By Vishnu Bisram
in New York
Thousands of Guyanese yesterday bade farewell in New York to Shri Prakash Gossai, the popular Guyanese bhajan singer and interpreter of the Hindu scriptures.
Standing from left at the last rites in New York for Pandit Prakash Gossai are Commerce Minister Manniram Prashad, IAST Director Dr Suresh Narine and Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud. (See story on centre pages)
Pandit Gossai died on Monday morning at a hospital in Miami following a massive heart attack. The mourners came from all walks of life and all faiths.
The funeral was presided over by Pt. Mulchand with Gossai’s son, Varun, performing the last rites. He was assisted by Gossai’s brothers. The eulogy was delivered by Dr. Suresh Narine of IAST who spoke about Gossai’s enduring dedication to humanity, his love for religion and his compassion for others.
Dr. Narine said Gossai created many friends and all had a special relationship with him. “He made everyone feel important. He was loved everywhere he went. He is noted as a great spiritual leader, singer, cultural icon and much more. He is also referred to as a Guyanese patriot… He will be difficult to replace”.
As pandits conducted the final Hindu rites, mourners stood in rapt attention listening to verses being chanted from the holy scriptures. Many mourners in the back of the room tried to catch a glimpse of family members performing the hour-long rituals required for a deceased Hindu. Pandits read mantras continuously from the holy Hindu texts.
Shri Prakash Gossai
Members of Bhuvaneshwar mandir sang appropriate bhajans for the last time for his body petitioning the lord to accept his soul.
When the services were concluded there were loud outbursts of crying from many of those gathered.
A heavy downpour from daybreak until 3 pm did not reduce the size of the crowd at the Grace Funeral Home and at the crematorium in Astoria, some fifteen miles away.
People started lining up in front of the funeral home long before the doors were flung open and at the crematorium to select a prized spot to view his remains and to observe the cremation.
Many people were turned away from the doors of the funeral home as there was no room inside and there was no where to shelter from the pouring rain. People also drove away from the crematorium as there was no parking or even space to walk. Dr. Tara Singh, former UG lecturer, said he had never seen anything like this. “There was just too many people and the organizers simply could not control that size of crowd”.
At the funeral home, people outside complained angrily that they were not being allowed a chance to catch one final glimpse of their religious icon. Several appeals were made to those inside the room to exit to allow others outside to file past the casket.
After an appeal from the funeral directors and family members, mourners left the room where the casket bore the remains.
The thousands waiting outside for hours drenched in the heavy cold rain finally got a quick glimpse of Pandit Gossai for the last time. The cremation was delayed so that people could get to see him and the family could have some privacy to mourn.
The casket was finally closed and taken to a hearse. It was driven past the front of the home of Gossai’s sister at 131 Street where he once lived and then in front of the temple he founded at 81st Street in Ozone Park.
The body was then driven to Astoria some 15 miles away where it was consigned to the flames at approximately 1:30 pm. Here again there was inconsolable grief.
Many said his passing was a great loss. As is the custom there will be twelve nights of wake and prayers at the family’s home, at the temple at 172 Street in Jamaica, and later in the evening at Fairfield Pavilion in Richmond Hill.
Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud told the gathering at the last rites that President Bharrat Jagdeo asked him to extend his personal condolences to the family and to Guyanese New Yorkers. Persaud said Gossai was a vital force in the Guyanese diaspora and in Guyana itself. “He was not motivated by vanity or fame but the desire to serve others”.
Dr Nanda Gopaul, Permanent Secretary in the Office of the President said his friends and supporters were very moved by his passing. “Everyone sat in disbelief as it was a great shock to us. He worked well with colleagues. He has carved a niche among Guyanese throughout the diaspora for interpretation of the Hindu scriptures. No one can do it like him. He simplifies the texts and makes them understandable”.
P.N.C./Reform you have shown gross insensitivity to the Hindu community by not offering to them condolences at this time of great loss. This community has great distrust of your party and this occasion demanded some form of outreach to show token respect if not affection. A golden opportunity has been wasted and demonstrates you are out of touch with the realities of politics in Guyana. The Pandit died on Monday and I have seen no statement from Congress Place. There was as expected a statement for Ranji Chandsingh but none for Pandit Gossai. This now confirms your complete stupidity and ignorance of the realities of governing in Guyana.
Stabroeknews: A report on the final rites of the Pandit is welcomed but not by the lightening rod, Vishnu Bisram. Of all the thousands of Guyanese in New York someone less likely to rouse pyromaniacal emotions would have been preferred.
May his soul have eternal peace and my sincere sympathies to his grieving family and followers.
you sound upset..
