Because this undertaking to recognise Indo-Trinis with a Naipaulian award for excellence in their multitudinous, eclectic fields of endeavour has proven to be a spectacular success with glitterati emerging in the omnipresent sense of here, there and everywhere, the selection process and the public announcement of awardees are being done in tranches. Thus:
For Indo-Trini cuisine the winner is Badru Deen for glamourizing and globalizing ‘Doubles’ via his book Out of the Doubles Kitchen.
For Filmmaking, the winner is Kamalo Deen for his several productions in the movie world and for his pioneering work as a T&T national in this field.
For Diplomacy, the winner is His Excellency, Chandradath Singh for adding to his substantive position as Consul General to Miami, the idea that T&T is a cultural Mecca and of which courtesy his own talent he is an exemplar par excellence.
For Sports Administrator, the winner is Azim Bassarath for becoming president of the T&T cricket Board and VP of the WICBC.
For entrepreneurship, the winner is the prodigy Keenan Singh for his pioneering establishment of Air Link, an Internet service, facilitating the Princes Town area.
For medicine, the winner is Dr. Aneesa Ahamad for her pioneering work in Oncology and acquiring international acclaim although originally from T&T.
This initial, first tranche of our Indo-Trini stars come to a temporary halt as I make room for the celestial galaxy excitedly waiting their turn. As you can see, we have only just begun and because this is a brand-new venture the cherry-picking process excludes a lot of names that had to be here…but are not. But since this is supposed to be a project that will naturally evolve, eventually all deserving recipients will have their day in the sun.
An actual ceremony is scheduled to come a bit later where winners shall come together to rub shoulders, collect their medals, make speeches, and show the world that Indo-Trinis belong to a world of transcendence.
L. Siddhartha Orie