Picture yourself leading a ‘normal life’ — some might say blessed. You are blessed with a talent that is realised and nurtured from a tender age, a talent that is afforded the guidance of tertiary education. You begin to live out your dream using your talents and the knowledge that schooling has provided when the unthinkable happens — you go blind.

Most may not consider such a scenario. Yet, its likelihood is a reality that, sadly, is only recognised when it really happens to someone close enough or to us. It is a reality that Leo Bridgeman of 92 Sunset Drive, Five Rivers, Arouca has had to live with for the past six years. Blinded by glaucoma in 1997, he has come to realise that the only thing that gets in the way of the “otherwise-abled,” as he refers to himself, and living what society deems as normal is discrimination. So, what is normal anyway? The loss of his sight has not deterred him from running a music school, which he began in 1995. The transition was difficult. Teaching piano, pan, theory and guitar to children and adults with his BA Music from Temple University, Leo handles himself with confidence and surety that few have. Coming to terms with his disability gave him “the desire to fight back, to show everyone that the school could still be run, even under the circumstances.”

Recognising that things had to be set in place “mentally and physically,” for the opening of the new school year in ’97, Bridgeman, who receives help in his work only from the older students and a few trusted friends, has still enjoyed 100 percent pass rate in his students’ exams. He boasts of 90-95 percent distinctions in theory examinations. Not often do we find a differently-abled person given the respect that his competence and his profession warrant. Yet, in his humble but welcoming home, there is accommodation, admiration, and faith in the man and his skill. As parents comfortably leave the guidance of their children’s musical talents in his strict but capable hands, Bridgeman — “Sir,” to his students — tolerates no indiscipline. He emphasises the importance of using a medium such as music to enhance academic performance as “the power that music has on the brain makes learning easier.” Bridgeman encourages early introduction to music, insisting that these children not only perform better in their schoolwork but also have fewer problems grasping the more advanced areas of music as they progress. There is hardly a moment of silence when his students are present and having worked for him, I can tell you that there is never a free piano; you practically breathe the sounds of the pan and often a time leave with the tunes of music exercises that demand practice, resonating in your head.

Parents are not immune to his rebuke because “the children are here for a brief period but when they go home they need to spend time practising if they are to get any better, and most of the time the parents need to supervise their progression.” With the knowledge of at least seven instruments, he is eager to introduce violin into his music programme and to enhance the quality of his work, even as his student population increases. He envisions a school orchestra that can move among communities within the country, performing at a variety of functions. For now he is preparing for his vacation music camp that will run from July to August, followed by a concert for parents. So, what is his take on the recent attention given to the differently-abled? “It’s unfortunate that it has to reach to this stage in order to get respect. But with all of this, legislation remains the same and we still have not seen accommodations being made for us… there is a gap between us and the rest of society that needs to be filled. Only getting rid of the discrimination can do that. If people only knew what some of us can do, they would be greatly surprised.” He added, “The disabled also need to use their talents and fight for what they want and not allow their lives to waste away.” In retrospect, he makes it look easy. His work guarantees neither riches nor fame. What he has done, however, is make all who come into his presence better understand how living with one another is done, how easily we can accommodate our differences in whatever way we are able to do so, leaving no gaps.

Being an agent for 11 athletes is no easy job, let alone 24 of them, especially if you have to train them, feed them and take their “droppings” to the veterinarian for worm and bacteria analysis. Athletes! That’s how Richard Walker, top pigeon racing fancier of 30 years refers to his pigeons kept at his loft in Brazil, Brazil Village.

“They need sunlight, fresh air, good food, we worm them out once a month, treat them like yourself and give them necessary ingredients for them to perform,” he said. Not forgetting, “you have to educate them…you have to develop their mind and heart.” For a minute Richard’s regimented roster for his pets sounded like pigeon school, but racing pigeons in Trinidad and Tobago, he informed, is serious business, and costly too. Birds can cost up to TT$7,000 and where the sport is big business in Europe, up to US$1.5 million. The sport may not be as recognisable as cricket or football, but is fast growing among local enthusiasts. He is one of over 50 pigeon fanciers currently involved in pigeon racing and attached to the Trinidad Pigeon Club (TPC).

