Dear Editor,
Many of us have heard the saying, ‘Bear yo’ chafe like Banwahree.’ I know for a fact that thousands of us have said it. Just last Sunday, however, I was sitting in my Hackensack home and speaking on the phone to another Guyanese in Florida. At one point she testified to bearing her chafe like ‘Banwahree.’
So I said to her, “I gotta ask this… who was Banwahree?”
“Boy I ent know,” she said. “I just come up hearing people talking ’bout bearing they chafe like Banwahree, and I too fall into saying it. I don’t have a clue who Mr Banwahree was.”
Finished speaking to my Floridan friend, I immediately called up Parry Wallerson, my old friend in Brooklyn who is very knowledgeable in folklore and grassroots matters. “Parry,” I said. “I have to ask you this: who was Banwahree?”
“You know,” he said, “me and Roy was talking about that same thing the other day. All I can say is that the name sound like an Indian fella with a reputation for standing firm in hard times, but who exactly was Banwahree, I don’t know.”
If there is anyone in Guyana (or in the Guyanese diaspora) who can shed some light on this often-referred-to man of resilience, please post a response.
Yours faithfully,
Harold Bascom
Harold, my good sir!
Ah surprised that a writer like you don’t know about this.
But then I thought that I did but when I checked my memory chip,
I got a reading that the file could not be read! Seems that with the changes
in the operating systems, some of the old files cannot be now read.
I think that it had to do with a court case ( but hold it! don’t quote me!) and the punishment meted out, so Banwari [spelling?] muttered self-consolation of
‘ah got to bear meh chafe’.
A good reference guy is Sancho who had done lots of studies and researches
on Guyanese ancestry and folklore. Just Google him and you should get some
lead or information. Also check Moses’ Guyana Outpost web site. Right now I travelling, so I cannot do these checks, but I am sure that you would find some
leads.
Yea men, Banwari seh ‘ bear yuh chafe’
I have a feeling that banwari is not a person but instead it is some thing like a strap or support that cane cutters use to tie sugar cane bundles or it is a rope made from an indigenous materials which is used to tie punts. This was explained to me before (something to do with sugar cane I think) but now my memory chip is malfunctioning.
BY the way, I just called Ronald H and he never heard about it, and he is a celeb’ playwright like Harold. Just goes to show we all cannot know everything. Hope we find someone who really knows the answer and we get started on recording our heritage and histroy.
Hi Admin,
You can publish this Banwari story below.
http://www.gtrl.tv/RORAIMA/playlist1.asx
Also, please watch the video clip linked above, especially the second item on the playlist.
Banwari was a barber who used to live at South-West Annandale (1970s), a couple of houses from the late “Zero” who operated a bar, right next to late “Uncle Chuloo”. He cut my hair when I was a kid, and he was known to give you a very low hair cut. He used to twist and turn your head in all sorts of weird and painful positions as he barbered the hair away. Some kids used to cry while Banwari cut their hair, but Banwari would just ignore them. They did not want to go to Banwari to have their hair cut, cause of the still, sometimes painful position that they would have to keep their heads. While complaining about pain in the neck as Banwari cut your hair, Banwari would just say, “Bear yuh chafe”.
Red Lion
http://www.gtrl.tv