Recollections of a heritage An elderly Indo-Guyanese woman looks back at her life steeped in tradition

Eighty-three-year-old Ameena Ishmail’s story is one of endurance through hardship on tough sugar estates, and developing resilience to face up to others in a society where women were not bestowed with the recognition they deserved.
In an interview with Guyana Times Sunday Magazine, Ameena, born August 1930, disclosed that she could not afford to attend school because her family was very poor, and she had to work in the “backdam” with her mother from just 12 years old.

“I worked at such an early age because my father died when I was really young. I didn’t know much about him because my mother didn’t speak anything of him. My mother was left with me, my brother and sister. So I had to go to work. I bled rubber trees at Booker’s Estate in Tuschen. I used to go catch shrimps and then went to the masjid with my book to learn there. Later, I went to cut grass in the cane fields. I worked at Farm Estate in the 1940s and later started cooking for the estate managers, which I did for over 12 years. My mother was an excellent cook, a talent she inherited from her mother who came from India. This I also inherited and would cook at many weddings,” Ameena recalled.
Her husband, she noted, worked as a “house boy”, not being able to “work hard”. She would make small snacks for him to sell instead, while she went to work in the backdam. He died many years ago.
Most memories of Ameena’s past life are now fading because of age. But her mother’s resilience she could never forget. Ameena recalled that her mother was a representative for fellow estate workers. Her mother would present numerous cases of underpayment and other issues affecting the workers to the estate management, and would often be successful in providing relief to those she represented.
Although her mother was uneducated, she was very eloquent. Ameena’s mother did not cease from teaching her to be independent and brave, teaching Ameena to be unafraid of situations and people. Her mother had this solid background from her parents, who emigrated from India.
“My mother’s parents are from India. She spoke of her father, Mangru. She told me how he came from India and that her mother came here pregnant with her (my mother). My uncle, my mother’s brother, came as a small boy here with them also. His name was Bacchus. I also know of my father-in-law who came from India. His name was Akbhar. My mother-in-law would tell me about him. She was from Guyana. He worked on the Farm Estate. They all worked hard on the sugar estates under tough conditions, and this determination I inherited from them,” she reminisced.
Recollecting life in her time, Ameena said women were never allowed to portray masculine traits, so climbing trees was considered inappropriate for a young lady who could be subjected to stern disciplining. This requirement seemed absurd in Ameena’s mind and she decided that she will defy society’s conventions for women.
“I would tie my kerchief to coconut trees, place my foot in it and climb. My stepfather saw me on the tree and told me he’s going to break my back because I wasn’t supposed to do that. I just pelted him with one of the coconuts and it angered him even more. When he went to my mother, she didn’t give him any satisfaction,” Ameena remembered of one occasion, laughing.
Many traditions brought to Guyana by our Indian ancestors have been dying with the older generations. For Ameena, upholding these traditions shows respect, and dignifies families.
The traditions passed down from her mother were instilled in Ameena- her heritage she still cherishes during her old age. One such tradition was wearing the ‘head kerchief’ or the “romal”. Ameena stated during her time, every woman had to wear one as a sign of respect.
“Only the old people wearing it these days; the young people don’t even know what it is. It was a sign of respect and we couldn’t leave home without it. It was our tradition and we were obligated to keep it up. I still wear it, but nowadays women don’t even care about that. For me upholding such traditions show my respect for my family’s traditions passed down from our ancestors.”
Now a pensioner, braving various ailments, living in her home which she built from her hard earned money, Ameena has lived a fulfilled life. She has borne  17 children, 10 of whom are alive today. Among them 2 sets of twins, though one from each set  has since died. She now enjoys time with her surviving children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, passing down her family’s rich heritage to them.