The Saga of Sundar Popo - a continuing series

On the drive back to Queens, New York, from Yale University, Connecticut, Sundar Popo was in a fiery mood. Far removed from the journey there when he stretched off on his side and napped, with a casual, "wake meh when we reach."
     He slurped loudly on a can of Coca-Cola while I stared through the darkly tinted window into the night.
     "You know Susan, what we did today is a good thing." he said, sucked his teeth loudly and peered at me through his thick horn-rimmed spectacles.
     I sat opposite him in the sleek black stretch limousine as it snaked through late night traffic along the I-95 towards home. I was tired. Sundar, however, was not. It was past 10.30 p.m. on April 18, 2000, and I was relieved. I had been nervous all week, preparing to speak before an audience of teachers from colleges and Yale about Chutney Music in Trinidad. I worried that I would bore them, instead, they were fascinated and loved it. Afterwards they crowded around us for the Sundar Popo CDs we were handing out and to ask him about the harmonium and his songs.
     Sundar didn't sing out loud, he sang softly, miming from the boom box he had brought. Reason; he could not get his musicians, the dholak and dhantal players, to accompany us on the trip. He was upset about that, too. Still the audience was impressed with his harmonium playing and the way he, every so often, gesticulated his hand while singing. Those at the front, and myself, could hear him clearly.
     I spoke, he sang.
     Taking my attention away from the scenery, I asked. "What do you mean?"
     He again sucked his teeth several times. For a while I thought he hadn't heard me, then, he spoke. "The lecture we conducted at the University. How we talk about chutney music and how it developing in Trinidad and Tobago.What the people get from it and how it brings foreign money to the country. That is a good thing."
     He took a drag from the can, swallowed and shook his head. "Government should be proud of us. But they don't care about chutney singers in the country. Boy, I does get mad when I think about the kind of recognition we bring to the country with chutney music. In other countries people rushing we for autograph, when they don't have writing paper they putting money for we to sign and we own people doh care."
     Again he jabbed the can at his lips and sucked at the contents.
     "Should you be drinking that?" I asked, concerned.
     "What? The 'cokes'. I going for dialysis tomorrow, I could eat and drink anything today," he replied.
     "You are diabetic, Sundar, and that (coca-cola) could make you sick. It's not good for your sugar level. Aren't you afraid of having a sugar reaction?" I persisted.
     "You doh worry nah. When I get dialysis everything is drained from my body. If I follow that rule I will starve. The prime minister (Basdeo Panday) say he strong like a lion, but I am the tiger. I still have plenty life in me yet."
     "You sure?"
     " Doh worry nah. About what I was saying, them things you talk about, in the speech, all of that is true. Few people know about the real history of chutney music, it have money in it, too. Look way we chutney singers have to come to make some money, eh, yuh think it fair? We have to leave we country and come in a next man country, to be appreciated. Look at how them teachers and them listen and ask questions about the music.
     "I feel so good. Today I feel good about the chutney music, when educated people like them what to know about it. This, what we do here today, is history, you know. If we people know how to sell this thing we go kill them dead. Ah vex eh, but inside I feel I do a good thing. I really want to thank you for that, I glad for this kind of opportunity, girl, I telling you the truth, I really glad for this."
     Three weeks later he was dead. I played that conversation over and over in my mind every time my thoughts centered on him. It was the longest we ever shared. Sundar being a man of few words, and replied mostly with a nod, but on that night he was riled by his musicians and the fact that he had done such a memorable thing and his government didn't care.
     The stint at Yale was Sundar's last public appearance. He had accompanied me to demonstrate what chutney music was, while I delivered a paper on Caribbean Migration. The topic: The Development of Chutney in Trinidad and Tobago. Popo performed "Unity" and "Mother's Love".

Terry Gajraj, Guyana's Chutney Pride

Since I met him in 1998, the Saki Boom era, Terry Gajraj has changed very little. Before that initial meeting, I had never heard his name nor any of his songs. Yes, the same singer who has been dubbed Guyana Baboo after his famed Bangali Baboo in 1992. Shame on me, I know, for my lack of knowledge of this Guyanese pride and chutney music idol.

     Granted he'd been singing long before Bangali Baboo, and Saki Boom was following in its fame when Shah Rukh Khan and his entourage performed in Trinidad and he was bowled over by the "Boom Boom," song as he called it, I was in no way connected with the local music scene until I entered the media and became interested in the promotion of Indian culture. By then I was grappling for information about this young boy whom every one else seemed to know. And he wasn't the only one, I would later hear names of singers that I knew little about. Yes, more shame, since they lived in Trinidad, too.

