Pooran Seeraj knows about not giving up and has tasted the sweet reward that comes from staying the course. After five years of competing in the National Chutney Competition, Pooran was crowned Guyana’s Chutney Monarch on January 25.
His winning entry “Under the Maaro” dethroned his predecessor Roger Hinds and had his hometown audience at Bath Settlement, West Coast Berbice roaring and gyrating to what Pooran described to be good, old chutney.
As a young boy, Pooran always had a dream to be on a stage one day. He used to admire the old singers on stage whenever he had a chance to go to a fair. His dreams only became a reality five years ago, in October of 2008 when he was 28 years of age.
He remarked that he was motivated by his family because they loved what he was doing and they encouraged him to continue doing what he liked. His main inspiration comes from making all those who love him happy, and these include his family and most of all his fans and supporters. “As long as people want me to continue then I will do it for them” he told The Scene.
His idol is Trinidadian chutney singer, Ravi B.
His first taste of the Guyana National Chutney Competition came in 2009. A few months after he began singing for fun, he decided to try his luck but was unsuccessful in placing. 2010 went by, 2011 passed, he did not compete in 2012, 2013 flew away but 2014 he brought it fresh and was determined all along to take the throne.
His winning song, parts of which he performed in Hindi reflected his love and passion for a girl he wished to be with. He sang:
“Girl I want to take you under the maaro
Because you know I can’t wait until tomorrow
I want to love you and treat you right
And make love to you all through the night
Laṛkī mein Maaro, aap ko jhatē hai
Kyōṅ tumhē mein, nahīṁ saktē
Mai tumsē pyār karte, jhatē hai sahi
Aur rāat kē āap kō, pyār karte hai
Although Pooran won the local chutney competition which qualified him to compete in the Trinidad and Tobago Chutney-Soca Competition, he did not have the opportunity to represent his country, owing to a lot of difficult circumstances which he did not wish to comment on.
Some of his best songs include: “Every day I Drinking Me Rum”, “Chutney Daggering” and “Sonia Gyal”. He said that his best performances to date were at the Clash of the Titans concerts, Music of the World and Jamzone Chutney Night concerts.
The Chutney monarch urged that Chutney music should remain as it was intended to be. “Keep it traditional,” he said. “A lot of chutney music these days are being mixed and crossed-over with other genres but my style is to keep it original. I like to sing about reality and put it over in a very enjoyable way as in chutney music.”
Pooran was born at Bath Settlement and raised by his father (now deceased) who was a labourer with the Guyana Sugar Corporation’s Blairmont Estate; his mom was a housewife who tended to the care of her family. He grew up with one brother who is a year older.
He had a poor and struggling childhood. At the age of eight he was trawling the streets of Berbician villages, selling icicles, vegetables, fish and fudge. His parents could not to have him take extra lessons for the then Common Entrance Exams. But his class teacher, Sir Kanhai who is now deceased, offered him free lessons during the final term before the national examination. Pooran was a very successful student; this prompted the support from his teacher who at the end was pleased as Pooran came second in the class and was awarded a place at the New Amsterdam Multilateral School.
After completing five years of Secondary Education, Pooran graduated with seven subjects in the Caribbean Examinations Council’s (CXC) post-secondary examinations. His passes gained him a place at the Guyana School of Agriculture where he graduated with a Diploma in Agriculture.
Knowing the struggles of his background, his ambitions were to secure a proper education which he knew was the only guarantee for a prosperous future – this pushed him toward the University of Guyana, where he pursued and completed a BSc in Agriculture.
He is currently an employee with the Guyana Rice Development Board. He is the Regional Superintendent of the Essequibo Islands-West Demerara Region (Region Number Three) but is currently working at Burma, Mahaicony, for a few weeks as administrative manager. He noted his job gets priority over his singing.
His proud mother is now a farmer who spends her days cultivating crops, mainly Eschallot, in Bath. Pooran highlighted that shallot is grown a lot in his home village and according to him Bath Settlement is known as the Eschallot Town of Guyana. He is very proud of his background and feels accomplished that he took his education seriously and was able to overcome many challenges.
While Pooran and his mom stayed in Guyana, his brother migrated to French Guiana. The Chutney Monarch plans on furthering his education overseas in the field of Agriculture, pursuing a Masters in 2015. He is married happily and hopes to have more children after his studies. One thing is for sure, he is settling and working right here in his home country Guyana for the rest of his life.
He spends most of his spare time with his family; together they enjoy travelling and visiting friends and family. His hobby used to be cricket but now it has changed to singing chutney music. He will be returning to the studio soon to record more fun-type of chutney music. “Music that people will have fun listening to,” he said.
The 2014 Chutney Monarch wishes to thank all those who have supported him throughout the years to achieve his dreams, both artistically and academically. He thanks God for the talent and inspiration, his family, wife and parents and all other relatives especially his in-laws, friends and well-wishers, his sponsors, and most of all his fans.
