Down in Canal Number Two Polder, West Bank Demerara sits a ‘little rose’ whose towering coconut trees can be spotted a distance away.
According to local lore, the village Rosetta (French for little rose) was named after a Frenchwoman who once lived there, but no one was sure of the truth of this. However, what villagers were certain of is that Rosetta has existed since the early 1900s.
The population of Rosetta is approximately 200 – 250; one less on the day the World Beyond Georgetown visited. Many villagers were at a funeral the end of the community and the few that stayed home popped their heads out curiously as this reporter passed by.
Bibi Shireen Ally returned to live in Rosetta only seven years ago with her husband Abdool Majeed; Bibi spent most of her girlhood days in the village.
In the early 1960s, five-year-old Bibi, along with her parents and six siblings moved to Rosetta from Wales. She attended the Endeavour and the Commons Government Primary School situated in the nearby village. “The school was very good. We played rounders, cricket and all kind of games,” she said.
Bibi, being athletic, competed in the inter-house sports and even represented her school at the inter-school level. “In school we used slates in Prep A and Prep B. We used to [call them] lil ABC big ABC.” According to her, only the well-off families could have afforded books. At school, Bibi spent her ‘jill’ (penny) on a lemonade, sugar-cake and fudge and she always had change to spare to buy something else. She loved to play a good game of hopscotch at school and at home with her siblings. Even today, she shares a game of hopscotch every now and then with her grandchildren who live with her. Growing up in her day, meant hard work; and while the boys helped mother and father on the farm Bibi and her sisters learnt to sew.
The mode of transportation then was mainly boats which took them to the junction at Stanleytown where they would board a big bus headed for Georgetown. However, if the koker adjoining Stanleytown and Bellevue was opened they were taken as far as Grove on the East Bank Demerara from where they would get a bus.
Bibi and her siblings looked forward to the shave-ice cart that passed-by on the public road every day. The village had no electricity, so shave-ice was a big seller. She recalls fetching a mug along to put shave-ice in, and sometimes even enjoying a cool drink of coconut water or cane juice from the cart.
Bibi said courting wasn’t something that couples did before they got married. For her and Abdool Majeed and for many others as well, marriages were arranged. Their alliance came about through a friend of Bibi’s and Abdool’s parents, who would have made the necessary introductions. The friend lived in Canal Number Two but frequented Parika backdam since his farm was there. Abdool resided in Parika.
“We never knew we were being set up to be married,” Bibi said. “I was told that somebody was coming to visit and a year after the first visit, my future in-laws paid a next visit but this time they came with a seamstress to take measurements for my wedding dress. Three months later we were married and I went to live with him in Parika.”
As farmers, Bibi and Abdool plant crops such as cucumber, bora, cabbage, pepper, okra and boulanger which they sell wholesale to the vendors at the Vreed-en-Hoop and Parika markets. However, although they’re contented with the peaceful life here in Rosetta, Abdool is displeased with the large trucks that traverse the area leaving huge holes in the road and wishes that some sort of measure could be put in place. Apart from a life of farming and household chores, they enjoy relaxing in their hammocks, watching a good Chinese movie and taking care of their pet rabbits and a puppy.
For Bibi, growing up in Rosetta are memories she’ll take with her as long as she lives while she makes new ones with her precious grandchildren; that will someday be cherished memories for them also.
Bibi and Abdool’s neighbour, Rampattie Rooplall, is the oldest villager. Eighty-one and counting, Rampattie, although her memory’s now fading, happily shared what she could.
“Me belongs to Lusignan. Meh marrid an come ya,” she said.
