Category: Features

By Akeem Greene We are quite certain that most persons are aware of the correlation between the Yadram name and cricket in Guyana, and now at the Windies youth level. However, many may not be unaware of the contributions of Kavita Yadram towards the development of the sport. According to Kavita, “cricket runs in the blood” as grandfathers Shaeed and Jaimangal all played for Enterprise- the community of residence- and then followed her father Seemangal and his brothers Khandi and Latchman, who is now a National Under-15 coach. Her mother…

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By Ravi Dev On May 5th, the nation commemorates Indian Arrival Day. The holiday is officially designated “Arrival Day”, putatively to recognize all the other immigrant groups that were brought by the planters to labour on the sugar plantations after the abolition of slavery. These groups would then include the Portuguese and Chinese as well as Indians but there has not been any noticeable participation by the descendants of these industrious and hardy pioneers since the holiday was ushered in back in 2004. In 2016, President Granger – leader of…

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AN INDENTURED IMMIGRANT’S FIRST HOME Two hundred and fifty labourers had sailed from Kolkata (then Calcutta) India on The Whitby to arrive in British Guiana on May 5, 1838. Four died along the 96-day journey. Highbury, their first point of entry, is a small village at the culmination of an annual trek by those commemorating the arrival of East Indians in Guyana. According to some accounts, many of those who returned to India after their indentureship period at Highbury had ended, returned with substantial wealth; paving the way for the…

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Guyanese, will on Saturday, May 5, 2018 observe East Indian Arrival Day ; an occasion commemorating the 180th anniversary of their arrival, bringing with them their ancient customs, food and culture from India. Under a system of agreement, an order in the Council of Britain was passed on July 12, 1838 making provision for indentured immigrants to travel to Guyana for a term of five years. On January 13, 1838 the Whitby left the shores of India with 249 immigrants on board and arrived in Guyana on the 5th May…

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By Lakhram Bhagirat Pongavanum Munsammy or w as she is lovingly known is a 91-year-old former estate worker, who even in her old age, enjoys an active life and is dependent on no one. Auntie Chalma came into the spotlight a few years ago when she was honoured as the oldest surviving worker of the Leonora Sugar Estate and since then, she has enjoyed national recognition. Born on February 17, 1927 to indentured immigrants Andikan and Chinganie at Leonora Pasture, West Coast Demerara, Auntie Chalma remembers growing up in a…

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By the time East Indian indentured labourers arrived in British Guiana in the 19th century, Indian fashion had already begun to be influenced by the-then British rulers of India. According to fashion historian Toolika Gupta, writing for the BBC News, the outward propriety of Victorian England,uncomfortable with the bare-breasted look of Hindu women in their saris of earlier times, led to a blouse being worn underneath, though in southern India, even in colonial times, some did not cover their upper body. In fact, she writes, it was the wife of…

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In the sugar belt of colonial Guyana, the Man Power Citizens’ Association (MPCA) was formed under the leadership of Ayube Edun, a goldsmith and publisher of the Guiana Review newspaper, and Mr C.R. Jacob, a successful merchant and member of the existing Legislative Council. Its general secretary was Harri Barron. All three of these people had certain prominence in the struggle for greater political rights for East Indians, and Jacob was not only a merchant but also president of the East Indian Association. The MPCA was officially registered on November…

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For the past ten years the Sorsha Williams Foundation has been making great strides towards structuring a more comfortable life for Autistic children in Guyana. Initially named the Greenheart Autistic School, the institution was founded by Karen Williams and her husband in order to provide a suitable learning environment for their daughter Sorsha. After moving locations, the decision was taken some three years ago to rename the private institution after its inspiration Sorsha. Being the first institution of its kind in Guyana, the Sorsha Williams Foundation caters the specific needs…

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– A Parents Perspective By Lakhram Bhagirat Shoaib Khan is nine years old. He is tall and likes to smile a lot but most of all he loves his gadgets. He is a whiz when it comes to memorising passwords, patterns and lock codes, but, Shoaib likes to be alone. He is a special kind; he does not conform to societal norms, not because he does not want to, but because he just cannot. You see the upbeat Shoaib has been diagnosed with moderate to severe autism for the past…

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In Guyana, when the common person hears the term autism or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) then they are almost immediately puzzled as to what the disease really is or whom it affects. This is so because, as a Guyanese society, we are hesitant to broach the conversation on a commonly misdiagnosed or undiagnosed disorder that affects so many people around us. The fact remains that the Public Health Ministry, and by extension Government, is doing a poor job at educating the populace about ASD and the only time the conversation…

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