Couple celebrates 72 years of marriage

Businessman Ramsawark Lal Dharrie Maharaj, nicknamed “German” since he was born in 1914, the outbreak of World War I, and his wife Heamdai celebrated their 72nd wedding anniversary yesterday at their Sorzano Street home in Arima.

The Maharaj family didn’t hold any prayers customary to Hindu wedding anniversaries or a lavish gathering like what they did on their 50th anniversary as man and wife but simply enjoyed a quiet day at home with family. In recalling his wedding day, March 26, 1931, a night wedding which ended the next day, Maharaj said: “I didn’t see her good enough until the day after the wedding when she was sweeping the gallery...” Their arranged marriage came about, according to Maharaj, since “they say I was the best looking boy in D’Abadie”. His wife he described as “a beauty. She was very nice.” He didn’t resent the arrangement because “in those days you couldn’t refuse or oppose your parents.”

Maharaj grew up in Red Hill, D’Abadie and his wife, in St Augustine. After their marriage, the teens (Ramsawark, 17 and Heamdai, 16),  lived for many years in Red Hill,  D’Abadie and later moved further up the Eastern Main Road, D’Abadie. They have 12 children: Roopatie, Bhagwandat, Kamal, Kalawatie, Amoutee, Latchmenit, Lowie, Shama, Ramesh, Suresh, Heera and Surendra, 35 grandchildren and 47 great grandchildren. In his teenage years Maharaj worked as a bus conductor with his father who was a single bus owner. Not satisfied with earning $120 a month, he bought a truck, delivering construction material to various businesses and later increased his fleet to 11.

In 1948, Maharaj opened the first filling station in Arima at the corner of Hollis Ave and King Street. The second was constructed in 1955, at the corner of Broadway Street and Old Blanchisseuse Road, Arima. He also owned other properties in Arima, which he sold off years ago. He counts many prominent people as friends including former President Ellis Clarke and former Speaker of the House of Representatives in the PNM administration Matthew Ramcharan, now deceased. The key to a marriage of 72 years, Maharaj intimated: “You have to be very honest. Everything in my home came first, my wife and children. We live very, very comfortable. Sometimes we have a little problems but there was never any fighting. If I wanted to do business, we would sit down and talk about it and my wife (a homemaker) took care of all the children.”