This year marks the 180th Anniversary of the Arrival of East Indians in Guyana and the Vedic Cultural Centre (VCC) invites you to a special program to observe this occasion. This year also marks the 20th successive year that the VCC is hosting the event.
The event will be held on Saturday, May 5, 2018 at VCC, 4345-14th Avenue, Markham, Ontario. The multi-faceted program will include an exhibition of artefacts, the screening of a documentary movie, a keynote address and a stage performance. A commemorative magazine will also be released.
The exhibition and cash ethnic food bar opens at 4pm. The movie "Echos from the Plantation", a 30 minute documentary released for the 180th anniversary of Indian Indentureship, will be shown at 5pm. This movie was created to observe this anniversary. It relives the struggles and sufferings of the indentured labourers who arrived in Guyana on May 5, 1838. Shot in Guyana, it tells of the resilience and fortitude of the indentured labourers. The film promo says this “film is inspired by the history of Indians in Guyana. Learned by a young American girl as it is passed down from generation to generation. “
A stage program which will includes songs and dances will commence at 6:00pm. The keynote address will be presented by Dr Ganraj Kumar and will capture the history, experiences and contributions of the descendants of the indentured labourers. Poet Peter Jailall will also be reading his poems.
A stage play entitled "Rupo's Agony", based on life in the sugar plantation in face of closure of the sugar estates will commence at 7:00pm. This show promises to make you laugh and cry. It will be performed by Nirvana Drama Group from New York of “Dancing Bells of Rekha” fame.
Admission is free. Donations are welcome.
For info contact Adit, 647-866-1926, Norma 416-901-3404, Sharada 416-450-1743.

For scholars on the significance of numbers, that was 18 decades ago – the mystic number 18, a multiple of number 9, a mystic number. Interesting. All multiples of 9 added together become number 9 or multiples of 9.
Celebrating our ancestors and our heritage is a significant freedom we enjoy in the world of today. Now in every corner of our world, people uphold the basic human values of equality, and reject discrimination. Today we can give full expression to our inheritance from our forbears, of our culture, in every aspect, from lifestyle, to how we relate to one another, to dress, food, music and the arts. All of these are the stuff of life; without these, life can be meaningless.
We Indo Guyanese have contributed enormously to the make-up of the Guyanese society – socially, culturally, economically, professionally and politically. It is good to celebrate our Indian heritage and Indianness in our own country. It is a vital part of the rich tapestry of Guyanese heritage and culture. It is also exciting to see Guyanese celebrating the heritage and cultures of all its constituent ethnic groups which make up our country – British, Portuguese, African, Chinese, Amerindian and other groups. This makes Guyana special. Guyana is at the vanguard of epoch making social change the world over, where no one heritage and culture dominates, where inclusivity of each and every one is valued and celebrated.
It was not so in the old colonial days. Indifference to the heritage of non-British was the way of life, be it Indian, African, Chinese, Portuguese or Amerindian. It was not public policy to encourage interest in their respective heritages, certainly not to teach about their history and culture, in any positive way. British Eurocentricity was the only show in town.

