Here on the prayers we are in a slower dancing pace as we mark the release from the mortal coil of one of the great pundits/pandits of Trinidad and Tobago and also the father of the creator of UCP. As a result, UCP itself as a blog (and its other related blogs)are marking a mourning period and so the scheduled festival of Shiv on this blog that was carded for all February long will be delayed by one week and re-commence on Mon 8 Feb 2010.
Another blog has marked his death in a current affairs approach and you can check out that here. And my eldest brother has also shared his memories of our father here. But here on the prayers I'm going to salute him as the many decades long pundit he was.
However before I do that I will also tell you this...he gifted me his favourite harmonium just a few weeks before he dropped the mortal coil...perhaps a hint that I should pick up back with it...I did dabble in it when I was a child. So hmmm...maybe soon just like him I'll be pulling a dhun or two!:)I for sure must have inherited my LOLness (laugh out loudness) from him...for just as my brother recalled on his blog post I've always known him to be a pleasant, humble and down to earth man with a very LOLness nature! :)I must have gotten my eyes from him too and I've often been told I look identical to his mother, my paternal grandmother i.e. my aajee whom I never met as my father was orphaned very young. Also just like him I'm always reading about four books at a time and find vedic astrology fascinating! :)
Indeed it were tough times for my father as it was for many of Indian ancestry back on the island then...and his marriage to my mother did not last...people are not perfect...it is why we take the mortal coil to our lessons learn...and it's why we need to engage in Universal Collective Prayer! My mother is the daughter of another great pundit who graced the island for decades...the late Pandit Parasram Maharaj ...who for me was like this metaphysical being almost and after Shiv he is it for me! Seriously a tower of strength and a powerful patriarch if there ever was one! And my now late father would also attest to that!
Me,along with my two brothers grew up with our maternal grandparents... after the separation...nani and nana, my mother (who never remarried as she believes a Hindu woman only marries once)and the rest of my mother's family. My father eventually divorced my mother, remarried and had four children from that marriage.
But as I was saying those were tough times for my dad and there was always the need to engage in UCP-Universal Collective Prayer! In fact there must have been a significant need for that back in the days when Indians here on the island were mostly labourers on the plantations. And it is a well known story on the island by now that a major source of strength for the Indian community was the Ramayan...and of course why not...you're being oppressed by the 'white man'...he is your boss! And then you have this amazing story where your personal God...your Ishq Devataa (let's say) is this hero of epic proportions...the 7th Avatar of Vishnu come on earth to right the wrongs...the beloved warrior God Shri Ram! :)
So it was a great story to keep in your hearts while you toiled in hardship and found ways to eek a survival while still maintaining your spirit! And it is why tonight I not only salute my father but all pundits who have been at it in the past 150 plus years on the island...THANK YOU! By keeping the Ramayan in your hands and taking it to the people and reciting it in verse and song you gave them that message of hope that one day all would be right again! Again THANK YOU!
My father was into singing the Ramayan and up to late last year he released a CD- Ram Bharat Milap with Ramayan verses and bhajans. In his youth in Hermitage, his pundit training was heavily influenced by Rambharose Pundit and later on during his marriage to my mother he was also influenced by my nana's teachings (my nana was a noted island expert on the Ramayan and could quote and reference it like any Google search may now do!) and one of my mamos the late Pundit Dr. Samsundar Parasram. However my nana was not into this singing business...and in that arena my father found a companion in my other mamo...who thankfully is still alive...Pundit Dr. Rampersad Parasram...whom I'm hoping will pull a dhun or two at the funeral service tomorrow as we salute my father Pandit K. Dinnanath Dubay as he sheds off the mortal coil and sails up, up and away! :)
My father, I am learning since his mortal coil shedding seems to have many a beloved chela...from far and wide...spanning to North America as well...so many messages and notes saying how loved he was...one has even uploaded this video on youtube! :)
But now in true UCP styling I salute you my father the late Pandit K. Dinnanth Dubay with this tune and Ramayan excerpt as we say farewell at the funeral service tomorrow Wed 3 Feb 2010 at your home in Sangre Grande from 9 AM to the banks of the Caroni at 1PM. Please note another Pundit will be saying farewell to the mortal plane tomorrow as well...Pundit Doodnath...farewell Pundit and THANK YOU!
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