Dear Editor,
While polling in Trinidad in the critical St Joseph constituency, I met Uncle Lenny Lall, who, in addition to relating his opinion on the upcoming elections in Trinidad, had an interesting story to tell of his work experience in Guyana and about Guyanese hospitality after he realized I am Guyanese. Uncle Lenny, as he is fondly called, resides in the posh Valsayn area where upper class and professional Indians live. He founded the famous ‘Lenn Seal’ mattress, the most popular brand in Trinidad. He has the fondest things to say about Guyanese in Guyana and those he encountered in Trinidad. “They are good, hard-working and productive people”, he said.
Uncle Lenny claims he put together the machinery for the start of mattress manufacturing by the famous AH&L Kissoon (Alston, Hemraj and Lyla) brand, and he had the nicest things to say about the family. It was his first visit to Guyana and he could not remember the dates ‒ he is now 94 years old. He said it could have been in the mid-1960s, but that Forbes Burnham was the Prime Minister because the Kissoons used to mention his name and Burnham was helpful to them. “They could get anything they wanted and I had no problem with anything. Security was never an issue for me or the Kissoons because of their connection with Burnham,” he said.
Uncle Lenny said that the machine manufacture of mattresses was the first operation of its type in Guyana. Uncle Lenny had earlier done the same thing in Trinidad for his own operation. He was the first to introduce mechanized mattress manufacture in Trinidad with what would become one of the most popular brands.
Asked how he was selected and contracted for the job, he said his deceased friend Ram Kirpalani asked him to undertake the mission on behalf of the Kissoons. The Kirpalani name was big in Guyana, Trinidad, Suriname and the islands in the region. Ram’s brother ran the Guyana operations, and he was a close friend of Alston Kissoon and his brother Hemraj. Ram and Uncle Lenny ran a mattress factory in Trinidad but Lenny sold his interest in the company and branched off to form his own company. His company was not doing well and so he took odd jobs to fix machinery and put together various types of manufacturing operation. Ram asked Uncle Lenny to help the Kissoons, “And I agreed because of my friendship with Ram and because I needed the work and money as my own business was not doing well,” he said.
“I spent about 17 days to put together the operations”, he recalled. He got assistance from a few local workers and he instructed and guided them on what to do. “But I did the bulk of the work in attaching the various units of the machines”.
He said the hospitality he received from the Kissoons was the best he experienced in his life. “It was unbelievable. They made me most comfortable and they provided for all of my needs. They went out of their way to accommodate me. They were such honourable and respected people. I can never forget them and how they treated me.” Uncle Lenny said when he finished the job and everything was fully operational and mattresses were being turned, it was time for him to return to his wife in Trinidad. The Kissoons went to him and asked for the cost of his labour. He told them: “Nothing, absolutely nothing. You owe me nothing. How can I charge you? Your hospitality is more than my labour. My parents taught me to do good things and not to take advantage of people even if they are wealthy”.
He said the Kissoons were shocked that he would work for free. “They did not want that and insisted that I be paid. But I told them I could not accept their money. And the Kissoons just won’t let up and were upset that I won’t take payment”.
After much friendly ‘harbar’ (argument), to please them, Uncle Lenny said the payment for his work would be for them to host his wife on a visit to Guyana. The Kissoons agreed only on the condition that they be responsible for all the expenses relating to the tickets and accommodation for both of them to come to Guyana. He said his wife had “a most fantastic time in Guyana and she was treated most royally and she also Had terrific things to say about the people of the country.”. He said both of them had fond memories of Guyana. Asked about the food, he said, “Indo-Guyanese food was similar to Indo-Trini food and that he enjoyed the warmth, friendliness and hospitality of Guyanese”. Asked why he did the job for free, he said it is his karma to help people: “We must help people. I was not doing well with my business, but everything must not be for money”.
Since that time, Lenny’s business has done very well in Trinidad and he said he has donated a lot of money to charitable causes. “It pays to do good”, he said.
Uncle Lenny said he stayed in touch with the Kissoons. “The phone service was good from what I remember”. He also said the Kissoons used to visit him in Trinidad whenever they flew to the US or Europe. “They would stop in and we would meet”.
He remembers meeting Alston Kissoon in Trinidad in what would be his final visit to the island. Alston continued from there to India, but the return flight from India took his life in an ill-fated plane crash. “I remember faintly the news about the crash and was told later my Guyanese friend was on the plane.”
Uncle Lenny was profuse in his praise for the Kissoons. “They were most gracious people. They simply went out of their way to provide the very best for us. I can never forget them.”
Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram
