Mavis Lee Wah- teacher, actor, activist, leader

by Zorina Shah

I didn’t go to Naparima Girls’ High School, you can probably tell by the way I still speak with my Lochmaben village accent. In high school, I had no interest in drama although I did appear in an opera. It may have been Alladin. 

I never met Mavis Lee Wah until I started working in newspapers in the early seventies when I saw her in a number of plays.  Her role as Lady Macbeth (1974) could be my favourite. She and her husband James were among the first people to help me find my feet in a strange town. I had thought the town folks were clannish but the Lee Wahs helped me change that view. 

I grew close to the San Fernando Arts Council. The Naparima Bowl was alive with song and dance and drama and the queen shows and numerous festivals. I must have seen every dance troupe before the auditorium was destroyed by fire. They included Eugene Joseph’s Dance Theatre, Joyce Kirton, Torrance Mohammed’s Arawaks and Eric Butler with whom I also taught. I saw numerous plays and while I liked the staging of Thomas Hardy’s ‘Far from the Madding Crowd’ I walked out on a Drama Guild production of a Shakespeare play at Presentation College auditorium.

It was in times like those in the 70s that I saw Derek Walcott’s “O Babylon” and the visiting Senegalese National Dance Company.

While I was a spectator to these events, I was a participant in the activities of the San Fernando Citizens Action Committee founded by James Lee Wah. At a Town Hall meeting organised by the Committee I, as one of the invited speakers, froze. The words just wouldn’t come out. Mavis was sitting in the front row, looked me in the eye and gave me the gesture to try again. It wasn’t the only time I had lost my voice. I was a member of the San Fernando Writers’ Association and we were reciting a poem at the San Fernando Arts Festival. Not a word came out of my mouth.

As members of the Citizens Action Committee, Mavis and I stood side by side holding placards in demand for a link road off the Lady Hailes Avenue and to stop the destruction of the San Fernando Hill. Motorists would drive past and ridicule us and she once asked me if I was not bothered by the comments. The link road is what is known as the Gulf City Link Road. One day after she finished school at Naparima Girls, we gathered on Pointe a Pierre Road for the walk up San Fernando Hill. It was there that we saw schoolchildren playing in a huge pond of muddied water. 

Mungal Chattergoon had returned from England and he too was a member of the San Fernando Citizens Action Committee. He took the pictures which we used in the Express the following day, a Thursday.

The Borough’s Statutory meeting was that same Thursday. Mayor Gertrude Kirton placed the San Fernando Hill at the top of the order of business. She called me by name and referred to the article. Then she ordered that all cutting on the hill be stopped. She called out the City Engineer Vasco Loreilhe and Superintendent of Police Fitzroy Fahey and asked them to arrange the documentation to cease destruction of the hill.

I saw less of James and Mavis after they left San Fernando for Gran Couva. About four years ago I received a lengthy hand written letter from them.

I checked on line today for a picture of Mavis and found just these two. I am sure we could find many among Mungal’s files, the teacher, the actress, the activist. 

Yesterday June 24, Mavis died. May her soul rest in peace.

Hate speech and me

In May 2016, I posted my first criticism of Facebook. Although I have an account, I have done nothing to build it with hundreds of contacts. My 160 friends are mainly those whose requests I have accepted. I have ignored countless others. I have stood face to face with at least 140 of my friends. The few others, I share something in common with them like sport or the environment or I just like them. It is difficult to share political views across the board.

My post of May 2016 criticised Facebook for its funding of the Republican National Convention and said I would leave the site. I gave in to the requests and stayed.

There have been many incidents where I have been prevented from commenting on my own posts. The first time I was actually blocked from posting was my use of a story in the Newsday written by Azard Ali. I tried in every way to determine how my post was considered “spam”, but Facebook never reinstated the post. Events of the last year have led me to believe that it was simply a matter of Zorina Shah speaking to Azard Ali. You can judge for yourselves.