Aren’t YOU upset, elijah. How in God’s name is P.N.C./Reform going to win a democratic election in Guyana unless they demonstrate fair play.
Borapork, I admire your sense of fairplay. As a former activist and current supporter of the PPP I will reciprocate. I am disappointed that the PPP has not seen it fit to issue a statement on Ranji Chandisingh. The least they could have done was recognize his contribution to the Party from the late 1950s to 1975. He was no ordinary politician. He was PPP Minister of Labour, Health and Housing during the CIA-supported 80-day general strike in 1963 and his life was in danger in those rioting days. He played a pivotal role in the transformation of the PPP from a mass-based organization to a Marxist-Leninist party. Among the PPP leadership, Chandisingh was the one who accompanied Dr Cheddi Jagan to the 1969 International Communist and Workers Meeting in Moscow, where Dr Jagan famously declared: “This is where we belong.” Dr Jagan and Chandisingh later posed for a photograph with Mikhail Suslov, chief ideologue of the Soviet Communist Party. Chandisingh also played a big role in organizing activities to mark the 100th birth anniversary of V.I. Lenin in 1970. Those were the good red heady days for the PPP and Chanisingh was in the thick of things. It is perplexing why Freedom House finds it hard to give token recognition to this man. It is even more perplexing why the state-owned Chronicle newspaper treated Chandisingh’s passing as a non-event.
That’s the PNC! Who the hell cares!
BORAPORK , the pnc is not insensitive to the hindu community in fact this community has benefitted more under a pnc government than the other one.
borapoak
de pee n see dont even reach out to their own so how can they be asked to reach out to others..they did reach out and touched their own when he spoke the truth that said election was free and fair —Haslyn Parris….
Borapork I think your anger is misdirected, it should have been targeted to the PPP leader for not attending, but I do agree with you about Bisram.
Stop playing the race card dude!
Well said Borapork!!! Thank you!!
This is a very sad time for the Hindu community – great loss!!!
John Brown the hindu community never benefited during the PNC in fact they were deprived from basics like the food and other things they used in practicing their religion.
On principle Borapork and Yasuman71 are both right and correct to point out the callousness of the Guyanese humanity and reality.
Agree with you Yasuman, but the PPP already commended him for his service and his achievements in the party then , after he left he played a different role.He went over to the side that embrace injustice and dictatorship that divide our people and recked Guyana, are the PPP bound to make a statement on this role he played in Guyana??? I think the PPP did the correct thing by not saying anything…
Great observation, Borapork. How can the PNC claim to represent all Guyanese then bite its tongue when a section of the country is seeking words of comfort. It shows the lack of vision and apathy of the so-called opposition party.
Borapork ! Stop your nonsense. Do you honestly think that the Hindus would gravitate to the PNC political party because the Party offered condolences on the death of its spiritual leader. Get real! What outreach about which you write. The Pandit jumped into the political environment by aligning himself with the gov’t . Was any other religious personnel given that role, maybe even at the expense of the tax payers.
So the Pandit died. Did the Pandit make any outreach to the PNC or any other political party when he was a functionary of the gov’t? Also, what has the PNC or any other political party has to do with the Pandit? Tell me. Look, I have a distaste for hypocrites.
UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!
Even on this solemn occasion you all are injecting your ‘backdam’ politics. Good grief, for the love of all thats is sacred, get past this insane obsession with the political parties and reflect on something more important to humanity.
They blew an opportunity to show that they are the more civil of the two parties even after no well wishes came from the PPP when Corbett was hospitalized. These two parties consistently keep missing opportunities to promote harmony, love, civility, and so on among its people. What the country needs are some true statesmen who can transcend petty politics and look past ethnicity, religion, etc and respect the basic humanity in each other.
Forget about the PNC! Imagine this man was the special aide to the President and the President didn’t even bother to show up for his funeral service.
What a caption in Stabroek News above article “Thousands bid farewell to Pandit Gossai”? and photograph with Guyana’s ministers and official, Very nice?.
But after the funeral, the ministers, govt, and High court officials who travel to NY for the funeral at maybe taxpayers expense showed their true selves by partying at the “Shipwreck Restaurant & Bar” on Rockaway Blvd., Queens, NY until late into the night of 18th June, 2009 with one of Guyana’s largest contractor.
Bora:
Seeing that part of your nom de plume is an aversion to the Hindu way of life and your mind and sentiments are not – your comments, insights and thoughts, in this case, are welcome and appreciated.
“Bigotry tries to keep truth safe in its hand
With a grip that kills it.”
