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Oct 24, 2022 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon
Kaieteur News – Today is Diwali. In each year it brings back memories of my mother. My parents were Hindus. Only the three boys were given English names. The four girls were given Hindu names. I also gave my only child a Hindu name. I married a Muslim woman so our daughter has a Muslim middle name.
I grew up in a constricted house on Durban Street, Wortmanville in South Georgetown. Though the house was small, my mother maintained a tiny altar in our home with images of the different Hindu deities. Above the altar was a photograph of Cheddi Jagan.
I grew up with two things – a penetrating Hindu presence and strong PPP presence. Strangely enough, I met a young lady, Mitra Devi Ali, who grew up in the PPP, married a PPP youth named Fazil Khan, who later became the head of the Rice Producers Association. Mitra is one of the longest serving PPP members and second-tier leaders that she is considered a PPP icon
Each time I meet, Mitra, she never missed the opportunity to repeat in a drooling voice, “you strayed from the PPP but I always consider you a PPP. I strayed so far from everything when I entered UG as a student in 1974 that today I don’t know who or what I am.
Growing up in a non-Indian ward in Georgetown had to have transforming effect on Indians but not my mother. My father was the chief groundsman for St. Stanislaus Sport Ground and the GCC so it was natural for him to be surrounded by Christians and non-Hindu people. It had its effect. He gave Christian names to his boy children so they could survive in Guyana.
My siblings strayed away from Hindu culture but I stuck with it. There were two forces that kept me into the Hindu world apart from my mother. One was the Guyana-East Germany Friendship Society.
I became a young executive member in that organization where I met two of the nicest politicians you could ever find in politics – EMG Wilson (Willo) and Pariag Sukhai. They were both top names in the PPP and both men were dear to Cheddi Jagan.
Each year, Pariag and I would travel to the Diwali Fair outside of Georgetown and set up a booth in the fairground and sell a magazine named GDR review (GDR meant German Democratic Republic). One year at the Diwali fair at Zeeburg or Met-en-Meerzorg (I can’t remember which), I sold all the magazines we carried up.
I left the money in the booth and went to frolic in the fairground. When we were packing up, the money was gone. I cried because I was afraid the PPP leaders would think I stole it. EMG told me not to worry because the incident never happened; he would replace the money.
I was 19 at the time and would never forget the look on the face of Pariah Sukhai. When we were talking about the money, Pariag, without an expression of his face, just nonchalantly said, “We will tell Comrade Cheddi, de money blow way.”
The other force mentioned above was the years I spent with a Swami on Craig Street, Campbellville. With food shortage in the home, the Swami was a life-saver. Two of us lived at the ashram, the other was an African youth who remains my friend up to this day. If he had stayed in the Hindu religion he would have been the only certified Hindu pandit of African origin
Diwali has memories so permanent for me, they have been cemented on my mind. I was about 14 when my mom took me to the Diwali service at the Vedic Mandir at the corner of Durban Street and Vlissengen Road. I collected about ten bags of parsad before the service was over and hid it under the bottom house of the mandir.
After the service was over and my mother was leaving, I went to collect my loot and there in front of my eyes, a herd of goats were feasting on the parsad. Not even one bag was left for me. I never knew if they died because goats aren’t supposed to eat that type of food.
Diwali brings back memories of Hindu actor, Rajesh Khanna and Hindi singer, Kishore Kumar. My mother loved the Hindi screen and I followed her in that respect. To this day, Rajesh Khanna remains on the top five of actors that I admire.
My second favourite singer after Johnny Mathis is Kishore Kumar. His saccharine voice is matchless among singers of any culture. His hit, ‘Oh mere dil ka chain’ remains my second best song of all time. I hate it when Diwali comes around because I wished my devoted Hindu mother had lived long enough to see me work to give her a few pennies. (The views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not this newspaper.)
GRA catch EXXON trying to hunch GUYANA over 11 BUS dollars in one shot!!!!
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