Yesu Persaud – a man of simple grandeur

Jan 19, 2022 Letters

Dear Editor,

Kaieteur News – I have not had the privilege of sharing space nor time with Yesu Persaud; never met him or spoke with him. Still, there is the sense that I knew him well, like a trusted friend from long ago, who is there, just there. There are few people I look up to in this world, fewer Guyanese make it in the reckoning. But Yesu Persaud was one of those that I thought highly of, the highest, which is the rarest of accolades from me.
The closest I came to him was through my father. He was what was called a tradesman. During the time he worked at Sandback Parker, he came into contact withYesu Persaud, who I think was the Finance Director. My father was impressed, which also didn’t come easily to him. He spoke to me of this man, and there I was still in the first flush of my early teens. I remember his words were of admiration, and a simple awe at the carriage of the man, and what he interpreted as the decency of him. It is a tribute to Yesu Persaud that he rubbed shoulders with some of the worst scoundrels in this country – those piloting it to some place – and he maintained that fine equilibrium, which was his special gift. He didn’t allow their ways and the darkness of their spirit to intrude on his reserve, which was of the decency that is now scorned in this country, the honour that is all but a forgotten norm, and the dignity of compelling truths.
Editor, those were the flags under which, and through which, Yesu Persaud served country and citizens, and from those he never deviated, regardless of the environment, or the men with whom he had to interact, due to force of circumstances. It is of a legacy to be cherished, a memory that is untarnished, as it is pristine in the impeccable perfection of its simplicity, that abiding humility that came to be the outstanding endowment of the man. I will not taint this writing, this eulogy of the simplest sort, by mentioning those who sully our visions today, poison us with their presence. But the point still has to be made that they can’t hold a candle to his glittering sun. I wish there were a few more like him to make Guyana a better place than it is today.
Yesu Persaud made Guyana a much better place just for being here with his humble and honourable presence, the sublime attributes that made him such a stately figure in the annals of Guyanese life. His was a storied life, a true-life saga of a man of courage, of character, and of profound conviction. We can all learn something from the whisper of this man who walked in our midst so quietly, yet so powerfully. I have. It was a life of simple grandeur, a deep sagaciousness that takes the breath away. At 93, the time drew near to say goodbye. And now it is. May he watch over his beloved Guyana and us, from whatever heights is his new homeland. Yes, he will be missed.

Sincerely,
GHK Lall