KEVON FELMINE
Senior Reporter
kevon.felmine@guardian.co.tt
Despite persistent showers in Penal yesterday, 104-year-old Ramrajie Ramsawak paraded through the streets honouring her father, who came to Trinidad with his parents under the Indian indentureship system.
Born in 1919, Ramsawak recalled the harsh conditions indentured labourers and their families endured under British colonial rule.
As Ramsawak joined the Divya Jivan Hindu Mandir’s Indian Arrival Day celebrations, riding in a pirogue depicting the Fatel Razack, she said people today have many amenities.
“You know things were hard. We were drinking the river water, and I was cooking and washing. Now you have pipes, you have sinks, now you have comfort. I planted rice and cane. I cut cane and worked hard,” Ramsawak said.
The mandir celebrated Ramsawak during another function.
Pundit Rajendra Maharaj said the procession honoured the jahajis who arrived in T&T 178 years ago. He said despite the rain, the tales of their forefathers inspired them to continue their walk from their mandir in Sou Sou to traditional Indian music and tassa drums. He said COVID-19 had restricted their procession over the past three years.
But with pandemic restrictions now lifted, Ramsawak, a grandmother who plants bhagi and sells it in the market in Debe, was an inspiration to youths who lack energy and drive.
But as the rains grew heavier, a Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS) street procession turned into a motorcade to the Kubairsingh Penal Rock Road Hindu School. Children and parents had to run through the rain while some sheltered under umbrellas.
In an interview during the festivities, SDMS Secretary General Shri Vijay Maharaj said his ancestors planted their roots in Trinidad 178 years ago, and they will maintain those traditions for centuries to come. Maharaj said when his forefathers came to work on the plantations, they got separated and were placed on various estates. There were also attempts to convert them to other religions.
“If you wanted education, you had to convert to Christianity. It is something that is reversing its role at this time at this present juncture. What also took place with our forefathers was an attempt to westernise them into Western culture. It failed miserably,” Maharaj said.
He said he believes that while gunpowder invaded India in the past, curry powder and yoga are now taking over the world. He said India was stretching its limbs and encompassing the world in a friendly manner as opposed to the hostility met by its forefathers.
But as the Indo-Trinidadian community developed over the century, Maharaj said crime and criminality were the main issues affecting them and everyone else.
“One has to understand very carefully that poverty breeds criminality. People need food. The poverty line is rising, and the middle class is dying out. There is no longer a middle class. That is the greatest issue we have failing our people: educating our people.”
Acknowledging that some people are now migrating due to issues encountered here, Maharaj said there is a fear for their children and great-grandchildren. He said even his children migrated after looking for opportunities abroad that did not exist in T&T. He said some highly educated young people lack opportunities to move forward.