I know that whenever I google something, an ad related to it shows up in facebook. I am aware that Facebook tracks posts closely so they would know that I have said that Mohammad bin Salman is the true leader of the free world and Netanyahu and Trump and those others lining up to take his money are his lackeys. I have said that Muslims around the world are so dependent on the handouts to fund their mosque activities, they will not criticise the Saudi bombing of Yemen with western support.

I have never said anything about how Facebook was used to create the “Arab Spring” (IN SOME COUNTRIES) that has left the Middle East in greater chaos. I am sure the Arab Spring helped to make Hillary Clinton “the most qualified candidate” ever for the US Presidency. That was a good joke Prez Obama made. But I have mentioned how Facebook hate speech contributed to the Rohingya Muslim crisis in Myanmar. I no longer watch American propaganda television for more than two minutes a day so I cannot say if Mark Zuckerberg was asked about that topic in his visit to a congressional committee. I made that decision on watching cable news when I saw that Anderson Cooper (who had cried for Haiti after Trump made cruel derogatory remarks) refuse to even question the Saudi ambassador on the killing of Yemeni children. They are selective on who they cry for, especially if bin Salman was to spread around his money in the US a few days later. I know that they are prepping for war against Iran and they all want that war, none more than the networks. The US likes to gives names to its wars "Desert Storm", "Operation Anaconda". They could call this one "Bigger than Stormy Daniels".

On May 1, two days ago, I posted a few words I had used before: “The lovely month of May”. Within minutes Facebook was inviting my friends to say if my post was hate speech. I couldn’t comment on the post so I took a screenshot and created a new post. My friend Niala Maharaj and I had a lengthy conversation on the new post, though it was hardly related to hate speech. Facebook removed the hate speech question after three hours. This was a Facebook question about me and what I had posted.

Post from 2012

Post from May 1, 2018

Yesterday, May 2, Niala Maharaj shared a tweet from Dr. Jill Stein on Iran. In the post she asked one of her friends if they had anything to say. I tried on three occasions to comment, simply “I have something to say” and was blocked on each occasion. She made a subsequent post after I told her about the censorship and I could not comment on that one either. The post mentioned that I had worked voluntarily with the Catholic Church and I wanted her to remove that. I do not believe that any connection with the Catholic church should give me the right to post freely on Facebook. Her friends who said it was “fake news” were allowed to post.

Jill Stein's original post. The red heart means that I had liked the tweet.

The truth is that Facebook is a dump where I understand that people post horrible things. I do not see those things because I do not have friends who post gruesome videos.

I am forced to conclude, as Niala has done, that I am targeted 1) for my obviously Muslim name and 2) my politics, where I do not support WAR. It is clear that my ideological position is different from that of Facebook and when all is said and done, this is their platform. They own it.

Deborah John

When we were Young

Zorina Shah

I was glad when Deborah appeared in the Express newsroom that morning in 1974. I had already been there more than a fortnight on the Features and Sunday desk when she showed up in her short Afro hairstyle,  bespectacled, her head in the air, dreamily contemplating the space as if she were born to it. 

Port of Spain could be difficult for someone like me who had probably been to the city five times before opting to work there. On one occasion I emerged from Service Commissions on Charlotte Street, looked both ways and could not decide which direction would get me back to Independence Square. 

Deborah (Trinidad Express photo)

Anyway back to that day. There was Ainsley Sahai as Sunday Editor, the celebrated Kitty Hannays as his assistant and Andy Pitman and Roslyn Preston-Ali, the sub editors. I don’t quite remember if we met Keith Subero or he came after but he was there on the desk with us and I nicknamed him “Boyo”. He drove “Betsy”, a Volkswagon car, the one like Archbishop Anthony Pantin had with the engine at the back. Keith focused on news and along with the legion (hyperbole) of correspondents across the Caribbean, Toronto, New York and London, made the Sunday Express a thing of beauty. It racked up distribution to everyone’s satisfaction, so much so that Ken Gordon came down to the newsroom himself to give us our bonus cheques for Christmas.

