queen. So it should be a major concern that local sport seems bent on dethroning King and Queen Carnival.
Sport ought not to be the house of bacchanal with occupants’ single minded and dedicated to bacchanalian behaviour. Nothing can convince me that our sportsmen and women young and old are better off or best served by bacchanalian behaviour. As much as we may love to dance and prance to the Antilles riddim and the captivating refrain of bacchanal... bacchanal... bacchanal… The old maxim that there is a time and place under the sun for everything applies. Our, in particular, young sportsmen and women, and their coaches must not be left to the mercy of capricious sport thespians. Dionysus or Bacchus should not reign supreme. Put simply, there is too much bacchanal in T&T sport. Remember anything created by a lying tongue is a vanishing mist. According to Proverbs 22 :1 it is better to choose a good reputation… being held in high esteem is better than silver or gold. Our sportsmen and women are sacrificing countless hours preparing them to perform to their full potential. They deserve much better than to have to endure bacchanalian behaviour from their leaders. The core essence of leadership is putting others ahead of yourself. Leaders must be prepared to give up more than the people they lead.
In this respect good leaders count the cost before doing or saying anything. When you accept leadership the price to be paid includes personal privacy—your time is no longer your own. Everything you say and do is carefully examined, every decision you make is questioned. It goes with the territory. People will say things knowing that there is no truth to any of it. Others will hate on you for all kinds of reasons known and unknown. Things you say will be taken out of context and used to paint a negative picture. Nothing you do will be good enough. But that’s fine. That’s just the reality of leadership. You can’t take things personally or make assumptions. Here in sweet T&T we have way too many leaders who need to be needed. What we should strive for is to develop more leaders who want to be succeeded and who are driven by the right motives, a noble purpose, and a firm grasp on the situation. Added to that the willingness to accept all that goes with the territory and chalice that is leadership. By failing to do so what we get is bacchanal… bacchanal… bacchanal…
-Brian Lewis
Source: www.guardian.co.tt