BOOK REVIEWS: AUTHORSHIP AND ARTISTRY OF TWO OF OUR GRADS

“Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man” By Sir Francis Bacon, and a frequent quote by Mr.Cecil A.Parkinson,my former 6A French teacher at CHS.

CHS-JCCSS has produced its share of “exact men”, among them are Chaitram Singh and Ronan Blaze. Both Chaitram Singh and Ronan Blaze have such vivid imagination, resourcefulness and articulation  as reflected in their books written and published. Chaitram wrote “The Flour Convoy”, a book that all should read, savour and digest. A book that will hold your interest from the beginning to the end. I thought that it would be a good idea to wet your appetite with a synopsis.

“Set in Guyana in the early 1980’s, The Flour Convoy follows the struggle of an army captain to free himself from the web of corruption and ballot tampering in which he becomes ensnared. The novel gets its name from a failed attempt to smuggle contraband flour into the country during a time of extreme food shortages.

This work of fiction gives its reader a deep glimpse into the nature of an authoritarian regime, its repressive and predatory disposition towards its own people, and its use of military or paramilitary organizations to serve its sinister ends. The Flour Convoy is an insider’s view of the role of the military in buttressing that type of authoritarian regime, and it attempts to disentangle the strands of the sordid symbiosis that sustained their mutual survival”

Chait’s other book on “Guyana” examines the politics and Government of Guyana from World War 11 to the present. He has ably describes the downfall of a nation which, when it became independent in 1966, had good prospects, ample resources, and a relatively educated population. He examines how a liberal democracy succumbed to authoritarian tendencies, resulting in a de facto one-party. Chait went on to demonstrate how economic development became a casualty of over-centralized political and economic decision. He argues that the persistence of underdevelopment in ex-colonies such as Guyana is traceable to domestic causes.

A REVIEW OF “THE FLOUR CONVOY” – A NOVEL BY CHAITRAM SINGH (Class of 1966)

REVIEWER: Dr. Indradat “AK” Jagnandan (Class of 1966)

At first, I did not feel like reading a novel. By habit and line of work, I am used to reading abstracts or technical papers on fact and so I was reluctant to read a fiction. I held the book and sized it by its weight then I looked at the number of pages and I thought 343 pages will be a challenge. I also thought ‘what could Chait write about Guyana that I did not already know?’.

Well I was in for a treat. First, I was taken by surprise that it started with people talking and right away I thought Chait’s strategy in choosing this style was to reveal the declining economic situation, corruption and political intrigue through conversations, which he did.

Then I got a “ring side’ seat at observing how the army, police and government operated and how the big ones swindled the government and bend the rules to line their own pockets. As it got past 75 pages or so, it became like a ball-by-ball commentary that you want to stay connected to i.e. the setting keep changing with continuous commentary of the various familiar but forgotten landmarks (and how it felt), village-by-village, all the way from Timehri to Skeldon. There were so many other significant events occurring in the background – the strikes, the scabs, sabotage, protests, intimidations, beatings, contraband smuggling, democracy subverted that made me say “wait a minute, I remember hearing of these, these things were true, this is not a fiction, only the names have been changed”.  When the plot escalated to the Prime Minister level it, I was so engrossed that I read the last 150 pages in a day!!

I think this book could be translated into a real good movie by amplifying various scenery and to give historical context to those events that struck fear, tension and protests as a backdrop. It reminded me of the “Godfather” … people of the US knew exactly the mafia families the book was referring to and that helped to hold their interest all through the sequels.

Chait made some useful observations in the army and the book served to bring these out. I did not see any bias of race, politics or religion in the book. A lot of humor, a bit of Guyanese cussing and references to the hot calypsos of the day, make you think you are part of the scene. If you have not read it, you should.

Indradat “AK’ Jagnandan

AK Jagnandan(referred to at CHS as Sharma) from Bloomfield, was also a teacher at CHS in 1975-76 and was involved with fellow CHS teachers and students in successful action against the government for freedom to have religious societies in schools. He completed his PhD at Rutgers University in 1982 and has since been engaged at various levels in Pharmaceutical Research and Development at Schering-Plough Corporation,NJ.

 E-mail indradat.jagnandan@spcorp.com