We were teenagers, Deborah a little younger. She was the daughter of George John, a man known to every journalist and since he was Public Relations Officer to Prime Minister Dr. Eric Williams at the time, he was also known to every politician. I possessed no journalistic pedigree but had met David Renwick, the paper’s editor, at a career guidance seminar. 

The newsroom was staffed by an outstanding cadre of journalists, among them Jeff Hackett, Ramdath Jagessar, Charlie Ramsumair, Peter Balroop, a court reporter named Carlton Khan and Azad Ali who would snap up the exclusive story on the hanging of Abdul Malik (Michael X). The news editor Jerome Tang Lee, well he was one of a kind, he knew how to seize the moment and leave the competition gasping for breath. The sports desk also had its own brand of experts, Bootins Alkins, the editor and his dream team of Mervyn Wells, George Baptiste, David Brewster and Spotter Edwards. Ossie Cordner was my choice of photographer but she preferred Tony Forte. Hubert Alexander and Wahid Baksh made up the quartet. We talked about some of those days after she wrote a tribute to Kitty Hannays a few years ago and we agreed that my memory was better than hers.

Deborah stayed in features while I moved on to news. The events in the oil and sugar industry, Bloody Tuesday, privatisation of the sugar industry (Tate and Lyle) and the industrial thrust at Pt. Lisas opened up a whole new world of news reporting, shifting the locus away from Port of Spain. South Trinidad no longer had a corner somewhere in the back of the paper. The general elections of 1976 which saw a change in the political landscape drew journalists to San Fernando. South business magnate Bobby Montano started his own newspaper. I kept the members of the San Fernando Borough Corporation on their toes, among them Rakeeb Hosein whose son Kazim is now Minister of Local Government. Newspapering was fun.

We regrouped in 1979 when Keith Smith put Deborah and me on his team to revitalise the features desk. Those were good days. We either ate in the canteen upstairs or walked along Independence Square looking for variety, same as we had done five years earlier.  Her mother Jean no longer came by with stuff she had just baked at home. There were now more women around, on the Sunday desk, the afternoon paper “The Sun” and the South bureau.

Keith would propose new ideas for stories and we would frequently oppose his suggestions. It was at one of those sessions that he suggested one of us should write a story on Zuniaga. Who is Zuniaga, you may very well ask, just as we did. Zuniaga was the last name in the telephone directory. One of us should call up Mr. Zuniaga and write a story about him, what work he did, about his family and how he felt about his place in the directory. I rejected the suggestion outright, so Deborah was stuck with it. Keith asked for that feature for weeks before I pleaded on her behalf and he dropped the idea. I just checked the directory and Zuniaga would have still been the last name if Zuryda Edoo had not been listed by her first name.

The bug for news reporting bit me again and I moved to the newsroom. Deborah blossomed in features. We still visited the mas camps, panyards and calypso tents. On a visit to Max Awong on the corner of Ariapita Avenue and Ana Street, we got roped in to help with costumes. In 1980 we worked at the Queen’s Park Savannah on Carnival Monday. She was registered to play in Peter Minshall’s ‘Danse Macabre’ and fretted no end when the band passed across the stage while she had to sit there in the Grand Stand.  

I moved to an idle life and Deborah remained, only leaving the Express for a short period. We met on the streets and phoned each other over the years.  I often called to question the accuracy of published stories. 

I last spent a full day with Deborah when we met in Guyana in 2010. It was the first time we ever hugged each other. I would never have done that in my youth. I walked her around the Guyana Times newsroom and press room, the printery with its array of state of the art equipment. She was a guest of Dr. Ranjisinghi Ramroop, the paper’s owner and publisher. It was a public holiday for the birthday of the Prophet Mohammad (Peace be upon Him) called Youman Nabi in Guyana. We had a hard time convincing people we had known each other for 36 years.

