Astute Personality, Abdool Jhuman, A. A. is a ‘Special Person’

Nov 26, 2017 News

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“Success comes not by pleasure but by hard work bravely done…and there is nothing that you cannot do if you put your mind to it. When you have to do something, don’t give up, even if you fail at first, keep trying and you will overcome.”

 

By Sharmain Grainger

There are those who strive to leave a legacy for others and then there are those whose very existence can be categorised as a legacy. Aptly filling the latter category is a man whose life has positively impacted many and continues to do so after many decades.
The person to whom I refer is not only a successful business mogul, but he has had his fair share of involvement in the political arena as well. He is Mr. Abdool Esoff Jhuman, A.A., of Carlton Hall Estate, Mahaicony, in West Berbice.
The Carlton Hall Estate, situated some 31 miles from the capital city of Georgetown, has been home to Jhuman for the majority of his life, but this did not stand in his way nor hinders his influential stance on a national scale. In fact, during a recent interview, he spoke of his many exploits which helped to make him the respected and prominent human being he is today.
HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
Born March 31, 1935 to Jhuman, a businessman, and Batulan, a housewife, he was the third born of four children his parents raised. The family resided for a few years at Belmonte, Mahaica, but when Abdool was just a toddler, the family moved first to the Mahaica River area before taking up residence in 1940 at the Carlton Hall Estate – a sprawling rice farming property, complete with a colonial structure at Mahaicony. The property is one that still easily grabs the attention of persons passing through the area.

Save for some modern touches inside and a great deal of maintenance work on the exterior, the home in which he resides in today is the same two-storey colonial architecture building that his father had bought some years ago to raise his family.
Jhuman remembers his early days on the Estate quite well and they were indeed exciting.
As a young boy he attended Stanleyville Methodist School, which was a short walk from home. He later completed his secondary schooling at Mahaica Secondary. With his Junior Cambridge qualifications, Jhuman was sent to Georgetown to attend the Guyana College to write a few GCE O’ Level subjects. His plan was to become a well-educated gentleman suitable for the world of work.
DRASTIC CHANGE
However, the course of his life took a drastic turn, while he was still at school, when his mother and one of his brothers passed away due to tragic circumstances. According to Jhuman, it was at this juncture that his father decided that he needed his help to manage his rice farming company.
“My father had a lot of businesses and he took me out of school to work at a rice mill he owned at Mahaica,” recalled Jhuman. He was just about 18 years old at the time and certainly wasn’t prepared for the work thrust upon him. “I don’t think I handled it well, but eventually I became a very good businessman,” he recounted.
As fate would have it, he would turn out to eventually become one of the most astute businessmen in the rice industry that the Guyanese society has ever produced.

Jhuman recalled that even after his father sold his mill at Mahaica, he developed such a passion for rice production that he decided to buy his own mill at Fairfield Estate also in Mahaicony. He made this investment in 1962, but by 1964, was successful enough to expand further by procuring an entire rice milling estate of approximately 1,000 acres of land at Fairfield.
“I was working hard…I bought a few tractors and other equipment, and I planted the rice, and I was milling night and day to make things work,” Jhuman disclosed.
In fact, he related that he not only planted the estate at Fairfield, but also the one at Carlton Hall where his family resided, since his father had retained that property. But he didn’t only become famous for his success in rice production, as he also embraced cattle-rearing as well and excelled.
The work that he indulged in required that he acquire hundreds of acres of land, which essentially saw his business developing from a modest operation to an expansive empire. His cattle were many, as were his farming operations, which became so vast that it simply wasn’t feasible for him to embrace the old-fashioned way of sowing rice seeds.
Sowing seeds was done by plane, as was the fertilisation process, and administering of insecticides which were required to ensure his yields were of a high quality.

