Vishnu Bisram (commonly known as Besho) was born on June 19, 1960 in Ankerville (village of the famous Dr Cheddi Jagan), Port Mourant (village of famous cricketers), Corentyne , Berbice, Guyana. His father was the late Baldat Jewah and Gladys of Ankerville, grandson of Barkha bhai (Mahadeo) also of Ankerville, great grandson of Ghurbatore (indentured laborer) of Ghazipur bounded to (Boundyard) and settled in Ankerville. His paternal great grandmother (Amru) was from Siaraha, Azamgarh also bounded to Bound Yard. The two came as a couple from Calcutta around 1890 and bounded to Port Mourant and settled in Ankerville after completion of their ten years forced contract. The couple had three sons and two daughters and acquired enormous amount of leased land that stretched from number (#) 43 to Canje with most at the back of Port Mourant, land they cleared of trees and planted rice and sugar cane. They also reared cattle that grew to hundreds, one of the largest flocks in Guyana; they donated many cattle and land to friends. They shared the wealth with their five children (Mahadeo or Bharka Bhai, Rajaram, Mahase, Naurangya, and Sancharee. The eldest of the Gurbatore grandchildren was Muneshwer of Ankerville who established a taylor shop and business in Haswell, Port Mourant next to Roop Mahal cinema; Muneshwer went on to become a business tycoon in Georgetown. Some of Ghurbatore’s other grand children included Hindu and Baljeet of Tain, Lilmatee of Rose Hall, Bethlyn of Ankerville; Baldat, Ramrattan, Baleraj, Eva, and Golin (wife of Pandit Bangat) of Port Mourant, and Sambhu of Bloomfield, among others. Vishnu’s maternal great grandparents are from Bharatpur, Chapra, and Mau. Some of his mother’s kin include Johnny, Dhoris, Dorothy, Irene, Esther, Aska, and Gama.
Vishnu received his early education at a private bottom house prep or kindergarten school in Ankerville, close to the home of the Jagan’s before attending English (St. Joseph Anglican Primary) School in 1966. He passed Common Entrance in 1972 for a prized place at Berbice High, the premier and most prestigious government school after Queens College. He completed the enrollment process, but at last minute his father and his aunt (Bethlyn) decided he would attend Chandisingh’s Corentyne High Secondary (CHS) where he placed high in the entrance exam. He would go on to form 4A (1975) and 5A (1976) in May 1976 and served as Prefect and a stint as Head Prefect in the Fall of 1976. He played leading role in the September 1976 founding of the Hindu Students Society and the Students Society (Council) and went on getting elected as President of both The Hindu Students Society and the Students Society Council (1976). His pioneering activism and founding of the Student Society and Hindu Society also led to the formation of the Muslim Society and Christian Society, all firsts for CHS. He co-led the Students Strike of Fall 1976 (September) after the societies were disbanded by the administration of CHS; the strikes led to administration and the Burnham government backing down and the restoration of the four societies’ existence. He co-organized the first Diwali celebration and cultural variety concert at CHS in October 1976. When teachers were victimized for supporting the students strike at the end of the Fall term, he galvanized the students to action. He co-led the students strike of January and February 1977 that led to the restoration of teaching jobs of victimized teachers.
Vishnu was an outstanding student who excelled in Chemistry, Physics, Maths and Biology, among other subjects. He enrolled for 8 subjects at GCE, the maximum allowable at the time. He left for New York where he was granted admission at age 16 at City College of New York (CCNY), one of 22 branches of City University of New York (CUNY) in Harlem. He organized sessions for the India Students Club at CCNY in the Fall of 1977 and co-founded Indian organizations, serving in executive positions. He was also elected to student government serving as Senator for Sciences from 1978 thru 1982 including one term as Vice President for Education. He completed two majors, in Bio-Chemistry earning the BSc in Bio-Chem and in Social Sciences. He went on to graduate school earning multiple MA degrees in various subjects in the social sciences and Educational Administration and multiple PhDs. During his graduate school education, he was elected to student government at CCNY (in various positions including as President and Treasurer) and at CUNY Doctoral Center (Councillor for Social Sciences). He founded the East Indian Students Club at the CUNY Graduate Center on 42nd Street. He also studied at New York University where he founded an Indian Students Club. He went for teacher training at Columbia University, Pace University, and a few other universities. Right after his arrival in USA and while a young student, he pioneered a movement for the restoration of democratic governance in Guyana. He organized picketing exercises, rallies, petition drives, etc., and lobbed American politicians to pressure the Guyanese dictatorship to return the country to democracy and the rule of law and order.
Vishnu started his career as a researcher in science at CCNY, where he worked for several years. And he also worked as a political strategist for politicians in Guyana, Trinidad, and other Caribbean countries. He also volunteered on Presidential, Gubernatorial, Mayoral, Congressional, State legislative, NYC Legislative, and Queens Borough President campaigns. He worked for both Democratic and republican candidates.
Vishnu taught for over forty years and also tutored students while a student at CCNY as well as did volunteer (unpaid) tutoring for NGOs while teaching full time. He taught almost every subject from English to Math, Sciences, Health Ed, Literature, Reading, among others. Besides teaching, he worked in a Biology and Chemistry research lab at CCNY, as a librarian at CCNY, CUNY Doctoral Center and NYU Library, and as a clerk at the Bronx Supreme Court. He founded, published and edited several mass media publications from 1977 onwards. He has developed a reputation as an outstanding reviewer of books in the social sciences.
During his early years in USA as a student, he worked as a shipping clerk and a messenger hand delivering packages. He co-founded several ethnic media publications and community and socio-cultural and political organizations including the Indo-Caribbean Federation of America. And he has spent his entire life in charitable activities. And his political activism in America and Guyana is well known, championing free and fair elections. He has been a champion and advocate of the Indian diaspora. He penned countless articles in the mass media and in journals, magazines, and books on varied subjects including on migration, the Indian diaspora, Trinidad diaspora, Guyanese diaspora, festivals, etc. He co-organized the first Miss Indo-Caribbean Diwali celebrations and Miss Diwali Beauty Queen in USA in 1984 held at Washington Irving HS in Manhattan.
Vishnu worked with Dr Baytoram Ramharack, Ravi Dev, Vassan Ramracha, Rennie Ramracha, among others to found a polling and research institute in Guyana, TRPI, the first of its kind. He subsequently co-founded NACTA, what would become the country’s only political consultancy firms. He has developed an excellent reputation as a pollster and opinion maker. And he co-organized and or presented papers at countless academic conferences in Guyana, Trinidad, Suriname, USA, Fiji, Mauritius, and India, among other countries. He donated large amounts of his person income to political and cultural causes in Guyana, Trinidad, India and other countries.
As a political strategist, Mr. Bisram worked for several candidates and olitical parties in Guyana, Trinidad, Grenada, Antigua, Tobago, St. Kitts, and other countries. He also spent considerable time lobbying for Guyana and India in USA and for advocating and championing democracy for Guyana that endured 26 years of dictatorship (1966-92) and a further two years of authoritarianism from June 1998 to July 2020. He is known to publicly write about differences with governments that he supported in Guyana, Trinidad, and India. He also volunteered his time as a political and cultural activist in Fiji and Mauritius.
Vishnu regularly visited India from 1985 onwards visiting ancestral villages and engaging in social work and charity.he visited India no less than fifty times, traversing all parts of the country delivering lectures at various universities. He obtained two doctorates in India while a student.