I don’t know how she developed as a writer and editor other than by her move up the ladder at the Express. I suspect she would have reached the top wherever she had worked. I do know that she found a feature story in every situation, something of human interest, something that explained why we were the way we were. She mirrored her father’s sense of humour and could make a joke in any situation. When he became the editor of the Express, it was a little difficult deciding whose jokes you would rather not hear, his or hers. You couldn’t escape them.

We hadn’t spoken in more than a year, when she sent me a note this past April and we planned to meet, before she went silent. Our conversation had ended.

Deborah John: July 9, 1956 - August 23, 2017

NUN SO BRAVE: HOPE

I sat with Ismay on the porch at Ana Street, Woodbrook that day in 1998 while Mary and Elsa took Rosario to the airport. Rosario was leaving for Perth, a sort of sabbatical after those years in Matelot, but really preparation for another round of hard work. I conjured up extreme images of her drawing water from a well and hewing wood.

“I won’t see my daughter again,” Ismay said as her three girls drove towards Wrightson Road. What does one say to that? 

There was a phone in Perth. We didn’t have whats app and Skype in those days and TSTT’s overseas rates were damaging, six dollars a minute plus VAT. When I called that first time, I waited 10 or more minutes for her to come to the phone. I called once more. Mary had already called. Rosario was coming home. Ismay hadn’t seen her daughter again.

From Australia, her next stops were Bangladesh and Ahmedabad in the Indian state of Gujarat. She had talked Grameen banking, micro finance and empowering women through entrepreneurship for years with Fr. Michel de Verteuil. Chittagong was the place to learn the methods through which the most vulnerable were dragged from poverty. Although I knew of Muhammad Yunus and his work among Bangladesh’s poorest, Rosario’s enthusiasm gave it new meaning.

I don’t remember calling Ahmedabad, but there was better email. From there, Rosario was going to Shimla in the Himalayas. When I needed to contact her I got her number from Hina Shah.

Hina Shah with widows at a meeting in Gujarat. ICECD photo

I called the convent in the Himalayas and heard my voice echo four times when I asked for her. I had to tell her that Archbishop Anthony Pantin had died. They had grown up in Woodbrook, he a little older. Their families were friends. His brother Clive had been a great help to Matelot when he was Minister of Education. Rosario was already sitting on the bus to New Delhi and came back to take the call. “Yes, yes, this call is from China, you have to talk,” I could hear the voice coaxing her.

Back home she launched into HOPE, Helping Ourselves Prosper Economically. She trained her crew for the field and toured the coast from Mayaro to Matelot, going inland to Plum Mitan, Sangre Grande, Valencia, La Horquetta, Couva and other villages. HOPE created a new class of small entrepreneur, changing many lives and bringing dignity to many women. 

South Sudan must have been difficult. I went to Valencia to help her prepare for that trip. How best to communicate, that was the big question. She and two other Holy Faith sisters from Ireland would be teaching the children of the Toposa in Riwoto, a project arranged through the Kiltegan Fathers. If she got an internet connection, we could use email. That worked a few times. She wrote when she picked up wifi from an NGO. No call ever went to the phone number we were given. I called USAID once and they knew the sisters, they promised to deliver a message.
 

Holy Faith Sisters arrive in Riwoto, January 2013. St. Patrick's Missionary photo

Rosario is back home again. Hers has been a long journey since the day she first left Ismay in 1958 for Irish shores, to become a member of the Holy Faith Congregation, to make lifelong friends among the Irish, among the people of St. Brigid’s, Siparia, Matelot and wherever else she has been.

For being brave, putting the needs of children first and standing up for the poor she has been recognised twice in national awards at Trinidad and Tobago's Independence and in several other places.

Maybe someday if I take the advice of her friends Trudy and Cheron Herrera and Anise Maybodi, we will write her story. I know it won’t come from her. That is because I am familiar with the story of her aunt Sr. Dominic Marie Turner, a Mary Knoll sister who lived in Hong Kong in the early days of the Cultural Revolution. They do what they have to do.

