Dear Editor,
Many of us have heard the saying, ‘Bear yo’ chafe like Banwahree.’ I know for a fact that thousands of us have said it. Just last Sunday, however, I was sitting in my Hackensack home and speaking on the phone to another Guyanese in Florida. At one point she testified to bearing her chafe like ‘Banwahree.’
So I said to her, “I gotta ask this… who was Banwahree?”
“Boy I ent know,” she said. “I just come up hearing people talking ’bout bearing they chafe like Banwahree, and I too fall into saying it. I don’t have a clue who Mr Banwahree was.”
Finished speaking to my Floridan friend, I immediately called up Parry Wallerson, my old friend in Brooklyn who is very knowledgeable in folklore and grassroots matters. “Parry,” I said. “I have to ask you this: who was Banwahree?”
“You know,” he said, “me and Roy was talking about that same thing the other day. All I can say is that the name sound like an Indian fella with a reputation for standing firm in hard times, but who exactly was Banwahree, I don’t know.”
If there is anyone in Guyana (or in the Guyanese diaspora) who can shed some light on this often-referred-to man of resilience, please post a response.
Yours faithfully,
Harold Bascom