Not many of them could say they’ve been involved in the sport before television was  introduced to Trinidad. Not many of them could say that owning their first pair of birds at seven years old would result in wins too insurmountable to mention. His 50-odd trophies, some stored on his living room space saver and others he’s given away, tell the story. The drive to win, however, is no longer his. The 55-year-old said the drive “to teach somebody to win is always there… I don’t want to be the champion but a champion of the sport.” His love for pigeons is not newfound. Richard told People: “One Christmas I wrote to Santa Claus asking for a pair of pigeons. I was seven years old. It was 1955. I got up at midnight (Christmas morning) and looked under the tree and I saw a bicycle, skates, a gun sack and no pigeons. I was vex. That was my first item on the list to Santa. I cry man! I went to my father and he said Santa is a busy man. By 6.30 that morning my father woke me up and tell meh it have two pigeons waiting there for meh. I sit down and watch those pigeons whole day.” His friends in the neighbourhood (Port-of-Spain) had pigeons, so he thought why not get his own! “I started to check guys who had and raced them. I started to get books (on pigeons) imported from England and the US. I learned how to train them, how to feed them and not to leave food overnight in the loft because of rats and insects,” he said.

At 16, “young Walker” won his first race from Scarborough, Tobago. He entered five of his homing pigeons in the race. Five was the stipulated amount. They were let loose early in the morning, and while everyone was coolly playing the waiting game for the pigeons to return to their respective lofts, Richard was growing impatient. Then, one by one they flew in, all five of them in just over two hours. (Pigeons flying over long distances are not guaranteed to return to their roost because of predators — hawks, hunters — and overhead wires.) The rookie had made his initiation into the racing world. He’s participated in every type of race — derby, bunch, team, loft-by-loft races and the newly invented iron-man race — at every racing point in Trinidad and Tobago namely Icacos, Penal Coora, Toco, Scarborough and Charlotteville. This weekend, he’s entering his “youngsters” in the race from Barcelona, Venezuela. Races are also conducted from Grenada, St Vincent and aboard boats en route to Guyana. How a pigeon returns to his home, is inconceivable.

“Nobody knows,” said Richard. He teaches them a flight pattern and his method is simple. He gets up at 5.30 each morning, pulls his stool and sits outside the loft to observe his brood. “I spend at least an hour of quality time with them,” said the bird lover. His collection of birds also includes a canary, semp, picoplait, bullfinch and a singing angel. “I would talk to them, hold each one of them so they would be familiar with my touch. To check to see if they are healthy I look at their necks, which must be shiny; their eyes must be glossy and their droppings firm. I give them vitamins, minerals, yogurt and garlic once a week to clean out the system. I look to see if they have a cold and if they do, that would hinder their performance.” At nights he returns to listen to their breathing. “If they whistling that means they have a respiratory disease and I get rid of them.” After his period of monitoring, training begins. He releases them and allows them to circle his home three or four times. Next, he takes them on a trip to San Fernando, sometimes Icacos. “In the forest I let them go in bunches and then I single toss them. I have a map where I draw a line from Icacos to where I live to determine the flight patterns.” He then returns home, showers and is off to work at Marketing and Distribution where he is Operations Manager/Warehouse. Richard breeds birds for an average speed of 30 yards per minute. The widowing system, a clever “speed enhancing” method where the cocks’ wives are taken away from the loft just before they mate and just prior to a race is often employed. “It’s a form of tabanca because the bird is anxious to get back to his wife so that they can tread,” Richard said. In training, the “rod of discipline” — a three-feet long slender rod is used to hasten the pigeon’s trapping time. When the bird lands he must quickly get into the loft in order to clock his time. “When you teach them to trap as they reach, that will be in their mind for life.”

