Dear Editor,
I recently read that my friend, Rooplall Monar, has transitioned. I first met Monar in the Guyana National Service (GNS) where we both worked in the Cultural Department for some time. He was brought into the GNS by either Lt. Gora Singh or his mother, Captain Rajkumari Singh (my bet would be it was RaJkunari). Monar had a good, sheltered life in the GNS. While all other staff members had to work as guards at some time, I can’t remember Monar ever having to do so. Further, while all of us writers in the Cultural Department had to create material for use on stage or radio, Monar had no such duty. For sure he was always busy writing, but I cannot recall any of his work being done for GNS. Thus I concluded that Rajkumari brought him into National Service so that he could have a steady salary while doing that which he loved most – writing.
Later, when I moved to work as a senior staff with an international organization, I employed Rooplall and saddled him with the responsibility of familiarizing volunteers with the Hindu culture as practiced by East Indians in Guyana. Rooplall was a great favourite with the volunteers and his fellow staff and it was not unusual for staff members who might have held class minutes before he began his, to stay awhile and listen to his sessions. I, too, would on many occasions make time to sit in on some of his discussions/lectures. I was impressed with his willingness to give his honest opinion. For example, he would always encourage volunteers to stay away from Hindu marriage celebrations since it was his opinion that they almost always end with fights.
I found Monar to be a restless person, always seeking to do things differently, always dissatisfied with how he presented information on his previous interaction with volunteers and always testing out on me, new approaches he was considering to employ in an effort at enhance his presentations. I thoroughly enjoyed his company and would willingly put aside what I was doing whenever I heard he was there to see me, even if it meant me having to work late after he left to complete some pressing assignment. In a way, he was my stress reliever.
I remember him telling me that he had given up his Green Card or US citizenship in exchange for a visa that would allow him to travel to the USA for quite a while (might have been a ten year visa). He seemed to enjoy telling me of the surprise on the faces of the Embassy staff as they could not believe a Guyanese would make such a request. They were so impressed that they told him he could at any time come in and regain his status if he so wished. As it is with Guyanese, sometimes our talks would turn to politics and it was Rooplall who told me of the PPP’s tendency of paying people to write letters to the Editor critical of the PNC. He seemed to have been close to the late President Janet Jagan and I got the impression that he was one of those who was contracted to do this type of work. Peaceful rest my comrade and friend.
Sincerely,
Claudius Prince
