On Saturday, August 10, 2024, Santram and Nirmatie (Mavis) Dukhbhanjan celebrated their 60th (diamond) wedding anniversary at his home in Richmond Hill, Queens, New York, surrounded by immediate and extended family, friends and well-wishers. They are the parents of 3 children (1 daughter and 2 sons, and 5 grandchildren).
Sadly, the celebratory occasion was punctuated by the news of the passing of Santram’s sister in Guyana. They will be attending the funeral in Guyana.
An integral part of the wedding anniversary event was the display and reverence accorded to the 1903 Ramayana which Santram’s ajee brought from India. He has learned reading and studying it at an early age and kept it secure with him in Guyana, when he migrated to USA in 19982 and his trip to India. He plans to present it the museum in Guyana in January 2025.
Santram and Nirmatie received citations and proclamations from various elected officials presented by IDC president Ashook Ramsaran, assisted by Dr Vishnu Bisram. These congratulatory citations were issued by: NYC Speaker Adrienne Adams, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, NYS Assembly Members Jenifer Rajkumar and David Weprin. IDC also presented the couple with an IDC congratulatory memento.
Santram Dukhbhanjan leads an exemplary life of service with honesty, respectability and humility. He is an ardent community advocate and mentor, serving with distinction and dedication. He is well known as an active contributor of time, talent and resources to noteworthy community causes. He is a participant in civic, community, political and religious rallies and parades. He campaigned for Diwali as NYC School Holiday, testimony at City Hall; attended Indian Arrival Day celebrations in New York, Trinidad & Guyana. He was a Committee Member for Pandit Ram Lall Street Co-Naming, and Life Member and Treasurer of the Indian Diaspora Council International
Honors include: The Indian Diaspora Center, Varanasi (India) 2023; Honors (Santram): New York Academy of Vedic Studies (USA) 2010; Christopher Columbus 500th Anniversary World Peace & Environmental Award; Installation of bust of father Dukhbhanjan in Village of Unity, Guyana; Visited the Kolkata Memorial in India, a monument to Indian Indentured laborers.
