By Lakhram Bhagirat
Four years ago, Pooran Seeraj was the hottest name on the local Chutney scene after having being crowned the Chutney King, but since then, he has been notably absent; however, now he is back and, boy, is he back with a vengeance. He is back to reclaim his spot as the king with his brand new song “GT Ladki” and renewed knowledge from India.
The 39-year-old father of three grew up in Bath Settlement on the West Coast of Berbice in humble circumstances. Looking back at his childhood, Pooran says that his father worked as a cane cutter while his mother stayed at home to take care of the family.
He was always pushed to achieve greater things and focused on gaining an education that would position him to provide a better life for his family when the time came. He attended the Bath Primary School and later the New Amsterdam Secondary where he sat and passed seven subjects at CXC.
With very little opportunities for employment in Berbice, Pooran moved to Mon Repos on the East Coast of Demerara and gained employment with a manufacturing company.
He then applied for a scholarship at GuySuCo.
“At the age of 17, I was employed by the LBI Estate, GuySuCo, as a Trainee Field Foreman. In 1999, I secured a scholarship to GSA [Guyana School of Agriculture] and graduated in 2001 with a Diploma in Agriculture. After graduation, I returned to my job and eventually began having a family of my own. I became the father of my first daughter, Simran Seeraj, at the age of 21. I then secured my second scholarship to read for my Bachelor of Science Degree in Agriculture at the University of Guyana in 2003. Unfortunately, my family life fell apart a few months before my graduation in 2006,” he said.
Three years later, Pooran would get married again to his current wife, Sonia, and they now have two children. In 2016, he secured another scholarship, but this time it meant moving out of the country. He left for New Delhi, India where he acquired his Master’s Degree in Agricultural Physics from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in July 2018.
He returned home and is presently an Agriculture Research Scientist with the Guyana Rice Development Board’s Research Station.
Tracing his music career, Pooran notes that music serves as the outlet for him to express his innermost feelings. After he separated from his first wife in 2006, he turned to music and joined the Shakti Strings Band in 2008.
“I contested in the Mashramani Chutney Competition on four occasions without placing. However, I was crowned as the Chutney King of Guyana in 2014 with the entry “Under The Maarow”. I also secured the first runner-up spot in 2016. I have recorded more than 50 songs to date which includes Chutney, Bollywood and English. Most of my recordings were done by Avinash Roopchan of Shakti Strings Studio. I am contesting in the 2019 Chutney Singing Competition once again after studying abroad for two years. The title of my song is “GT Ladki”,” he said.
“I honestly feel that music allows us to express ourselves in a different way than just making a verbal statement. I think that statements through mere words are often forgotten after a very short period; on the other hand, musical expressions make a stronger impression.”
He noted that one of the greatest challenges as a Guyanese musician is the lack of copyright laws. This makes it very difficult for an artiste to earn the fruits of his/her honest labour in the music industry. He explains that artistes have to spend their own money to produce music and get little or no returns on investment owing to lack of copyright laws.
He said that he was forever thankful to all of those people who helped him throughout his musical career, particularly his family and the Shakti Strings family. He is ready to take the stage in the Mashramani 2019 Chutney Competition, where he intends to cement his place once again as KING!
(Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)