Richard has bowed out of “serious competition” after “Red Robin TPC 83 1212”, his champion pigeon of the 80s brought him 17 straight wins. “They used to call him the master blaster. When he win they used to say ‘he again’. He went on to win about 50 races, more races than any pigeon in TT. He flew 42 miles, from Toco to Woodbrook in 44 minutes,” Richard said. Red Robin’s rivals of that time were “Home Circle”, “Spotty” and “Venus.” Red Robin’s grandfather was a special gift from Japan given to Richard’s colleague. “When his grandfather was taken to the airport in Japan, he was driven in a limousine.” When Red Robin died (he is believed to have been killed by a cat) we had a wake for him. We buried him under a coconut tree and put the sign RIP, which meant ‘rise if possible.’ Another champion flyer, “754” given to Richard by fellow pigeon fancier Kenny Boodoosingh, has bred winners. 754 no longer races. While Richard still enters races, the real thrill comes from “seeing that pigeon come out of the sky and hit that rap board, dive and gone into that cage. That feeling, you have to be into this to understand how I feel whether the pigeon wins or loses,” Richard said. He’s focused on “getting all pigeon fanciers to work together with the same goal of making this a recognised sport in Trinidad.” Added to that, he’s glad to pass on all his experience to newcomers and help “the losing fanciers become winners.”

I remember, one morning, waking up after I had my third child and screaming. There were three kids on my bed and it dawned on me that they were all mine. My midlife crisis may have officially started then but there were rumblings of it the moment I had left a permanent job and decided to go island hopping.

With no clear idea of where I was going and what I was going to do, my journey into midlife began. Lucky for me, my mate was quite willing to hop on and off planes for a few years in my second quest for identity. I thought that during my adolescent years I had clearly marked a spot for myself in this universe but I soon realised that “Midlife is when you reach the top of the ladder and find that it was against the wrong wall.” Is midlife a midwife waiting wordlessly with a knife while I gnash and gnaw in pain? For some “life begins at forty,” but my colleague Simone said “life begins to end at forty.” Well, for me it both began and ended. It ended because I had to find new things that would have meaning for me, so there goes the old self, and it began because I now begin to create the new me.

This is not an easy task; ask anyone between the ages of 35 to 55 as I did to some of my co-workers. Dominic gave me a list of things midlifers are concerned about, such as health, namely menopause and male impotency; security in marriage and family life; financial growth and retirement plans; job satisfaction and the need perhaps for a change in career; the search for religion or spiritual meaning and the list goes on. Francis was ranting and raving about how he was going to bring up his two young girls in a crime filled world with violence in schools the new modus operandi. And while Harry is always looking to win a lotto to a life of instant retirement, Darrel only said “Midlife crisis? I going through that right now!” It’s comforting to know that I’m not the only one, but it doesn’t ease the pain of trying to get the inches off my waistline or stop the greys from appearing on the sides of my hair. Furthermore, having children in your mid-thirties-thanks to modern lifestyle and late childbearing is not going to help that bumpy ride through those middle years. Let me warn you, I’m going to get  technical for a little while but I’m not panicking.

Writer, Gail Sheehy in her book New Passages writes about midlife being a “second adulthood.” She says that “We all have a second chance at becoming the person we are meant to be” and she sees that journey as one in dangerous territory, where successful transition into the next stage of life is not guaranteed. TS Eliot puts it this way “We had the experience but missed the meaning.” A lot of people run the risk of regression or stagnation by avoiding that trip into individuation and wholeness. You can deny midlife crisis, but you can’t escape it — you can run but you can’t hide — and one writer recommends a roadmap to midlife just as the Americans have a roadmap to peace. Basically it says, know the terrain, understand the destination and have a goal in mind. For my roadmap I like to go to the Orientals in my movement towards nirvana, starting with the Yin and Yang. Yin and Yang energies in the Tao symbol consists of a circle divided into two equal portions, each containing an element of the other, indicating that all of creation is composed of two energies, masculine and feminine, held in harmony and interaction. Hence, by midlife you need to know what energies were undeveloped and begin developing them if you are to become a fully functioning person. In most cases men must come to terms with emotions, vulnerability and needs, while women become more decision and action oriented. Gail Sheehy in Passages calls it the “switch forties.”

The rewards of switching roles are great, in that, the positive anima in males is seen in his patience, tenderness, consideration and compassion and the positive animus in females is portrayed in assertiveness, control, thoughtful rationality and compassionate strength. Of course, there is always the “shadow” which is our unlived life. Carl Jung sees the shadow as the dark and unknown aspects of our personality. Thomas Moore in The Care of the Soul states, “The person we choose to be… automatically creates a dark double —the person we choose not to be.” Robert Louis Stevenson portrays it nicely in the story of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. I like to think of the shadow as the minotaurs in the labyrinth or to put it simply, the demons which plague my existence. For me, there are two ways to deal with them, either slay them or make friends with them whenever they pop up, just like a good teenaged video game. Together with the Yin and Yang and the Shadow in my roadmap to midlife crisis is the Persona. Carl Jung writes “the persona is that which in reality one is not, but which oneself as well as others think one is.” Therefore, the persona refers to that aspect of the ego that we present to the world for its approval, like a mask that we can hide behind. What then is our true identity? This is the million-dollar question of the midlifers.

