So I could boast that during my sojourn in New York, I hardly ever had to take the train as one Ray Sundar, would like my hired driver, chauffeur me around in his high-end XJ6 Jaguar motor car or in his convertible hand-crafted Mercedes Benz.
Yep, Ray Sundar was the proud owner of these aero-dynamic cars and to say proud owner would be an exaggeration. Ray was so cool about his success that these acquisitions were just like appendages he owned and what just went with the territory he belonged to.
Ray migrated to NY in 1970, age 20 or thereabouts with just his high school education in his back pocket but went on to become such a success in real estate that to call him an agent would be belittling as he was not an agent but something more like a baron in his heyday.
Being a six footer, he already had a towering presence, and because he exuded such confidence, because he understood what sartorial splendor truly meant, and how it contributed to one being seen as sophisticated, Ray was like Guyanese royalty in NY. He was, well, multi lingual in that he spoke Berbician when it was necessary, but he was a fan of the English language and so was at home when the Queen’s English was spoken.
He was affluent, yes, but he was generous to a fault, thus, if only he heard somebody was going to Guyana, he would immediately empty his pocket to send for folks he remembered back home and to whom he felt he could be of help to – If only for a moment.
Because of that generous spirit and because he had literary interest, I admit that he practically financed the publication of my book/his book: Guyana: A tour Guide. To this end, whatever cost was incurred for travel, hotel, etc, he undertook the without any reservations.
Ray Sundar was indeed the unappointed Guyanese Ambassador to NY when via his long strides, he conquered NY in the Shakespearean way: I came, I saw and I conquered. He did!
Gone, but as immortals say, long live the Sundar boy, who was born to be Guyanese royalty.
L. Siddhartha Orie
