Category: Features

By Lakhram Bhagirat One of my favourite movie stars Denzel Washington famously said, “At the end of the day it’s not about what you have or even what you’ve accomplished…it’s about who you’ve lifted up, who you’ve made better. It’s about what you’ve given back.” For Ryan Lochan, he feels a particular affinity with the words of Denzel as he is in the giving back mode. He is giving back to a school that has given his two boys so much to make him a proud father. Ryan has been…

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By Utamu Belle Looking back over the years at the celebration of Mashramani, a festival with its origin in the bauxite mining town of Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice), one would note that it has undergone many unique and interesting transformations. This year marks 49 years of Guyana becoming a Republic nation, and approximately 45 years since the birth of the celebration. The Mashramani celebration started when the Junior Chamber – Jaycees – of Mackenzie (a community that now constitutes part of Linden), who had been organising the country’s Independence…

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By Lakhram Bhagirat One of the most popular sayings in Guyana is “better late than never”, and it is used in almost every situation for different purposes. For Collis Mc Donald, or “Real Proof” as he is known, that saying is one he holds dear to his heart for the purpose of gaining strength to persevere in a challenging industry. Collis is 40 years old and now stepping out on the music scene, the local Soca music scene to be exact, and for someone his age, it means keeping up…

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By Lakhram Bhagirat One thing that is constant in our lives is that there is always going to be change and in order to be able to cope with those changes, we must learn to step out of our comfort zone. When we step out of our comfort zone, we are challenged by unfamiliar things and that is the only way we will be able to see what we can do and realise our true potential. For Steven Ramphal, stepping out of his comfort zone is the only way he…

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By Lakhram Bhagirat Hardship, poverty and want are the best incentives and the best foundation for the success of anyone, and for Mohan Singh no one knows as much as he does about poverty, hardship and the drive to be successful. Mohan is not your average 22-year-old nor does he consider himself above anyone. He is the epitome of humbleness and is forever smiling. I personally think he even smiles when he cries. Many of us may know Mohan from Facebook as the funny guy who makes videos and posts…

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Ah tell dem is fete Is fete No I ain’t tired as yet I tell them is fete I bet you never wine pon a Guyanese yet Me represent me culture, any day! Guyanese wine you can’t beat meh no day… With lyrics like that, it just goes to show that newcomer Shaima Muna is not to be taken lightly. The vibrant 21-year-old is now dipping her feet into the local music industry, but has been around music all her life. She comes from a musical family and has been…

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By Lakhram Bhagirat When we think about Soca music in Guyana, we are immediately transported to the festivities around Mashramani time with the hosting of the Soca Monarch competition and when we think about local female Soca artistes, one name immediately comes to mind. If you say Melissa Roberts, very few may recognise who we are talking about, but just whisper Vanilla and there is a frenzy. Very few people can be immediately recognised by just one name so that in itself is an accomplishment for Vanilla. Quite often the…

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There are as many ways to celebrate as there are appropriate ways to celebrate. The tenor of Black History Month should be celebrated with books. Here’s a short (but by no way a comprehensive) list of Guyanese works and their authors which could be used to commemorate the above.                   Ivan Van Sertima ‘They Came Before Columbus: The African Presence in Ancient America’, written by Ivan Van Sertima, published 1977, was one of those controversial books that stabbed at misconceptions about Africans. Van…

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By Lakhram Bhagirat They were charged, ready to go, bursting with energy even before “Dr Mash-up” made his way on the stage at the Stabroek Market Square in the capital city. It was a launch campaign like none other in the recent history of Guyana. The music was right, the vibes was perfect, and the performances truly captured the essence of the entire campaign and left everyone feeling like “Hulk”. The skies were overcast, it drizzled before it poured briefly but that did not stop the soca junkies as they…

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It does not matter which part of the world a Guyanese is, from the moment they find out that a fellow Guyanese is going to visit their area, their first request is “bring a fry rice fuh me nah”. Without even thinking twice, one knows exactly what type of fried rice they are craving, since it is something distinctly associated with us Guyanese. Nowhere in the world, not even in China, can you find the perfect chicken fried rice as you would in Guyana. It is something we are eternally…

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