In theory, if we examine the three items on the roadmap we are supposed to find the “gold” that writer Robert Johnson relates to as our higher calling. He refers to it as the gold that needs to be mined and integrated if the individuation process is to proceed. In practise, this midlife quest resembles the labour a woman undergoes before the umbilical cord is cut by the experienced midwife or the male stress of being husband, father and breadwinner before he deals with these issues. Yet, the best part is to come, now that the old age of youth is over, the youth of old age has stepped in. So you don’t jump as high, skip as fast and you’re breathing hard once you climb a flight of stairs, but chances are if you design and follow a roadmap, something new and exciting might emerge. You may not feel so old again. As for me, I would just like to sleep a couple hours longer on mornings, have someone take the kids out on public holidays and sometimes on Sundays and find some more interesting food to eat. Or maybe, I might just get up one morning and decide to visit another continent.
Whatever it is, midlife is anything but dull.

Renee Cottrell-Brown, who began her illustrious career at Pro-Line Corporation in the 1980s, is a businesswoman whose dedication to hard work has led to her success.  Cottrell-Brown, a dynamic woman, moved up from the ground floor at the company, founded in 1970 by her father Comer J Cottrell Jr, where she held the title of In-Store Merchandiser.

Her outstanding performance helped her get a quick promotion to sales Representative and she eventually moved on to become district manager, director of marketing and senior vice president of marketing and sales.  Cottrell-Brown is the executive vice president of PRO-LINE INTERNATIONAL, an independent business unit of Alberto Culver.  Today PRO-LINE is a force in the global ethnic health and beauty care business and is the second largest company in the category. During her tenure as a senior vice president, Cottrell-Brown gained the necessary knowledge to help make PRO-LINE the largest African-American owned hair care company before its acquisition by Alberto Culver.  She was also instrumental in the implementation and creation of “Just For Me,” one of PRO-LINE’s popular and profitable lines.

Cottrell-Brown is a cum laude graduate of the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles, California. Cottrell-Brown is married to PRO-LINE’s president, Eric V Brown. Together they have two beautiful daughters. Of course, with faith, all things are possible. Eric not only feels truly blessed to have his faith in God and love from his family and friends, but also the strength and determination to strive for excellence. For he truly believes that excellence cannot be given, it can only be achieved. Eric Brown possesses a dynamic style and intuition that has made him an innovator in the inventory and manufacturing systems industry. Now, as president of PRO-LINE International, he is leading a company known for its innovations and successes in the hair care industry. Eric entered the University of Southern California in 1974, with the intention of becoming an electrical engineer. However, after exploring market conditions at that time, he opted for a career in finance. He received his BS Degree in Finance in 1978 and was employed by Positive Systems as programme analyst. What makes this story so remarkable is that Eric has never taken a college course in computers. Almost completely self-taught, he read computer manuals and books while riding the public transportation of Los Angeles to and from school, work and home.

Named to then PRO-LINE Corporation’s board of directors in 1985, he came on board with the company as vice president of finance just one year later. Eric accepted the challenge of working for a successful black-owned business because he could utilise his talents and impact the growth of the company. After being named  vice president of Systems and Planning, he made sure PRO-LINE stayed ahead of its competition by making PRO-LINE the first hair care manufacturing company to take advantage of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and connecting PRO-LINE’s system directly with the system of the customers and vendors. He also introduced PRO-LINE’s competitors who were even using desktop computers. Now PRO-LINE’s sales team uses “PRO-SELL,” a register trademark software programme innovation, designed and developed by Eric. This software not only gives PRO-LINE a competitive sales advantage, but also has spurred a lot of interest to be mass marketed itself. After taking on the position of chief operating officer for two years in 1995, Eric was named president. As president, Eric’s goal is to continue to move the company into the 21st century by using the knowledge he has gained from its founding father, Comer Cottrell, the support of his working partner and wife, Renee, and the dedication of the PRO-LINE family, and employees. The couple’s PRO-LINE innovation has been the key to PRO-LINE’s success and has added to their reputation as the “innovator” in the ethnic hair care industry.

When Eastlynne Greene experienced a severe headache in November of 1995, she was oblivious of any tell tale signs of a total shut down. Like most headaches, the pain went away.

However, six months later, the unthinkable occurred — Eastlynne had slipped into a comatosed condition for three weeks. Later she had learned that a swollen artery (an aneurysm) had ruptured in her brain. “Doctors feared I would not live,” she said. Seven years later, Eastlynne, 50, Acting Administrative Officer V in the Ministry of Local Government, sat down to tell her story. It wasn’t easy for her. Our conversation was punctuated by infrequent sobs. But, she was “happy”, she said, to be alive. She related her experience: “That morning of the sixth (May 1996) I had gone to UWI to speak with the Deputy Director of the Institute of Business to tell him that I was running late with my projects and that I was ready to pay for the course in Human Resource. “After our conversation I just felt dizzy and that was it, I went down. Then I heard the Dep Director tell his secretary to hold me and secure my bag and that he was going for his car. I was later taken to the Port-of-Spain General Hospital.Three weeks later I awoke. I noticed my son at my bedside at the hospital and I started to ask questions. I asked him what had happened, ‘where am I?’ I remembered I was in work clothes so I looked at my feet, looked at my clothes and ah say ‘what is this, a nightie?’ I looked for cuts and I didn’t see any. I didn’t know where I was, didn’t know what I was saying… You know what still bothers me, in the three months that I stayed at the hospital? I couldn’t remember any of the nurses’ names, I didn’t understand anything.”

Prior to her incident, Eastlynne couldn’t remember the last time she had taken a vacation. At the time she was Administrative Officer IV with the Ministry of Works. The holder of a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology, Eastlynne was constantly upgrading her skills, taking additional courses to meet the demands of her job. “I had just completed a diploma in Public Relations. They (my employers) told me to take a few days before I started the course in Human Resource. At that time too, we had started a project with our consultants (accounting firm) to cut back on staff. So they had me and one of my colleagues working on the SCT (Special Compensatory Time) package,” Eastlynne explained. Her mornings began like this: From six in the morning she was already at work. She spent an hour in the office. At eight, she was on the field, then back at the office (Salvatori building at the time) by noon in order to catch meetings with the consultants for 1 pm. Then, she was back at the office to work on the SCT. “They gave me homework too, so when I got home I took about four hours sleep and got up to do that. That took me straight into the morning. I would cook food and was off to work again.” Her always-on-the-go routine lasted for months on end. “The doctors told me I got the aneurysm as a result of stress,” she said.

The ruptured aneurysm impaired her memory, speech, sight and hearing. “The visitors came including, then Minister of Works Mr Sadiq Baksh and I didn’t even know him. Some came out of concern, others out of curiosity.  They wondered why I was at that hospital and not St Ann’s because they say I was talking stupidness. I didn’t know anything that was going on. I would ask for something cold to drink and when the nurses brought it I would say I didn’t ask for that, ‘give me something hot’.” She described her situation as “deathly.” “I was dying,” she said. At the hospital, Eastlynne recalled overhearing conversations in low tones, among the nurses of her severe condition. “The nurses, kept away. They were ‘shoo-shooing’. They didn’t want to tell meh ah was going to have a very critical operation. They were saying I was going to die, because according to them, people don’t live after an artery bursts in their head,” Eastlynne said. After having two CAT scans, Eastlynne was moved to the neurosurgical ward for operation.  “The morning of the operation I prayed. I was watching what the doctors were doing and I noticed Dr Mahadeo, the same doctor who did rounds on the ward, standing outside the room. He was dressed in black and white and I was wondering why he not coming in. Ah say ‘Jesus Lord what I heard last night is like ah going to die.’ Ah started to bawl and cry and then Dr Mahadeo give the nurses a signal. Not too long after I started to feel sleepy. “I later found out that Dr Mahadeo, before operating, always says a prayer, then changes his clothes before he goes into the operating room.”