“I was one of the biggest planters and millers at that time,” Jhuman said as he reflected on how his business interests flourished back in the 1960s.
His rice farming and milling work spanned a period of about 45 years and certainly served him and his family well. He had done well enough that by 1985 he was able to part ways with his Fairfield operation for a handsome sum.
FAMILY LIFE
It was shortly after the demise of his mother and brother that Jhuman met a young lady by the name of Janet, who would eventually become the love of his life and mother to his 10 children – eight girls and two boys [daughters: Fawzia, Acklema, Taslema, Saffiyah and Meezan, Yasmin, Farida and Salima and sons: Faud and Salim].
Her intellectual capabilities were on par with his and he was certainly proud to highlight this recently. He spoke glowingly of his wife as a very educated woman and recalled that when she achieved her Junior Cambridge qualifications she was in fact one of the youngest Guyanese to do so. “She was just 10 years old…and it is now in the Archives…and then she got her senior at only 15,” an elated Jhuman said of his wife.
The two tied the knot on July 1, 1956, and a modest Janet certainly didn’t mind taking up the role of a housewife catering to her husband and children, and taking care of their home. Today the still blissful couple have 28 grandchildren, and four great grands.

As the breadwinner of the home, Jhuman not only became skilled enough to manage the daily operation of his business, but he also had a knack for ‘book work’ as well.
But although he was at the helm of a thriving business and patriarch to a growing family, Jhuman still found a bit of leisure time to indulge in the exciting pastime of horse racing.
“I was a professional racer…I raced in Trinidad and won the Governor General’s trophy. I raced right here in Guyana in front of Queen Elizabeth too,” he recalled.
POLITICAL INTRIGUE
While still very involved in rice farming, Jhuman recalled how he also became intrigued by politics. It wasn’t, however, without some persuasion. He remembered being recognised by political leaders of the day as a very progressive young man and was encouraged to become involved in some political work, particularly as it related to local government.
This was during the reign of the People’s National Congress [PNC], and Jhuman took on the political work thrust upon him with the equal distinction and dedication that he utilised in his business interests.
He held many positions within the PNC party, including District and National Chairman, and he was even a member of Regional Democratic Council.
Back in the day too he was named Chairman of the Rice Action Committee, Chairman of the Rice Millers’ Association and Chairman of the Land Selection Committee of Region Five.
His contributions over the years were many, including the donation to Government of two acres of prime fenced land, which currently accommodates the Carlton Hall Primary School, which, according to reports, will be posthumously named after Jhuman. The land will also accommodate a Community Centre which is currently a work in progress.
In fact, so outstanding an individual he was when it came to business and local government work, that in 1986 he was presented with the Golden Arrow of Achievement by then-President Hugh Desmond Hoyte.
But it wasn’t always only business and politics he excelled in. Jhuman also found the time in his very busy schedule to join the Rotary Club of Georgetown for more than four decades. He was tasked with serving as Director on multiple occasions, and this too he did with distinction.
Also he held the position of the President of the Good Hope, Mahaica Mosque for over 50 years where he fellowships and was instrumental in starting a school for children to learn Islam. Today he is the honorary President of the Mosque.
STILL GOING
At 82, Jhuman sometimes suffers from joint pains, but this doesn’t stop him from engaging in routine exercises to strengthen his anatomy. He also shares some special moments with his wife, watching a bit of television, and he ensures he keeps abreast with current affairs by reading the daily newspapers.
But what some people may not believe is that this octogenarian is still a very ardent and successful businessman.
“I still have some cattle and I am in real estate too…I have several properties, some in Georgetown too,” related Jhuman, as he spoke of renting and ensuring that his buildings are all properly maintained.
When asked whether he foresees himself retiring entirely from his business ventures, a plain-spoken Jhuman quipped, “I can’t, I won’t…the thing that has kept me going is that I am a perfectionist; I want to see things done in the right way.” This is compounded by his eagerness to do something new. “I never let opportunities pass me; I grab at all opportunities,” Jhuman shared.
His advice to persons who have a desire to succeed in life is, “Success comes not by pleasure but by hard work bravely done…and there is nothing that you cannot do if you put your mind to it. When you have to do something, don’t give up or make excuses, even if you fail at first, keep trying and you will overcome.”
Jhuman shared this counsel even as he considered that society today is plagued by the mentality of acquiring things ‘easily and quickly’ but, according to him, “nothing is more rewarding than achieving something through hard work.”
“It seems like a lot of people don’t want to work hard anymore; nobody wants to sweat for anything…they want to get things the easiest way, and as a consequence there are many criminal activities,” Jhuman noted. But our ‘Special Person’ is yet optimistic that there is hope for a change if the right attitude is adopted.

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