Mr. Nath encouraged teacher Doodnauth Singh to study law

Sep 17, 2024 Letters

---

Dear Editor,

Adding to what Ravi Dev penned as being a pioneer in education in Guyana and his activities in NY (Sep 15), Mr. Rudra Nath had a very productive past and helped many including Doodnauth Singh. I knew and engaged Mr. Nath quite well as a fellow Port Mourant dweller. Everyone who knew or came across Mr. Nath spoke positively of him.

I did not study at Nath’s. I passed Common Entrance in 1972 to study at the prestigious Berbice High which later moved to Multilateral HS. But I knew Nath from interaction in Port Mourant as a youngster and activist. He was held in high esteem. He was very close with Cheddi Jagan who regularly came to Ankerville, his and my native place. The two met regularly. Nath helped to organize rallies for Cheddi and planned strategies. And in New York, Nath, Bhanu Dwarika of Trinidad, Baytoram Ramharack, Ravi, myself and others launched the Indo-Caribbean Federation. A few of us routinely engaged him on political history and community activism.

Nath was a Gandhian influencing people on West Coast Demerara and East Coast Essequibo. He was immersed in Indian culture and brought people together to celebrate festivals.

Nath contributed significantly, mostly in Guyana, to the struggle against the dictatorship. It was Jagan who encouraged him to relocate from West Coast to Port Mourant. And there, he quietly contributed to the political struggle while founding high schools. It was revealed that at a meeting in Rose Hall at Dharry’s store upstairs, businessman Hubert Gokool warned Jagan not to trust Burnham in the anti-colonial movement. Gokool and Nath would turn out to be right.

The late Mr. Alim Shah, Rhyaan’s father, made available the land to found Nath’s school. Nath helped many among the poor to obtain a high school education, which they would not have obtained otherwise. He kept many students in school who could not afford to pay the tuition when the rule was to keep them out of classes if tuition was not paid.

Clearly, Nath was a very caring, compassionate individual whose goal in life, it seemed, was to improve the lives of the poor and downtrodden, a Jaganite philosophy. Nath encouraged all to uplift themselves through education and to pursue higher academic achievement where practical. Those who passed GCE O’ Levels were encouraged to do A’ Levels.

He influenced the famous Doodnauth Singh to pursue law.  While teaching at Guyana Oriental College, Nath happened upon Doodnauth Singh who had come from Skeldon to teach at that same school in Georgetown. Doodnauth taught Math. Nath observed Doodnauth in the classroom and held discussions on politics and varied subjects after which he concluded that Doodnauth had lawyerly skills; Doodnauth made arguments based on facts, logic and deduction. In addition, Doodnauth was an outstanding speaker. Nath told Doodnauth he would make a great lawyer. He encouraged Doodnauth to study law. Nath and others pooled resources to help Doodnauth to pursue legal studies. Doodnauth agreed to abandon teaching as a profession and to study law. He later became one of Guyana’s finest and most successful lawyers and Attorney General. He was counsel to Jagan and the PPP for many years. He broke with Jagan over communism, Jagan’s unwillingness to strongly and publicly side with Indian culture, and Jagan’s reluctance to embrace a militant approach to confront the dictatorship.

Years later, in the 1980s in a visit to Guyana, Nath paid a courtesy visit to Counsel Doodnauth Singh. Doodnauth embraced him and broke down in tears. Doodnauth would not have been a lawyer without Nath’s goading and support. (As an aside, Doodnauth’s daughter, Gina, would become famous in UK over Brexit).

As headmaster, Nath ran into conflict with Board of Governors of schools he co-founded because he was more interested in educating young minds while the board members were interested in making profits; education was a business for them to earn profit returns. Nath wanted to offer scholarships to six students annually who distinguished themselves at GCE to pursue higher learning in Chicago with the commitment to return to teach at the school. It didn’t quite work out because the Board was opposed to spending funds on scholarships. It demonstrated the gentleman’s advanced thinking.

At a time when jobs were most difficult to obtain for prospective educators, Nath provided employment as teachers to several individuals who faced discrimination in hiring practices at government schools and at Christian controlled schools because they were Hindus or Christians and refused to convert to gain employment. He hired several who did not exactly excel at GCE but had talent to be good educators. Nath’s school did produce outstanding students who went on to productive careers in Guyana and in the diaspora. I believe Moses Nagamootoo studied at Nath’s and also became a teacher there briefly before he was recruited by Dr. Jagan for bigger plans.

Yours sincerely,

Vishnu Bisram

---

• Doodnauth Singh, Guyana, Mr. Rudra Nath, study, Vishnu Bisram

---