The surgery was successful. Doctors placed two pins to the front left of her head “to support the artery”, Eastlynne said. “I slept for five days and when I awoke I couldn’t recognise people at all. I couldn’t write. I couldn’t spell, all my senses left me and ah was just breaking down. It was very, very horrible. Ah wouldn’t wish that experience on my worse enemy, and I don’t have enemies.”Weeks later, Eastlynne was discharged from hospital. She couldn’t climb the stairs at home in Tunapuna so she stayed at her friend’s flat in Diego Martin. “I didn’t have pain because of all the medicine, but worse than pain was being fearful that I wouldn’t speak or recognise people again.” Months later, she began to see improvements. At the end of 20 months, Eastlynne was back out to work. She was transferred to the Ministry of Local Government where she has been for two years. Her charge includes the Accounts Department and General Administration. She said: “Now I feel physically and mentally okay but my speech is not up to par, the doctor said that it would never come back to its full strength. He said I’m in clinic for life. He said that if I survived seven years later, then I have many more ahead of me.” She must incorporate in her exercise programme brisk walking or swimming, though. “Life has changed. I can’t go to the Oval for cricket because ah used to rant and rave. The heat of the sun is too much so I have two to three fans in each room of my house. I’m putting in an air-condition unit. I have to wait until the sun goes down before I leave work for home.” She added: “Before I didn’t know about God, I didn’t want to know, but now I’m very spiritual. Somebody told me that I should’ve died but that it’s a spiritual thing that I’m alive.”

Many of us would have heard these words, “Be yourself,” and “Don’t follow the crowd.”

Cyclist/producer Azikiwe “ZZ” Kellar heard them too, however, he actually listened. “Due to my success in cycling, I had people looking up to me from a very young age, so I had to be me, I couldn’t afford to be a follower,” said Kellar. While many 13-year-olds were playing video games, he was on his way to becoming Tiny Mite Champion. He didn’t have those arguments that many 15-year-olds have with parents about liming late or going to parties. ZZ was more concerned about winning the Juvenile Pursuit Championship.

While many 17-year-olds were more inclined to join gangs of miscreants, he joined the Trinidad and Tobago national cycling team. “For the past three years, I’ve been the fastest man on a bike in Trinidad,” said the reigning national 200 metre sprint champion. He clocked 11.5 seconds in this year’s event. After graduating from St Mary’s College, ZZ charted his own course. In addition to his cycling accolades he has become a nationally recognised  music producer. The eclectic and customarily jovial 26-year-old said: “Music moved me in a manner different to other people — the beats, the lyrics. I always thought that I could do what those artistes were doing.” He invested time and money into building a professional studio and has become an artiste/producer who has worked with prominent local artistes including Ataklan, Brother Resistance, Maximus Dan, Sef Gaine$$, Levi Meyers (son of the late Nappy Meyers), 3 Canal and Black Lyrics. He creates beats of an extraordinarily diverse nature. From rap to kaiso, from rapso to reggae, upbeat to serene, basic to complex. He combines this with his talent as a producer to blend instruments with vocals in a congruent mix. Speaking about his passion for music, he said: “Music is something that has a life of its own, if it is in you, you simply have to let it out.”

ZZ is currently working with various artistes and a Canadian contact in forming the “Rebel Ground Sounds” record label. Kellar is a deviation from the norm, who condemns many traditional ways of thinking. “I don’t see it necessary to work an eight to four job.  Even though you tend to get the most money it takes away from family life,” said Kellar. “The matrix says that what we need is money, but too much of one thing is good for nothing, people working and hustling for 40 years, they get money but they regret their lives, then they die!” Kellar exclaimed. He condemned the creation of a person’s identity by prevailing standards saying, “what they need to do is find themselves, and stop trying to be what others want them to be.” He continued, “everybody wants certain things in life and these put people under unnecessary pressure. I don’t dwell on expectations and what people think, I have pride but I don’t put enough pressure on myself to kill my smile.”

He credits the discipline gained from his participation in sport as one of the greatest positive forces in his life. “It didn’t dawn on me until my early 20’s that if I wasn’t cycling I’d be like one of those fellas looking to crash cars, show off clothes, and trying to be the best at that rather than being the best at something substantial. That discipline led to every other positive thing in my whole life,” said the focused Kellar. He was quick to point out the contribution of his family in supporting his endeavours in life. “They just support me, because they not reproachful at all, it’s more like a friendship. It’s a love no matter what.” So what are ZZ’s goals in life? A nice car, or a big house maybe? NO! “What I really want to do is make it to the Olympics next year and win a gold medal,” he said. “My ultimate goal however is  to do what I enjoy until I die, whatever it is. If I could always be me, I’ll be happy by making others happy.”