My neighbour's keeper

PAROSIN

by Ariti Jankie

Her paternal grandfather (Aja) escaped from India wearing women’s clothing. Her maternal grandfather made the “Sumarie” dance popular and her great grandfather was at the root of one of the oldest Ram Leela at Cedar Hill in Princes Town.

Drama is in her blood.

SEETA PERSAD

She takes the lead in this year’s drama “Parosin” (next door neighbour) in which she plays an older, successful business woman looking for love.

Last year, Seeta placed fourth in the Prime Minister's Best Village competition and is hoping to stay ahead of the game with topical issues.

When she got married by arrangement at the tender age of 17, she was ready to take with her years of play acting at the mandir. In Cedar Hill, her new marital village, the mandir doors were locked. Seeta opened it. Soon the village children had a place to go on Sunday mornings. The temple became an extension of religious and cultural activities with Seeta at the helm. Her first public drama, “A New Beginning” rehearsed at the mandir, premiered at Rienzi Complex to a packed house in the 1980s and since then there has been no turning back.

Year after year, she wrote, choreographed, acted, produced and directed in addition to holding down a full time job as a journalist with Newsday.

“I wish I could spend all my time doing local drama”, she said as she steered her vehicle out of Zion Boulevard, off Knolly’s Recreation Ground, Princes Town minutes after a hectic rehearsal of PAROSIN.

Relaxed and contented, she spoke of her love and commitment for the theatre.

“I am inspired to take an idea and make it into a story, to take the youths on a journey that will give them greater confidence and most of all I yearn to provide and be a part of any type of wholesome entertainment.”

Among those who join the cast each year are beginners with no comprehension of the demands of live theatre. Seeta enjoys working with new blood that brings to her Princes Town Theatre Workshop young people struggling with career goals and students deep in studies.

“They make time to practise with no incentive except the love of theatre.”

During the preliminaries of the competition, Seeta hired a young lady to take the lead role in Parosin. However, due to heavy traffic on the road, she could not make it on time to appear before the judges.

Seeta stepped in. The role was made for her yet her attitude remained apologetic.

“I am too fat, too old.”

Scene from Parosin... Seeta at right

On stage, she sizzled. 

The subject is tricky. Yet she allowed herself to be persuaded and will do better when she wraps her head around the fact that older women should indeed look for love if that is what is missing in their lives.

Asked about her actors who keep changing from year to year, she said it did not faze her.

“Getting people out of their shells to go on stage is a formidable task but for me also fortifying. Anybody can do anything they set their minds to and I hate to see people, especially young people, struggle with issues that keep them from living the best lives they can.”

As she waits on the judges to deliver the results of this year’s finals in the drama category of the Prime Minister's Best Village Competition, Seeta prepares another stage for entertainment. Gaston Court, Chaguanas on October 1^st will once again be the judge as “PAROSIN” goes into its second life performance.

Balraj Harry has grown into directing over the past 12 years with the Princes Town Theatre Workshop set up by Seeta. He is the only constant member of the production team as actors come and go, finding new opportunities.

Seeta plays the lead role of an older woman with a thriving business. Carol Singh, a radio journalist plays her daughter.

She sets her sights on a twenty-two-year-old played by Varma Persad. Varma is police officer in the southwest region but he steps comfortably into the role, bringing energy to the production. 

The village youths at Realize Junction Road pitched in to build props under the direction of Setrohan Jankie and did a great job.

Seeta Persad, a tireless worker, shows through her perennial efforts that theatre is alive and well in Trinidad and Tobago. She deserves applause for being persistent and recognition for her ability to change the direction of the lives of a lot of youths who pass through her hand, as in a finishing school, to be able to walk, dance, talk and act before an audience.

She began her career 30 years ago with A New Beginning at Rienzi Complex. Her portfolio includes Tulsi, Crossing the Line, Dekh Tamasha, Kamoshi, Radha and Raja, Curse of Kakeihi and Paisa.

Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram

TRUTH, GODLINESS, BEAUTY (Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram)

by Ariti Jankie

Leave the measuring tape in the kitchen drawer, forget about the weighing scale. Brush up on your smile instead and listen to your voice in laughter.

