‘Bajanisms’ is the name of the new book by entertainer, Mahalia Cummins.
SHE is an entertainer, a dancer and now, she has added the title of author to her repertoire.
Lead singer of the band 2 Mile Hill, Mahalia Cummins, has published a book. ‘Bajanisms’ was officially launched on Friday night and the private event was attended by some well-known local personalities including entertainers, Nikita Herbert and Faith Callender as well as members of the 2 Mile Hill band.
Addressing the gathering, Cummins explained that her book, which will be available island-wide from December 7, is one “that will pull you in and kind of make you feel like you are part of the whole experience, not just somebody reading words and reading definitions of words”.
She further stated that ‘Bajanisms’ is the ultimate Bajan handbook for non-nationals and nationals who want to learn more about words or phrases that are used locally and the origin or a breakdown or meaning of such.
“It has become kind of a slogan, but that is really what the book is. Reading the book from cover to cover, you should be able to understand 1,000 per cent more what you couldn’t understand before. If you are not familiar with Bajan and if you can’t remember some things, it is going to bring it back to mind. If you are just somebody who loves Barbados, it is going to make you feel a part of the culture. The ultimate Bajan handbook.”
Cummins said she is hoping the book will be put in schools across the island, so young persons can learn more about the Barbadian way of saying things.
“I haven’t done it as yet, but it is definitely in my thoughts because apart from being entertaining, engaging, it is also educational, even though that is not what I set out to do. It turned out to be a very educational piece of literature. We have a lot of young people out there that if our Bajanisms are not documented, they aren’t going to know what we are talking about. They are not going to know the origins of some phrases or words and not going to understand what their history is and that is really important.” (MG)