Rampattie’s husband Rooplall Bridgemohan is now deceased, but she recalled that they bought their land for $600 and settled in Rosetta with their six children. A few years later, they had a total of ten children, which according to Rampattie meant working harder to maintain the family. “Abi does gaffo guh wid we bucket and saucepan ova de dam [public road] fo full wata from de pipe,” she said, referring to back in the day. Although her husband worked as a carpenter, many a time his earnings were spent on alcohol and Rampattie was left to brace the family financially. “Me wuk hard; pick coffee, mould cassava, weed cane an weed pine,” she said. Back then, she worked for 60 cents a day. She bore the sun’s wrath working on private farms and at the end of the day, mustered the strength for the one mile walk from the conservancy to home. But her work was far from finished. After picking up her children from a relative’s she had to get home and fix dinner.
Up to a few years ago she planted ground provision on her farm that’s situated behind her house. But now that she’s frail and unable to so, her son who lives with her has taken to the farming; planting mainly pine apples and bora. She said she enjoys living in Rosetta and gets along, just fine with her neighbours. She enjoys relaxing in her hammock and chatting with her family and neighbours from time to time.
Further along, the World Beyond Georgetown found Roopnarine Shivnarine, who was born in Rosetta in 1955 to Rosalie Shivnarine and Shivnarine, both now deceased. According to him, his parents were among the first residents in Rosetta, if not the first. His mother, he said, had lived there since she was 18. He grew up with two brothers and two sisters with whom he attended the Kawall Government Primary School.
His father died when he was just a year old and the responsibility of caring for the family fell to his mother who worked at the Wales Sugar Estate, which was then Booker’s Estate, weeding. “Long ago was better than now. It was totally different. We had more play days,” he said. Roopnarine reminisced of boyhood days when he went swimming with friends in the trench, climbing trees and generally being active. Roopnarine said they got water from the pipe across the road and never paid a water bill. They also used flambeaux and kerosene lamps for light. Today they enjoy water and electricity services and pay utility bills. He wishes however, for a better road, bridges, street lights and landline phones.
Roopnarine who once worked with GuySuCo, Demerara Distillers Ltd and ‘Fisheries’ is now retired and enjoys travelling but he always returns to Rosetta to socialize and catch-up with friends. It is a place, he boasted, where the villagers live as one and where anyone would enjoy the breezy and tranquil atmosphere.
Enjoying the afternoon in her hammock with her husband was Priya Kishandyall. She grew up in the neighbouring village but moved to Rosetta six years ago with her husband and two children. According to Priya, one of the things she enjoys about living in Rosetta is the holidays because of the way villagers celebrate. Rosetta has a few teachers, shopkeepers and drivers but most persons are farmers. Priya once farmed herself, but owing to the lack of water in the backdams—an issue raised by all of the farmers or those who once farmed—she stopped. She’s now restricted to just her duties as a housewife. Groceries are bought from the truck that drives along the public road every day. Although contented with life in Rosetta, Priya’s concern is transportation. “Transportation hard to get, since the scheme [Belle West] opened. The drivers don’t want to come down this side. The fare that is usually $100 [is] double after 6 pm,” she said. The wait for transportation usually takes a while. But apart from that, she smiled, “The neighbours are very good.”
And although there’s a rum shop nearby, she said, they are never bothered since they all consider each other and live peaceably.
The World Beyond Georgetown caught up with the owner of the rum shop who was returning from the funeral a few houses away. Sookranie Gendalall and her husband, Ramraj Gendalall have not always lived at Rosetta; she lured him away to her village, Hague backdam, after they got married. They returned in 2001.
The Gendalalls are not only shopkeepers but also farmers. They plant bora, tomato and boulanger which they take to the Bagotville market on Sundays. They also rear ducks to sell.
She, like Priya, enjoys the holidays especially Phagwah. According to her, although you won’t see the neighbours going around throwing water on each other they take pride in sharing sweetmeats. What she loves more than the peaceful atmosphere of Rosetta is the harmonious way in which the villagers live; sharing their produce from their farms with each other and just being there in the time of need.
Their belief, which was echoed by a few of the persons interviewed, is that they take nothing to the grave, so being contented and giving freely brings not just a joy but also peace of mind.