The essence of Truth, Godliness and Beauty (Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram) awaits.

Dr Dev Ramoutar at NIRVAHNA WEIGHT MANAGEMENT CLINIC in the heart of Chaguanas holds the dream of unlocking your true self clothed in beauty with the knowledge that all things are possible.

He knows your pain and suffering. 

The curse of obesity must be removed.

Dr Ramoutar’s golden key to weight management issues stems from a real life experience and led upon his graduation from Medical school in 1972 to a total dedication to solving the problems of obesity.

“I had to be my own first patient. I had suffered in silence for too long,” he said.

A chubby child, growing into a fat boy and an obese teenager, he was bullied from childhood and has a firsthand knowledge of the humiliation associated with obesity. He understands the difficulties in all the young people who come to him, seeing himself in each patient plagued by low self-esteem.

He has made it his life’s mission to offer healthy solutions to any and everyone who seek his assistance.

In no time, you will find yourself on the road to a bigger and better life. Evidence of his ability to change lives are scattered across the world in the hundreds of people he has administered to, over the years. Each year, he gathers 300 from Nirvahna’s healthy and happy home to celebrate in an awards ceremony held this year at the Calypso Lounge, Radisson Hotel, Port of Spain. This year marks the 21st occasion and under the banner “Satyam, Shivam, Sundaram” (truth, godliness, beauty) took place on November 14.

A medical practitioner, Dr Ramoutar is first and foremost a simple, caring individual with old fashioned warmth and charm. He becomes your friend and will have you laughing all the way. And as you undergo a lifestyle change, he is the mentor inspiring you to be your best self, physically, mentally and spiritually. He remains on the top of his game and if you are bold enough to ask, he is nearing 75 with a youthfulness that put today’s society to shame.

Dr Frank Ramlakhansingh graduated the same year from Medical College as Dr Ramoutar and share the vision for wellness at Nirvahna Clinic.

 “Take charge of your health,” he said in a passionate feature presentation disclosing frightening statistics of one in four adults over 18 suffering from hypertension and type two diabetes with 20 to 40 heart attacks and five to ten strokes every day.

“Those who have no time for exercise will have diseases. Start low; go slow. Only exercise can prevent and cure ailments,” he said.

Glowing with good health, Dr Ramlakhansingh observed that parents ban their children from exercise. Today, all children complain of headaches, he said, adding that out of thousands of CT scans taken none revealed brain diseases. The scan, he noted will result in cancer of the brain and cataract in 15 to 20 years.

Dr Ramlakhansingh noted that man has moved from being the hunters of food to being hunted by food. The vast range of fast food within easy reach, he said underlines the obsession with food and while free medical care is offered by government, the avenues for physical activities are minimal.

Dr Desmond Ali in his welcoming address emphasized the virtues of Nirvahna’s theme “Truth, Godliness and Beauty”. Physical beauty, he said inspires success enabling those who seek their best beauty to travel the high road to making dreams come true.

Dr. Ramoutar, Mary Alexander and former First Lady Zalayhar Hassanali

“Looking good translates into feeling good and it all starts with respecting the body,” he said.

Nirvahna has been continuously reducing obesity in a world where no country in the past 33 years have succeeded, he said pointing to a highly obesogenic society where he noted, one wonders whether the battle is lost.

Dr Ramoutar greeted patients on stage, each given the opportunity to tell their stories in testimony of life changing weight loss.

“Losing weight is not as hard as you think. Good health is intoxicating and so too is looking and feeling good about yourself,” he said.

The awards ceremony underlined a life made precious by truth, godliness and beauty.

Sizzling dances were performed by Kiss Natraj Dance group whose invocation item paid tribute to Shri Ganesh. The second item evoked Hanooman Ji and the final dance was dedicated to goddess Kali.

The Calypso lounge formed an oasis for the good life practitioners. One by one the ‘big losers’ climbed the steps in sparkling gowns and elegant suits to highlight the emotional journey of sacrifice through obesity which like a tunnel of darkness, they described led via Nirvahna straight to the purest of lights. 

