Indian Guyanese like myself, like Indians in Trinidad and Suriname and from other countries, have largely maintained cultural and religious heritage in Guyana (and places where they migrated from India and settled in a host territory and from there to another country) through community networks and religious practices, the celebration of festivals, watching Bollywood films, listening to Bollywood as well as local Indian songs, maintaining links with India, food and dressing as when they came from India, and some minimal language preservation used almost daily in engagement with other Indians, Hindi and Sanskrit names of new born, Hindi or Bhojpuri names of items used daily and in conversation, as well as through customary practices. Hindi was used in certain religious ceremonies, rituals, prayers, and cultural activities. These various practices have helped in the retention of Indian culture in Guyana and in the Indian Guyanese diaspora.
Indian culture is prevalent in areas where Indians are settled as in Guyana, Trinidad, Suriname, and elsewhere. As a child growing up in Ankerville, Port Mourant (PM), an Indian village, in a strong Hindu household, I was very active in cultural and religious affairs. I became immersed in Indian culture through attendance at pujas, jhandi, bhagwat (reading of the Gita), Ramayana kathas in the village at peoples’ homes, the Shivala mandir, under the “bottom ball” tree in Boundyard and at various other mandirs in Port Mourant area like Miss Phoebe, Tain, etc.
I have always emphasized Indian community engagement and Hindi learning and encouraging youths to learn Indian music and dancing. I have promoted awareness of the culture of Indian indentured laborers and their descendants. I have supported the preservation of Hindi, Bhojpuri, Urdu, religions, festivals, and customs among Indo-Caribbean communities. I have been writing and speaking about India–Caribbean cultural, political, and economic ties. And I have been actively participating in discussions on the global Indian diaspora and its identity (culture, etc.).
My focus for the Indo-Caribbean community has been on cultural retention, learning rituals, performing havans or puja (prayers), celebrating festivals like Diwali, Holi, Eid, etc. Community religious spaces (temples, mandirs) were leveraged to unite the diverse Indian population in the diaspora. In NY, Indians from various parts of the globe (India, Africa, Fiji, Singapore, Malaysia, Caribbean, etc.) are settled. They have retained Indian culture in their own way, tradition, customs, cuisine, garb, and practices in their communities in their home countries and in America and other developed countries where they migrated.
My attendance at mandirs in Guyana helped in my cultural preservation. I regularly attended Shivala mandir (one of the earliest constructed in the colony) on the Sideline Dam, Ankerville, on Sunday mornings from around age 9 till I departed Guyana for New York in 1977 at age 16. I also partook in mandir concerts and community events, assisting in planning, organizing, and promoting some of them. There were many Indian cultural shows in the PM community center and at Race Course that drew my attendance. Cinema going was routine on Sundays and or Wednesday afternoon. The weekday and Saturday morning afternoons and Sunday morning found me listening to Indian Bollywood songs on radio. All of these events and activities and my role in them helped in my Indian cultural upbringing and retention even after I migrated to NY. At high school in Guyana, I co-founded the CHS Hindu Society, under the mentorship of Chaitram Singh, Jack (AK) Jagnandan, and other teachers of Corentyne High School and was elected President. I also co-founded the CHS Students Society and was also elected President. I used my leadership to co-plan and co-organized the first Diwali Cultural mela and celebration at CHS in October 1976. It was packed to capacity in the school auditorium.
When I migrated to New York, I organized annual cultural and religious festivals at City College – Diwali, Holi, Eid, Christmas, and Easter from the Fall of 1977 till around 1983. The responsibility fell on me to reserve a kitchen and dining room at the Finley Students Center and to prepare appropriate festival foods for all three faiths.
I introduced the first Indo-Caribbean musical radio program on WCCR, based in Harlem, featuring Bollywood and local Indo-Caribbean songs and music in 1980. It was disbanded by the Afro management of the station saying that the listening audience was small and that Hindi songs don’t belong on the college station. A spokesperson of the station said “in India, western music is not aired, why should Indian music be played in WCCR”. The management was ignorant of Indian cultural practices; India is the largest English speaking country and Western music and movies are aired on stations. Also, not all Indians at CCNY and in USA are from India. Many are from Africa, the Caribbean and other places.
I played a leading role in the organization of the week long Fourth Conference of Indians in the Diaspora held in July 1988 at Columbia University where two days were focused on Indian culture. I also was a contributor to the organizing of the weeklong First GOPIO Conference held at the Sheraton Convention Center in August 1989 where there were cultural presentations as well as papers on Indian culture in the West.
My participation in Indian culture has remained very strong since my student days. I attended countless Indian (Bollywood and otherwise, chutney, etc.) cultural shows in Trinidad, Guyana. I organized several cultural programs. I organized several Indian cultural and religious conferences in the Caribbean and in USA and in India. I attended several Indian conventions and conferences, presenting papers. I participated in most Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) from 2003 till now held annually except for the last decade when it was held bi-annually. I also attended a conference in Delhi organized by the India Center for Cultural relations (ICCR) in 2016.
On Indian Arrival celebrations, I also co-founded the Indo-Caribbean Federation of America and helped launched and organized the annual Indian Arrival Day celebrations at Rufus King Park the first year, 1984, and at Smokey Park thereafter. I organized the Diwali cultural variety concert and the Miss Diwali Beauty Pageant in 1985 at Washington Irving High School around 11th Street in Manhattan. I organized the Diwali cultural variety concert and the Miss Diwali Beauty Pageant in 1985 at Washington Irving High School around 11th Street in Manhattan. I also organized a cultural variety concert at CCNY in 1980 with a live band performed by Papos of the grand Concourse in Bronx; Papos had owned a West Indian store in the 1980s. Several of us got elected into Student Government (Day Student Senate) and successfully passed a motion to fund a cultural variety concert. Indians and non-Indians patronized the Indian cultural concert with live band; it packed to capacity in the ballroom. (African and Afro Caribbean groups also got funding for cultural concerts by the student government.) I have assisted in organizing annual Indian Arrival Day celebrations and promoting Diwali celebrations in New York as well as Phagwah celebrations at CCNY and at temples from 1978 thru 1980s. From early years of the founding of the Phagwah Parade in 1988, I assisted in planning and promoting Phagwah celebrations in New York.
My role in Indian cultural preservation includes documenting the experiences and cultural heritage of not only Indian Guyanese but the wider Indian diaspora in the Caribbean, USA, and in other countries, writing on their religious programs, cultural events, and other activities. I have consistently called for the return of the Indian Immigrant Fund, expropriated by the Burnham government, to construct regional Indian Cultural Centers.
My contribution in cultural preservation has been consistent, unyielding, and uncompromising. And I remain a strong advocate for Indo-Guyanese and Indo-Caribbean cultural heritage in the Caribbean and in the diaspora.