By Manshad Mohamed
It took the leadership and influence of Dad, Parmanand Raykha and Mom, Urmilla to send off their 6-year old son, Michael to learn to play tabla. At that point in time, Michael’s older siblings Christina (singer) and Jennifer (flautist) were already enrolled as students at Saaz-O-Awaaz Academy of Music and Christina’s growth in music as a singer and harmonium player is outstanding.
Michael is now a 2nd year student in Engineering at the University of Waterloo but still attends classes whenever possible. With his promising standard of tabla playing, his new teacher is the young tabla virtuoso Dev Bansraj Jr who honed his own skills in India under Ustad Rashid Mustafa Thirakwa.
After spending close to four years with Dev Bansraj Sr., Michael is now a full time student of Dev Jr. under whose tutelage he has improved in tabla "by leaps and bounds."
"I now have a pretty good understanding of how to listen to the singer while playing tabla and to adjust speed or tone in a comfortable manner," Michael assures. "If the singer is creating something special I play softer, but in time, so that the audience is focused on the singer," Michael stated.
"My Guru Dev Bansraj Jr. is a very good teacher. He takes me one on one. He sees everything and hears every sound I play and looks at the positioning of my hands etc. This has made a difference in my outlook as it demands my full attention and concentration to details. For example, my left hand needs to be strengthened, so we are doing more practice on the base," Michael explained.
On June 6, 2010 at the Holiday Inn Select in Brampton, Michael was the tabla player in five of the first 10 items on the programme that included the wonderful singing sensation - his sister Christina. This pair of musicians are the proud products of Saaz-O-Awaaz where they learnt to play their first note until today, when they are both placed among the ten best students to have been produced by the school.

 

By Adit Kumar
“In whatever form you observe the season, let there be happiness and tranquility for you and those around you... Happy holidays to each and every one of you and all the best for the year ahead.” These were the wishes of Acting Consul General, Sattie Sawh as she welcomed guests to the Guyana Consulate annual year end festivities held at the office of the consulate last Thursday evening.
Sawh was greeted with loud cheers suggesting that her popularity in her new role has grown in the short while she has held office.
“On a personal note, I am truly humbled to be serving in the capacity of Consul General as we begin a new year,” Sawh confessed.
She thanked the community for its support over the years adding, ‘‘The faces in front of me this evening are the faces that will help to lift our community to new heights.”
She gracefully acknowledged the contribution of former Consul General Danny Doobay acknowledging that the consulate and the Guyanese community as a whole “are sad to see a truly dedicated person like Danny Doobay go, but we are privileged to have gained a wealth of knowledge and ideas from his stewardship over the past 12 years.”
A cross section of the community turned up for the usual ‘meet and greet’ session. The camaraderie was good and there were many exchanges of good wishes for one another.
Gerald Paul of the Caribbean Camera was presented with an award by the Guyana Consulate for his positive coverage of Guyana in that paper.
Former Consul General, Danny Doobay was also there and relished coming in as a ‘guest’, without having the responsibilities of organizing the event as he had done over the years. He took the opportunity to present a recognition plaque to Fred Mc Almont for his support of the Guyana Festival over the years. The plaque was to have been presented at the dinner event for Danny Doobay held last October but Mc Almont was away for his mother’s funeral.
Before the party got underway, outgoing Ottawa-based Guyana High Commissioner, Rajnarine Singh met with the press and outlined some of the positive performances and achievement of the country and the government’s outlook for the upcoming year.
Singh informed the media that he would be demitting office at the end of January, 2011 and his replacement would be Harry Nawbatt, currently serving in a similar capacity in Brazil. He said he would be returning to Guyana at the end of his stint and looks forward to his retirement.

 

By Adit Kumar
Over the holiday season the Arya Samaj donated a substantial quantity of foodstuff to the Markham Food Bank.
Mrs. Gladys Keeble, Director of the Markham Food Bank for over 25 years along with volunteers Mr. Marcel Pepin and Mrs. Helen Pepin were at the Vedic Cultural Centre in Markham on Sunday December 19th to uplift the items. They thanked the organization for its generosity.
Mr Amar Erry, Chairman of the Vedic Cultural Centre and Mr Amar Umadas, President of Toronto Arya Samaj told ICW that this donation was the second to the Markham Food Bank within the past two months.
The first donation was made on October 23rd during Arya Samaj Annual Diwali Mela and celebrations. That drive was spearheaded by the youths of the organization and the food delivered to the Food Bank by them.
Because the response to that campaign was so overwhelming, members continued to bring food items after the cut off date, so it was decided to extend the drive into the holiday season.
Both Umadas and Erry stated that the Arya samaj is duty bound by one of its fundamental principles to make contributions of this kind to those in need. They thanked the members of the organization for spontaneously supporting the cause.