At the end of a power packed evening of truth, godliness and beauty, participants were eager to spread the joy of finding a place where the effects of obesity are never underestimated.

 Among the celebrants were Samuel who went from 283 to 149, a total weight loss of 134 pounds. 

“When I first entered the Nirvahna Clinic, I could hardly climb stairs. Today, I feel blessed to have found a way to take back my life,” she said.

Taxi driver Lutchman sought help only when he tipped the scale weighing 411 pounds. He continues with a weight loss of 121 pounds and continuing.

Arima school teacher, Rajdai Gooptar Ramoutar lost and maintained a weightloss of 35 pounds over three years while Mary Alexander shed 65 pounds for a healthier lifestyle for the past nine years and from Rochard Douglas Road in Barrackpore Premchand Badri loss 150 pound to stand tall at 177.

The ceremony declared failure to treat obesity no longer an option.

Former First Lady, Zalayhar Hassanali who never in 21 years missed an awards function was there as well as former beauty queen and body builder Rachel Telemaque who assisted in handing out certificates of excellence. Other speakers included Dr Hari Haran Seetaram and Dr Kumar Bodram. Radio Personality, Shamoon Mohammed was Master of Ceremonies

Left: Former Minister of Multiculturalism Winston "Gypsy" Peters and Chandra Sinanan.

Right: Dr. Ramoutar and 14 year-old Shastri Bowen

Dean Lancaster and Rachel Telemaque

Renewal in Remembrance

by Ariti Jankie in Houston, Texas

The balanjan/damadool chokha looked delicious. I added two tins of sweet corn to the chopped salad and brewed coffee.

On the other side of town Jasoda Sharma chunkayed the dhal, slipped on ancient silver bangles and got ready to leave. 

Chandra Mahabir finished making parsad, packed bigan chokha and sada roti sliced into quarters all set to go. Savi Gooman cooked the last buss-up shot roti to fill a cooler, Shomie took down the pot of bhaji from the stove, Radica Chatoor tested the channa and aloo, Dulsie strained a huge pot of rice, Nirmala Soodeen stirred mango talkarie and Tara Chatarpal stepped out of the kitchen to get dressed.

It was minutes to six in the morning and Indian Arrival Day Houston, Sunday 24^th May, an hour before celebrations were set to begin.

Lightning flashed, thunder cracked and the sky opened up, bucket-a-drop. The weather forecast said rain, flash flooding and tornado watch. The phones began ringing. Pundit Sase permitted an hour delay and in the rain families stepped out. The first to reach the temple gates was Larry Sawh with the Seegobin brothers Thirbowan and Harry Seegobin on their way home in Trinidad from India. Immediately afterwards, vehicles began arriving and filled up every available parking space.

Shashi Beharry set up a display, Arjan Singh Jagirdar cut a jhandi, Pundit Nankumar Rampershad began preparations for pooja while the others got ready to begin the day’s program. In the temple yard at Players Street, Pundit Sase began pooja with the jhandi. We offered jal and continued with worship of Hanuman, God of the Wind singing the chalisa as we walked into the mandir to sit in a circle and commence our remembrances for a faith renewal and brotherhood derived from a shared history and heritage.

The fierce rain was reduced to a drizzle before first vehicle reached the temple gate. The sun came out as we talked.  Too soon, it was time for a coveted breakfast of sada roti and chokha. A chulha had been built and roasting bigan began perfuming the breakfast shed as had been done so often in a thousand little huts of the Caribbean.

Five beautiful women lit decorative deeyas to inaugurate the celebration before Dharam Vishal Chatoor, President of the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha 377 of Houston took the microphone to welcome his guests and hand over to the Master of Ceremonies - Radio Jagriti’s Sharda Jaishree. Nadia Chatarpal had trained a group of children to recite the sacred mantras and sing the national anthem in Hindi, Amrita Chatarpal danced for Bhagwan Shiv as more guests arrived and a few departed to attend other functions.

