By Dr. Tulsi Dyal Singh
It’s an honor too long overdue,
an honorary doctorate for Rohan,
a genius with the cricket bat.
He made poetry out of willow
using cricket balls for his ink.
Some described him as mercurial:
in full flow he was imperious,
in defense he was majestic,
possessing the most elegant
forward defensive stroke I’ve ever seen.
He was my foremost childhood hero.
He gave credence that we belonged
in a world of superstars and possibilities
even if we were born in Corentyne
and the children of a darker god.
I’ve met him only once, in Jamaica,
at a benefit match on his retirement.
He paid rapt attention to every word I said
and thanked me for every thought I praised on him
for the confidence and panache that he bestowed.
Congratulations to Rohan
with gratitude from a teenager of the sixties
for the joys he brought to my rural life
allowing dreams beyond cane fields,
fish ponds, canals and rice fields
opening the world of other possibilities.
PS: Thanks to my friend from our primary school days, Prof. Clem Seecharran, for the framed print of the “triumphant fall” which hangs in one of my guest rooms at home; and for dedicating his book “From Ranji to Rohan” to me on my 60th birthday, fourteen years ago.
Thanks too to my friend from our high school days, Dr. Latiff Ayub, for getting Rohan to autograph the cricket ball above and presenting it to me at a small class reunion in Toronto earlier this year.
The “Tied Test” autographed cricket bat is a Father’s Day present from my two daughters about 20 years ago.