Having taken the crown at the popular pichakaree competition in 2001 and having reached the finals of the Young Kings Calypso competition during February of 2003, Mukesh Babooram, 45, of Henry Street, Orange Valley, Couva has made a name for himself in the field of local composition and singing. He is now one of the most sort after composers in the chutney and calypso world. He won the Best pichakaree at the radio 103 FM’s Hall of Fame in 2002. After this win he was contracted on a weekly basis to sing extempo in Anil Bheem’s programme, “Catch the Rhythms.” 

Speaking from his home, which is just a stone’s throw away from the sea at Orange Valley, where one can hear the waves of the ocean nearby and feel the sea breeze as it blows through the quiet village, Mukesh, who is always dressed in a simple jeans and T-shirt was in a good mood to talk. He said that he started singing at age 32. “I could no longer sit idle by and look at the chutney composers sing two lines, which they constantly keep repeating. They just lack the ability to hit on the real issues of the day. I had to take to the stage and give some strong lyrics,” he said. Although he did not have a good voice for the stage his strong conviction for voicing the issues propelled him to record his composition. He noted that while most of the East Indian-based singers choose to sing songs that either are vulgar or entertaining he had to look at the real issues and sing about them. “For many years the Afro-Trinidadian calypsonians sang against the East Indian communities and no one dared to reply to them. It was under the banner of pichakaree that the Indo-Trinidadians singers had the opportunity to reply to the singers who have been degrading members of the East Indian communities for many years,” he said.

During this year’s Carnival season, Mukesh followed a hectic schedule with the new south based tent where he travelled to 30 venues throughout the country singing his calpysos. He was chosen to sing in Yangatang tent as well. It was while singing with Yangatang, he was selected for the Young King competition. However, it was while on the Young King’s stage he was exposed to the harsh reality that an Indo-calypsonian must limit the lyrics to suit the audience. “I had two songs that were well received in the south tent. Yet it could not score in the north,” he told People. His tunes, “This Year Ah Fighting Back” and “Time To Heal” spoke about the present political climate where the PNM won the elections and where the UNC had to settle for the loss. Commenting on the fact that Calyponians, Ricky Jai, Denyse Plummer and Drupatie Ramgoonai have all made inroads in the calypso arena he said that these artistes dare not sing about politics or against the PNM. They are limited. “Drupatie is accepted because she sings about her Nani and her Hot Chulha. Ricky Jai has to sing about the river lime and talk about the unity with Stalin in order to be accepted. Denyse Plummer had to wear her rasta hair in order to be accepted by the public. I choose to sing about the real issues that is affecting me as a citizen of this country. And I cannot do it. And this is just not accepted,” he said in an angry voice.

On the issue of government neglecting the chutney artistes while pumping large sums of money in the calypso arena, he said that the chutney artistes cannot be compared to the calypsonians because of the mere fact that they do not compose songs that carry long messages that will reach out to the people. He noted that the chutney artistes must get their act together in order to be recognised by the government. He noted also that the government should pump more funds into the whole aspect of Indian culture — in Ramleela, Phagwa, Classical singing and Tassa Drumming.  He noted also that as a Trinidadian he does not have to beg anyone to look at East Indian culture. Instead this East Indian culture, which more than 500,000 people follow in this country, is part of the culture of TT. Mukesh noted that he loves to listen to the voice of Kishore Kumar of India. For him sadness and happiness are temporary and these emotions should be worked out within the human system. “I find the answer to life’s most complicated questions within my own person. I search for the answers whenever I am faced with difficulty and I get the answer that I am looking for,” he said. His parents Seeram Babooram and Rowtie Seeram supports him 100 percent. However they are worried about him when he goes to sing the hard hitting political lyrics. “My mothers always warns me, saying to be careful. It is almost as if I am going out on a battlefield,” he said. Mukesh said he would like to marry and settle down to writing lyrics for the upcoming singers.