The world has changed beyond recognition in the past 70 years. In British Guiana, in the colonial days, when I was a boy, Indian and Indianness, were regarded by the mainstream as backward and being westernised was proper, modern, and forward looking. Today Indian and Indianness are respected and valued.
Perhaps the change started when India became independent. This set off a chain of independence celebrations in other British colonies, including British Guiana. From being a servile people under colonial rule, independence brought with it the right to choose our way, and most certainly rejection of social and cultural inequality.
The wind of change was strong in Guyana, although still a colony. Indo Guyanese of all faiths, with few exceptions, openly identified with India and Indianness. In New Amsterdam, a prominent Indo Guyanese businessman, former Mayor and established among the elite in society, led the celebratory parade on India Independence Day, singing ‘Dur hatto, Hindustan hamara hai.’ Similarly In Georgetown, at a reception held to receive the Indian High Commissioner to the West Indies, top Indo Guyanese ladies attired themselves in sarees.
One of the ways I would celebrate Indian Arrival Day, would be a pilgrimage to the Kolkata, Highbury and other memorials and honour my ancestors. Our heartfelt thanks to Brother Ashook Ramsaran who has performed more than a sacred service in conceiving the noble idea and in spearheading the building of these memorials. The elegant and beautiful Kolkata Memorial on the banks of the Hugli River at a place called Demerara Kidderpore Depot was formally dedicated on January 11, 2011. Highbury Memorial, East Bank Berbice, Guyana, commemorates the first arrival of Indians in Guyana on May 5, 1938 – in fact, the first indentured Indian labourers in the Western Hemisphere. There is also a similar memorial at Monument Gardens in Georgetown.
Celebrating Indian Arrivals day for me is one of thanksgiving prayers. In my prayers, I picture our ancestors as very special beings who quietly and with great dignity transformed their life and circumstances from abject servitude, to masters of their destiny; who bequeathed to us a better life of comfort, and freedom to enjoy all the bounties that life offers. In my heart I forever humbly bow to their hallowed presence as I receive their divine blessings.

Among the many wonderful jewels that we inherit from our ancestors are how highly we value family and community. These two facets of our culture have greatly insulated the Indian diaspora from the ravages of social ills which plague society today. I refer to aspects of crime, poor social care and poor health care, loneliness and other problems, which can be a great deal worse, but for the togetherness, support structure, hope and caring which being a part of a family and sense of responsibility which all in a family deeply feel – one for all and all for one.
Relaxed, easy going and adaptable is another gift we have inherited from our ancestors. The hard reality of living in a strange world, had sharpened their senses to take from the new society what was good and reject what was no good. This they could do firmly anchored in the core values of their culture. They rejected the caste system, and attitudes which slowed progress. With arm twisting they embraced education of their children, despite resistance from some quarters to educating their girl children. They adapted well, made adjustments, in dress, even in religious practices to be more open and accessible.
One unique social asset, typical of Indo Guyanese in common with all Guyanese irrespective of ethnicity is, we are good mixers, we fit in easily and make good wherever we are. I know this from my own experience, and that of my parents, relations and friends. My parents had retired to an ashram in India in the evening of their life. Whenever I visited them, I saw people young and old also visit them for nothing more than a simple chat. I worked out it was because they were Guyanese. Some of their visitors remarked on that fact in their compliments.
Music is the food of the spirit and the soul, and I celebrate the music handed down by my ancestors. From chowtal, taan singing, popular music by the greats in old Guyana – Teelack, Bharat, Ballu – seeing experts playing the sarangi, film music, bhajans, to geet, semi classical, sitar playing, the list is endless. I grew up liking the old Indian semi-classical singers – KC Dey, Pankaj Mallick, Jagmohan, KL Saigal etc. Curiously, through their music, and musical accompaniment on the piano, and violin, I acquired a taste for European music – the well known waltzes, arias, ballet music, chamber music and other melodies.
My Indo Guyanese musical heritage has opened the door for me to enjoy music, whatever the origin. Indeed as a Foreign Student in Delhi in 1958, we organised an ‘International Festival of Music and Dance’ with students from all over the world as entertainers; from the Indian contingent, from Philippines, Malaysia, Kenya, Russian Cossack dance, American Square dance, to Caribbean calypso. It would be nice to see, if it does not already exist, an annual Guyana Music Festival inclusive of the various music styles of our people – Indian, European, African, Chinese, Amerindian etc.
I feel truly blessed with my Indo Guyanese heritage and culture. I can drink from a bottomless well primed with every type of nectar the world offers to treat the senses, and to bring indescribable joy to the innermost recesses of my soul. This heritage I celebrate, thanks to the doggedness and perseverance of my ancestors from India.

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