Dear Editor,
Just to add to what Ravi Dev penned (SN Sep 15), Mr. Rudra Nath had a very productive past and helped many including Doodnauth Singh. While teaching at Guyana Oriental College, Nath happened upon Doodnauth who had come from Skeldon to teach at that same school in Georgetown. Doodnauth taught Maths. Nath observed Doodnauth in the classroom and held discussions on politics and varied subjects after which he concluded that Doodnauth had legal skills; Doodnauth made arguments based on facts, logic and deduction. In addition, Doodnauth was an outstanding speaker. Nath told Doodnauth he would make a great lawyer. He encouraged Doodnauth to study law.
Nath and others pooled resources to help Doodnauth to pursue legal studies. Doodnauth agreed to abandon teaching as a profession and to study law. He later became one of Guyanese finest and most successful lawyers and Attorney General. He was counsel to Jagan and the PPP for many years. He broke with Jagan over communism, Jagan’s unwillingness to strongly and publicly side with Indian culture, and Jagan’s reluctance to embrace a militant approach to confront the dictatorship. Years later, in the 1980s in a visit to Guyana, Nath paid a courtesy visit to Counsel Doodnauth Singh. Doodnauth embraced him and broke down in tears. Doodnauth would not have been a lawyer without Nath’s goading and support. (As an aside, Doodnauth’s daughter, Gina, would become famous in UK over Brexit).
Sincerely,
Vishnu Bisram