Dear Editor,
It is a special blessing for me to have known brother Dr Martin Boodhoo. Martin’s achievements were outstanding and exemplary. From poverty to Pro Chancellor of UG, in his early years he could not afford to attend high school, yet through private lessons he passed the matriculation exam. One of the first students of UG, Martin’s accomplishments, among many, included reforms of sugar plantation life, and later as a UN consultant on the world stage made us all proud as Guyanese.
I am pleased that I featured Dr Boodhoo in my book Guyanese Achievers UK. The book launch at the Guyana High Commission in June 2007, was blessed with his presence. In the preface, I quoted these everlasting Longfellow gems which describe great achievers:
The heights by great men reached and kept
Were not attained by sudden flight,
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night.
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time.
Despite his extraordinary achievements, Martin was a modest, even humble human being. I knew him as a friend and I have long regarded him as my mentor. Our Guyanese brother Dr Martin Boodhoo stands tall among world achievers whose footprints are permanently inscribed on the sands of time.
Martin has played his role well on this earth. I pray for the Lord’s blessings on his bereaved family to have the strength to bear the great loss.
Yours faithfully,
Vidur Dindayal