(Rabindranath Tagore)
I wonder how many recognize your nom de plume from the Ritz Hotel fire on High Street. I was fairly young but do remember lots from the old days.
Hey Bora:
A doan know if yuh ol’ like me, but do you remember these characters – Law & Order, who used go go about GT with a push-cart with puppets and a minature gallows on it? He used to preach Law & Order and imitate then current crimes, act out judge & jury and then hang the guilty?
Cato- “Ah want a penny”?
Bertie Van?
Gallon?
Banga Mary?
Leave the rest up to the you…..
Remember all of them with the exception of Banga Mary.
listen up, if you are going to report on the death of someone, do so with respect for the dead. the pee pee pee saying that thousands showed up for the service should be reserved for the published papers in guyana. the thousands they talk about, did not happen.
JB,
You’re right! This was gross exaggeration on the part of Mr. VB…you’ll not find thousands showing up in NY on a Thursday to attend a funeral…not at that time of the day.
I guess you people will never look further than your nose to see things and let things be done that can and will result in a better and brighter Guyana.
I think you all should join hands and heads together, think wisely and let our dear country progress as it is doing at this moment.
Respect all those patriots and great sons and dughters that we have produce in the past and will in the future so that our poor people can live a better life tomorrow.
Lets go for that change and I am sure our Guruji Prakash Gossai will guide us from heaven above to the path of success.
From: Europe with regards
BP,the PNC has no capacity to grasp what is right even if it hit them in the face.However,it is another example of how divided our society is.Even in death,the rancid politics must rear its ugly head.
Note the absence of any write up on Ranji Chandisingh in the govt.control media.It is as if he never existed in our country, and or played any part in shaping its political history.
John Brown Would please enlighten me
I was living in Guyana those times and I must have lost my memory?
ONE QUESTION I HAVE TO ASK WHO PAY FOR THE TRAVEL EXPENSE OF THE TWO MINISTER TO TRAVEL TO NEW YORK AN ANY OTHER MEMBERS WHO TRAVEL WITH THESE FLYING FOXS FOR THIS SERVICE AN WHY NO MENTION IN THE PAPERSTHAT THESE MINISTER WAS OUT THE CONTRYWHEN THEY SHOULD BE LOOKING OUR STATE OF AFFAIR IN GUYANA.AN WHY THEY DID EXPRESS THEIR SYMPATHIES FROM ALL GUYANESE ,FROM GUYANA THIS LOOK LIKE AN PARTY THING AN WE TAXS PAYERS HAVE TO FOOT THE BILL.OR WAS THEY TOO WAS ON VOCATION IN NEW YORK.
U SOUND JUST LIKE D FAX WHEN HE DID NOT GET D GRAPE… . IF PT. GOOSAI WAS A GREAT MAN HE DESERVE THE FUNERAL & MOURNERS HE GOT AT HIS FUNERAL. U WOULD HAVE BEEN MORE THAN APPRECIATED IF U HAVE A MINISTER OF U COUNTRY GO TO UR RELATIVE(S) FUNERAL. CHILL, CHILL, CHILL,,
U NOT FROM GUYANA NOW… IS D PPP GONNA STAND D FUNERAL EXPENSES, THE MEDFLIGHT THE OTHER DAY, AND ANY OTHER EXPENSES TOO. HE DESERVED IT, HE GAVE BACK TO HIS COUNTRY! UCAN ASK D PPP GOVT TO TAKE CARE OF UR FUNERAL EXP WHEN U DEAD TOO…
Rubbish—GuyZeroooooooooooooo.
Guy2oooo Why ask? you know who footed their bill. Wa Ministas coming to the funeral?Like some big time officials arriving.. Jagdeo is accountable to no one,they take and take for themselves.Regardless. Look at the ones from Prado Ville.It is a joke when they say their family send stuff for them from New York..who are they fooling. I live here in Atlanta and the Guyanese population hear everything that goes on in Guyana.
sweetgeorgia peach
The PNC is irrelevant and has been for over a decade now.Who DE hell cares what they do!
It is rather SAD that the Pandit’s funeral seemed to be politicized. Is this how low we have sank as a community, as human beings? This is not the way to win the trust of everyone. How cynical.
Agree to the higest extent.
john brown, name some of the benefits the hindu community enjoyed during the pnc rule. in fact the hindu community was seen as supporters of the ppp and were the ones targeted most by the pnc. the pnc tried to split the hindu community by geting pandits like gowkarran sharma to set up the maha sabha. gowkaran later became a minister in the pnc. the pnc also banned imports of foodstuff like split peas, onions,garlic,and religious items used by hindus in their worship.
thanks moderator for the minor adjustment…