     At that time, Terry, as I was informed, was a newcomer to the local stage and especially, chutney music in Trinidad. I was introduced to him backstage at Skinner Park, San Fernando. As I indicated earlier, it was my first meeting with the singer, but it would not be the last. I would meet him several times again, and at one time in Brooklyn, New York, where he performed at a high school. And again, when he would introduce me to his wife and their delightful son.

     As I approached him that night, I thought he looked shy, reserved, and wondered how he managed on stage. His smile was immediate, broad, and boyish. That has not changed, though his face has become fuller. He was slim, lean. with wide eyes. Dressed in a white three-piece suit, he appeared more conservative than the entertainer. His voice was soft, unlike that of the man who took the stage minutes later and his demeanor was immediately transformed. His  face was animated, his body supple and his voice carried across the park. The Guyana Baboo was singing Bangali Baboo. I must admit, I liked the song. His other performances were delivered with aplomb. The ladies in the audience, yep, young and old, made sure he knew how much they adored him. That, too, hasn't changed. My conclusion, he was indeed a stage performer with appeal.

     Recently, I happened to glimpse Terry in New York. His signature smile was what caught my attention, just before there were shouts of, "Terry, Terry, Terry," coming from every direction. He waved, shook hands, slapped shoulders. I was too far to be noticed, not that he would have recognised me.

      Terry Vivekanand Gajraj was born in Berbice, Guyana, in South America. His singing career started, possibly, before he could string a sentence together. And if his parents and grand-parents were anything like mine, he would have been learning to clap, dance and sing from the moment he could wave his hands. It is an unspoken rule in most Indian homes, babies are taught to appreciate song and music from an early age. Terry's, however, extended to the mandir where he sang bhajans alongside his grand-father, a pundit (Hindu priest). He learned to play the dholak, harmonium, dhantal, guitar and keyboard, from his father and uncles. In a home so rich with Indian culture one would have to be deaf to ignore it. Consequently, Terry lapped up every iota of it and used his passion for singing to establish an enviable position as a top rated singer in his chosen career. While growing up he experimented with different types of songs. Today, he sings Indian film songs, chutney, calypso, reggae, soca, chutney soca and ballads and writes his own compositions and commentaries.

     He graduated from a stage performer to a professional singer 19 years ago. In 2000, he released a 30-song double CD titled X, the roman numeral for the number ten, to mark his tenth year as a recording artiste and professional singer. Included in it were some of his biggest hits of that decade; Balay Roti, Na Na Re, Gimme Chatni, Saki Boom, Gori Mosey, Tun Tun Dance, Lilawattie, Come Leh We Go Sooky, etc. And more recently; Dance the Maticoor, Berbice River, Guyana Guyana, Hot Hot Choka, Richmond Hill, etc.

     Terry was enthralled with the late Sundar Popo's release of Nana and Nani, especially the mixing of Hindi and English lyrics. In an interview he had said that that was what he wanted to do: mix up the lyrics and the music. Since then he has been mixing it up for audiences in America, Holland, Australia, Canada, Spain, Suriname, England, and other countries of the world.

     Although he lives in Connecticut, he is still Guyana's most famous Indian cultural ambassador. He has performed alongside "too young to soca" badboy Machel Montano, calypso legends, Mighty Sparrow and Calypso Rose, soca band, Byron Lee and the Dragonaires, India's top music duo, Babla and Kanchan, chutney hot shots, Sundar Popo, Sonny Mann, Rikki Jai, Ramdeo Chaitoo, Anand Yankaran, among others.

     To date, he has recorded hundreds of songs in 29 albums and is working on his latest. Among his albums are: Terry Goes Bollywood, Blazing Chutney Dance Mix, Berbice River, Boom, Raga-Ding-A-Ling, Guyana Baboo, Voice of Guyana, Baita Gana, Soca Lambada, Terry Gajraj 2009, I Really Want a Larki.

     As of this writing, Terry was filming a new music video in Queens, New York. On Saturday October 3, he will begin recording his 2010 CD for release in November. The following day he will shoot a new video with Supertones Music Band for their latest DVD. Each performance in every country he visits earns Guyana props for producing such a talented and dynamic son. He is truly Guyana's chutney pride.

     The photographs included in this blog were taken from Terry Gajraj's website. Hopefully, he does mind me borrowing them. The first is of the singer performing solo and the second is with him and Calypso Rose. They performed at the Music Awards at Club Tobago, Queens, New York, recently. For more photos check out: http://www.terrygajraj.com