Dear Editor,
I note with interest the Editorial in Stabroek News on 25.09.2024 – Creolese Chroniclers. Some of the “Guyanese” words that are now added to the Oxford dictionary are Hindi words that were introduced in what is now called “Creolese.” Pagalee/pagli is one of them. Most of us Indo Guyanese do not even say pagalee but pagli which is the proper pronunciation. Belna is another real Hindi word (belan, bealn) and is what Indians call the rolling pin. Editor, what is called Creolese in Guyana upon examination, is littered with Hindi/Bhojpuri words…jhoota, roti, loi, ghote, dal, ghutni, peerha, pokni, rakhi (ashes), chimta, chunke, sourwa, curry, chatni—to just name a few. “That pickni gat najar, tek he to Pandit fo get jharay!” ‘’Me belly a hut me, Ma, wah fo do,nah?” “Betti go leh Nani haal am fo u. She go tie am good and prapa fo u an the pain go gaan.”
We studied Creolese in school and had to study Wordsworth’s usage in that. Nowhere from my studies till now have I noticed anyone made mention of the usage of Hindi/Bhojpuri words that are literally all around us in everyday Guyanese. There is no equivalent to jhoota yet all Guyanese know what it means. Belna? Roti? Curry—which is derivation from the Tamil word Kari. There is even a plant/leaf called Kari patta (leaf) which is used in the making of Madras curry (you can see the whole leaves in the cans of Lalah’s).
Editor, there is a term being used now—Cultural Appropriation. Ponder on the words, foods, dress most of all foods that those people who landed here on May 5th 1838 and onwards gifted to Guyana. What would Guyana be without their contribution? When we sit down to eat rice and dal or curry and roti or channa and pholouri, dal puri and sour; (we conshance go bite and mek u think about whence it came from. About the people who fought (yes fought) to keep their culture (a whole tome can be filled on this topic.) Maybe the ones who have ignored and/or appropriated the contributions of the silent majority in Guyana in particular and Caribbean in general, would wake up? Isn’t it time that scholars give jack he jacket? That the Indian presence in South America, the Caribbean and Guyana especially be given its due respect?
Sincerely,
N. Sahadeo