Fifty years ago, Pooran Khemkaran's parents sought to marry him off to a mysterious grey-eyed teenager. They believed he was spending too much time drinking and smoking.On their wedding day on October 9, 1960, young bride Sylvia Goolcharan got five pieces of jewelry.
She was yet to know she would also get over five decades of commitment and devotion from the man she would grow to love.
On Saturday, the couple celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with a pooja at their home at Morgan Ridge, Poona Road, Williamsville.
Friends and relatives from Canada, including their nephew, Alston Gunness, and his wife, Margaret, attended.At the function, Khemkaran and Sylvia thanked God for providing them with strength to endure many trials and tribulations.Khemkaran, a former local government councillor, said the earlier part of his life was challenging.
"My mother owned a shop and I would take the cigarettes and go all in the bushes around the house smoking. I started to smoke from young," Khemkaran said. He then began drinking liquor.With the vices becoming excessive, his parents decided it was time for marriage. They consulted a relative who knew Sylvia's parents, Seepersad and Narinedaye Goolcharan.
Sylvia said she did not find Khemkaran particularly handsome, adding she was not interested in marriage."At that age you don't know anything about that. You had to listen to your parents and that was it," Sylvia said.Khemkaran, however, said he was dazzled by Sylvia's captivating eyes.Sylvia said the first three years of their marriage was very difficult.
"It was hard but my mother-in-law was good to me. She gave me strength to cope," Sylvia said.Khemkaran who worked as a teacher at the Claxton Bay Anglican School was fired in 1964 because of excessive drinking.He said he then got a job as a sanitation employee.
"The bad thing about that was I had to work in the same location so I would see some of my students or other teachers. When I saw them I would turn my face and hide," Khemkaran recalled.
Eventually recognising he had a drinking problem, he sought help.
In the subsequent years, Khemkaran said he joined the political arena.
"I worked closely with Basdeo Panday and between 1983 to 1987 I served as councillor for Forres Park/Piparo area," Khemkaran said.
Sylvia said their marriage became stronger with the birth of their sons, Wayne and Kelvin.During the 1980s, Sylvia migrated to the United States to provide for her family. Both sons were educated at the Florida Atlantic University.
Sylvia said she was proud of Khemkaran's accomplishments and his commitment to his family."He always provided for me. He is a good father. There was nothing we ever asked for that he did not try to provide," she said.Asked what was the secret to their successful marriage, Khemkaran and Sylvia said it was important to always be respectful to each other and to seek support from relatives.
The couple has three grandchildren, Starr, 20, Crystal, 15 and Kelvin, 12.