The first award went to RAJOUTIE CHATARPAL for longstanding service to the Indo-Caribbean community.

She travelled from Guyana to New York, Canada, England and Holland, before settling in Texas and always found a mandir to attend. A strong and quiet woman, she continues to be a source of inspiration.

Her grand-daughter Amrita danced, Ram Sharma and Shomie Ramprashad sang before Bobby Teelucksingh received his award from Tulsi and Chandra Mahabir.

Tassa - Trinidad style

Bobby’s mother bought him a miniature tassa drum when he was seven. Tassa became a driving force in his life. Born in Claxton Bay, Trinidad, he joined the Moving Stars Tassa group and in 2000, when he migrated to Texas he turned his home into a school, he bought more drums and formed a band playing for free wherever he was called. The boys played as he walked the red carpet for recognition and played again as President Chatoor sang a bhiraha to tassa music.

Larry sang “Sohani Raat”, a love song adored by Trinidadians. It symbolizes the relation between Indo-Trinidadians and India, the land of their ancestors.

Chris Ramlochan received accolades for providing music every Friday for eight years. He took his own musical equipment to the SDMS mandir and on Sunday mornings did the same at the Sanatan Dharam mandir. Last year, he worked single handedly to beautify the mandir for Divali and has been offering practice sessions to bhajan singers. His love for music and dedication adds significantly to the sacredness of temple service.

Dancing Amrita held up her trophy with a dazzling smile.

She was a little girl when she started dancing in the mandir. She recently graduated after 16 years of dance training and has been teaching dance since. A daughter of the Sanatan Dharam mandir, she embodies the virtues that make her a role model to the younger children.

Muni and Tara Chatarpal are the parents of five children, they gave to each child a solid foundation combining spirituality with academics, writing plays, composing songs, singing and playing music. They are part of every mandir celebration, working with others to enhance the cultural traditions of our Indo-Caribbean people.

Tara and Muni Chatarpal and family- Radica Chatoor at centre

Pundit Nankumar and Shomie Ramprashad were next.

Punditji is humble and dedicated. Shomie is a singer with a vast repertoire of bhajans and Hindi film songs. Together, they make a delightful couple and have been regulars at the SDMS Friday night Durga Puja sessions and the Sanatan Dharam Sunday morning service. Spiritually strong and dedicated they are the pillars of dharma in Houston.

Shomie - singing star

Pundit RAMESH RAMJAS comes from a religious family and lived in an ashram between the age of seven to twenty-five. He started a mandir in Canada, went back to Guyana for five years before settling down in Texas. He travels to India every year and is well respected for his knowledge and understanding of the scriptures. He continues to travel to many countries and places to perform pooja.

Cultural icon, Jasoda Sharma proved to be a livewire at the ceremony. Born in Guyana, she is a mother of five. She cut her cultural teeth in the mandir writing, directing and producing plays which she took to cinema halls to raise money for charity. In Houston, she makes costumes for Ram Leela and works with the younger generation to keep them invested in Indian art and cultural traditions.

Jasoda and Ariti

Attorney at Law, Bashist Sharma gave good advice in his feature address calling for watchdogs to guard and protect minority groups. He evoked the pioneering spirit of ancestors of India saying that while the older generations were guided by parents who were role models in real life, the new generation needs to be informed of the sacrifices made and hardships endured in the journey from India to the Caribbean and America.

He said that Indian Arrival Day reminded us of who we are, where we came from and where we want to go. His daughter Mala was at his side adding words of advice to the younger participants.

The program came to an end shortly after 2.00 pm with a vote of thanks by Pundiit Sase. And though, the menu was supposed to be dhal, baat and bhaji there were many other dishes including channa-aloo, buss-up shot roti, mango talkarie, sweet rice and mango lassi as well as other dishes brought in for the occasion.

Indian Arrival Day went into its second year in Houston and remains one of the most enjoyable and successful event in the Indo-Caribbean calendar.