The mission of the writer

Robert H. Mahesh uses the art of poetry to teach today’s young generations of the past

U.S.-based Guyanese poet, writer and history educator Robert H. Mahesh has just published his first poetry book of 25 poems, “Glimpses of Living Guyanese-American Poetic Images Part One”, sold by Amazon.com. The collection of poems has been described as “a storehouse of delight and knowledge…” born as they were, from the poet’s own past life experiences.
However, the writer notes in the book that his first foray into poetry began at age 15 when, in 1955, he lost his “beloved small sister.”

Recalling his own history in an interview with Guyana Times Sunday Magazine, Mahesh said it was fascinating to know his father was the head driver of Pln. De-Kinderen, and would use an interpreter to communicate with the European manager.
His father came to Guyana in 1909 on the Sutlej ship at the age of 19. He was illiterate both in Hindi and English but spoke Hindi fluently. Mahesh is his only son who has now been an immigrant in New York for the past 30 years.
Fascinated by his father’s history, the writer is on a mission to document his father’s story as well as his own, and encourages others to do so before valuable information is lost.
The writer was a school teacher in Guyana who found it difficult to get a teaching job because he was not a Christian but a Hindu. His father encouraged him – in Hindi, “Daro mat Bayta! Eik din Bhagwan tughay teacha kaam zaroor dunga!” (“Fear not son! One day God will surely give you a teaching job!”)
Eventually, a Catholic priest from Charity, Essequibo employed Mahesh in the Pomeroon River in 1954.
“I was 17 years old and was turned away from my own school, St. Simon’s Anglican, in 1952 when I topped the 4 passes at the Pupil Teachers’ Appointment Exam. My self-published book “A Pilgrimage to the Place of his Birth in Guyana” now tells that true-to-life story. If we do not tell and document our family story of dislocation and survival then no one will do so for us,” Mahesh maintained.
Mahesh is a fourth batch history graduate from UG in 1970. He also holds a Diploma in Education from UG. Additionally, he is a ‘Grade 1 Class 1 Trained Teacher’ from the Government Training College (1962) and had won the Geography and Art prizes. He never attended high school since his parents were too poor to afford the cost. He received an MA History from St. John’s University in 2006 at the age of 70. That was how he got his first College job in 2007. Mahesh said it was his determined self-study that propelled him forward academically.
“I am presently an adjunct history professor at the College of New Rochelle in the Bronx, New York. I teach the ‘American Experience’ history course to adults who are working towards their Bachelor’s Degree. As far as my future plans are concerned, I propose to continue teaching the college course in my retirement years at the College of New Rochelle in the Bronx, New York. There is so much I am learning about American history, particularly the unorthodox history of the different exploited groups, which has been bypassed by the orthodox history that was the history that was taught at first. This new history stance is now gaining respectability from a new generation of writers from these groups, and our stories are connected to this unorthodox history. This is the great motivation for me to continue to write,” Mahesh expressed.
He is also about to publish a booklet on the beginnings of the Rama Krishna Dharmic Sabha Hindu Primary School in Kitty. Mahesh said this was the first Hindu primary school that was built by the Hindu community in the early 1960s in Greater Georgetown.
“What is fascinating about this school is that it came from behind and topped the whole country twice at the Common Entrance exams when students from primary schools were placed in the secondary schools in the country. I taught for one year (1963-1964) at the school under its first headmaster, who is now a senior citizen in New York. I have received write-ups from seven teachers and two students from the school during its early history. These individuals are living witnesses in the life of the school during those early years of its birth history. I tried to get some bit of write-up of the school in its present privately managed operation. The promises so far have not been successful.
I also tried to get a write-up from the new government Rama Krishna Primary on Middleton Street and again I have not been successful, although promises were made. This school’s history is very wonderful and there are living witnesses who can help in the documentation of its history. Again the living participants of this living educational saga are still around and are the best qualified to tell and document its history. This is the power of oral and written history of this lovely school that can be brought to literary and historical life that can be shared,” Mahesh related.
Next, Mahesh proposes to start on a part two poetry book of another twenty-five poems. This would be his next project, after which there would be a part three of yet another 25 poems.
The author also plans on visiting the Tagore Memorial Secondary School in order to share his writings from his life story in a special chapter entitled, ‘Lessons I have learned from Gandhi and Tagore’.
Mahesh believes it would be fascinating to involve students and teachers in an interactive session to see how much they know about the universal teacher after which their school has been named. He would also like to visit Babu John where Dr. Cheddi Jagan was cremated. He had written a 17-verse poem on Dr. Jagan’s passing. He read it at the Guyana Embassy in Manhattan in the United States. The poem was also read at the London High Commission by Dr David Dabydeen.
“Again, my burning desire is to come to Guyana and to do readings from my just published poetry book and from the second edition of my true-to-life story. Their educational value will only be realized if their contents are shared through those readings. It is not common to find writers given the opportunities to share their writings in schools. There is no better person to share those readings that the writers themselves. In 2009, I did readings at Saraswat Primary, Leonora Primary, Saraswati Vidya Niketan Secondary, West Dem Secondary and the Cyril Potter College of Education. Some of those poems are now appearing in my part-one poetry book,” Mahesh pointed out.
“This is the type of voluntary teaching that I want to do from my writings in Guyana in order to teach a few literary lessons of a different sort away from the classroom…I have valuable teaching experiences and skills that I got from my motherland, and I just wanted to give back in a very special and profound living way,” he added.
“Out of those experiences, I was going to produce further writings that I wanted to share in an educational way. I was able to share a copy of the first edition of my life story to late Dr. Jagan at the Borough of Manhattan College in New York and I told him that the book was a product of his University of Guyana. He was surprised and promised to read it,” he revealed.
“I want to continue on this path sharing my work with others. I would like to also encourage Indo-Guyanese to begin documentation of their history so as to enrich our young Guyanese for future generations and others who may wish to read,” Mahesh urged.
For more information on the books and the writer email: robert.mahesh@yahoo.com (Taken from Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)