Tanti at the oval

Born in 1942 to the twin isle republic of Trinidad and Tobago and spending his early academic
life in Grenada with his family, Paul Keens-Douglas has delighted and captivated audiences
worldwide. A successful poet, storyteller, dramatist, lecturer, producer and the list goes on; his
work has caused most to find within them a Caribbean identity through the creation of characters
such as Tim Tim, Slim and Tall boy and Tanti Merle among others. These characters help
portray some of the writers own life experiences and highlights Caribbean society within those
time periods. His ideology is not about the profits made, but about the art form of Caribbean
poetry and storytelling being delivered to persons in a way it can truly touch the soul. I write
not for today, but that someday it will be found. By someone who will have the sense, to know
what is, and what is not profound.1 This excerpt was taken from a poem of Paul Keens-Douglas
Who will tell my story and reiterates the pioneering of the oral traditions and the use of
vernacular/ dialect in literature. His influence can be gauged in retrospect to one of his
inspirations, a fellow West Indian by the name of Mrs Louise Bennett-Coverley. Her focus was
to give her fellow Jamaicans a sense of National identity by focusing on dimensions such as
language, identity, gender and race. This was accomplished through similar use of characters that
each focused on a specific element of what it meant to be Jamaican. When compared, one can
see that Paul Keens-Douglas took a similar route and fashioned his career similarly in a time of
post independence for Trinidad and Tobago and helping its people find their own identity and
highlighting social issues and norms within culture.
1 An excerpt from the poem, Who will tell my story which can be considered one of the founding principles of the Keens-Douglas
work. His purpose is to entertain and educate.

The work under review for this think piece, Tanti at the Oval brings to life one of the writers,
Paul Keens-Douglas, many characters in his culture closet that is Tanti Merle. Taken back to an
era of the seventies where life in Trinidad was one of a delicate nature after a host of continuous
uprising against the government as well as protests. Cricket seemed to be the only unifying factor
which also stood as grounds to break the people. The Nationalism test 2 as evidenced in West
Indies tour of England came to mind when hundreds of Leeward and Windward Islands natives
crept out from the milk and honey of Trinidad to support their own in the finals of the Shell
Shield Test Match- Trinidad and Tobago vs. The Combined Islands. The excitement and tensions
of this patriotic match is captured in this short narration.
It starts with a request of the narrators wife of him to take their beloved Tanti Merle to the
Queens Park Oval to be a spectator of the match on her birthday. After a presumed fifteen years
of never returning to her homeland of St Vincent, quite possibly due to illegal immigration which
was very prominent in the sixties, she grasped the opportunity to revel with her people, the small
islanders. Throughout the years, domestic leagues in the West Indies, most recently the
Caribbean Twenty over competitions have followed similarly in promoting patriotism through
advertising and brand loyalty. These feelings are strongly captured in this piece.
The oval was rammed out for the final day of the four day test match. The combined islands
were at the crease chasing 283 runs for victory and had to slash their path to victory. The narrator
seemed a frustrated chap at the fact that he was running late for the game due to his relatives old
fashion nature. Tantis particular attention to detail is a highlight of West Indian culture; in
general most Caribbean people like to take large amounts of food and coolers to cricket matches.
2 The Nationalism test refers to a situation in England where persons of West Indian origin were deported to the Caribbean for supporting the
West Indies against England at the Lords Cricket Ground, instead of the land they reside that is England

The basis of this one would assume is to save money and time from missing the game. A more
superstitious and selective side is seen in the choice of taxi, everyone is aware of his/her own
luck and Tantis choice of a red taxi could be seen in relation to this. Some may argue that she
may be opting for a more monarch or royalty approach when entering the capital city, reflecting
on her choice of red, the occupancy of the entire back seat and reference made to the Queen of
Sheba by the narrator. In addition even though we are one Caribbean people the problem of
segregation is very real, where Tanti Merle considered the class of occupants in the vehicle. This
discrimination is very real today and we can argue it stems from our ancestors choices. The
general boldness of West Indians is demonstrated in her straight forward and brave way of
standing in front the car for it to stop and later on with her interactions at the oval.
The narrators relation of the drama to his wife is enticing. He is seemingly an aged looking
gentleman. The fact that his lisp is so strong and his tone so loud could signal him as having a
few drinks to quell his frustration at the task of having to babysit an elderly or the overall turn of
events. This apparent intoxication with the revelations of the day adds wonders to his expressive
nature.
Finally they arrived at the oval and after much anticipation they settled. The match continued
with wickets falling and with this Tanti began to get agitated, with that uneasiness she then
questioned the umpiring, crowd favoritism for the home team, Trinidad. She even got into heated
discussion with other spectators purporting everything that was Hairoun 3 when questioned on
her lineage. This was her time. She was being represented and everything she did for the past 65
years made sense all for this moment. In this contemporary time you still find people of varying
demographics at these games passionately supporting their team. With the pelau that is the
3

Amerindian Term for St Vincent which means land of the blessed.

Caribbean. The individuality of this melting pot is rich where arguments clash but at the end of it
all we are still a West Indian people. As the match came to an end the spectators from both ends
were on the edge of their seats, those who could not contain themselves scampered onto the pitch
after the final delivery which they thought heralded a combined islands victory over the mighty
Trinidad albeit a draw they celebrated anyway. The rave like atmosphere experienced at the
Queens Park Oval still exists today for the big games. Recently, Trinidad vs Guyana in a T20
final brought out the immigrant Guyanese in their numbers to support their team. They took the
chance to disguise easily amongst the crowd without fear of being deported and cheered
vivaciously even though their team lost. As can be deduced Tanti Merle had a great time and the
Oval atmosphere does that to a person, it draws you in so that you never want to leave, so it was
no surprise she asked When next we going back?
The excerpt was excellent in relating a facet of Caribbean life in relation to islands individuality
and patriotism without the audience even realizing. Lifestyle is conveyed in small samples
through the use of Trinidadian Vernacular. The way in which the narrator spoke the famous
sing song accent captivated the audience and just by his delivery of the story you feel as
though you were there and can gesticulate all of the characters movements in your mind. We all
have that one Tanti Merle in our lives whose Butter cyah melt in mouth 4 lifestyle is just
waiting to break free. However, it can be argued that Tanti Merles outburst is a reflection of an
era, where times have changed. As in the 2007 ICC World cup where the crowds were not
allowed that level of freedom of food, drink and revelry and a safer approach adopted for high
profile events.

A metaphor used to describe a person that cant seem to do any wrong

As an effective way of contemporary social commentary on the Caribbean, it does so with

restriction meaning that it does not capture the entire Caribbean identity; only a few in the
Combined islands and Trinidad. However, the love of cricket can be felt throughout the chain of
both the Greater and Lesser Antilles and many a time in these territories it strikes as a unifying
factor for the people which still stands today. The vibrancy and excitement is arguably a lot
different with less crowds showing up for the present four day test matches whereas with the
twenty twenty format cricket attracts in both profits and crowd support for a faster route to
victory. The evolution continues..