On one of those occasions he played cricket in our backyard with me and a few friends. I don’t think that he was very athletic. There was another time when he shouted at some boys from the neighbouring village; they had done something to upset me.
| My father, Elijah Dadhibal, was born in August, 1901 at No. 22 Village (Bel Air) on the West Coast of Berbice in Guyana. He was the fifth of nine children of John Babu and Mahadei Lachmansingh. He had four sisters: Ruth Phulmat Rachpaul, Beatrice Bankay, Silkoar Mohabir, and Miriam (Bayba) Persaud and four brothers: Joseph Pariag, Joshua Ramjeet, Sarabjeet and Samuel Maila Balish (Bally). I know very little of Daddy’s youth and cannot remember him telling me about it. I believe he attended primary school at Hopetown and was there for about four or five years. Most of his youth was spent at Bush Lot Village. He did not have much time for sports or games but was busy with household duties. According to Jacob Bowman, a boyhood friend, Daddy did have a girl friend when he was a teenager. |
To his brothers, sisters, peers and friends he was known as Dadhi or Dadhibal. Nephews, nieces and other relatives called him Uncle Dadhi. He was about 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighed 150 pounds. I cannot remember ever seeing him doing any heavy physical work.
His marriage to my mother took place at De Hoop on July 12, 1920 when he was approaching nineteen years. Ma was nearly seventeen. It was a marriage which was arranged by the Presbyterian Church. Both sides of the family were originally Hindus but were converted to Christianity by Canadian missionaries. The young couple lived with his parents at Bush Lot. It was a difficult period for them because Daddy worked for his father and did not receive an income. He was totally dependent on his parents. My mother found it tough coping with her in- laws, as well as other family members who lived in the same household. When my uncle Joseph (J. P.), a Headmaster of a primary school, left Guyana to study medicine at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, he received financial support from family members. My uncle was 30 years old and had his family with him. This was indeed a major step for my uncle because he was leaving Guyana with no Science background. I was told that it was a major struggle for him and his family.
Eventually Daddy owned a few cows, a mule, a donkey and cart and worked for his brother-in-law Soloman Bankay transporting paddy (hulled rice). The cows were gifts from Ma’s relatives in De Hoop. I was told that he was asthmatic and found it difficult to do strenuous physical work. When my uncle completed his medical studies, he opened Farmer’s Dairy and several Drug Stores in Georgetown and employed some of his relatives to manage the Drug Stores--Regent Pharmacy (Daddy), Stobroek Market Drug Store (Amos Bankay, a cousin), Croal’s Drug Store ( Lionel, my brother), Kitty Market Drug Store (Walter Bankay, a cousin), and Bourda Market Drug Store. I am not sure as to how much training Daddy received but it must have been on the job. He credited the Chemist and Druggist with a lot of help. With a limited Primary School education, Daddy had to learn the Drug Store business, manage it and keep the books.
He lived with my uncle at the corner of James Street and La Penitence Road, next to La Penitence Market. I remember spending a week with Daddy in Georgetown. I travelled from Bush Lot on the milk truck with Uncle Joe. Milk was shipped daily from Abary Bridge to Georgetown. The milk was collected by launch from dairy farmers along the Abary Creek. It was put on the milk truck for shipment to Farmer’s Dairy. Farmer’s Dairy produced ghee (a product similar to butter, but which does not get rancid) for sale in Guyana and Trinidad. During the Second World War, American soldiers were stationed in Guyana and they frequented Farmer’s Dairy for their ice cream and milk shake. Farmer’s Dairy was located next to Regent Pharmacy on Regent Street between Camp and Wellington Streets. It was also owned by Dr. J P Lachmansingh. I feel that my uncle’s stay in Canada influenced his business interests.
Once Daddy was given a special assignment relating to my uncle’s Dairy Business in the Abary Creek. When he was there he became a participant in a scuffle between some of our relatives and their neighbours, the Kadar family. There was a quarrel between the two parties over cattle straying in each other’s property. Daddy suffered a few bruises in the face. Fortunately, the incident was not very serious.
Daddy’s working day at Regent Pharmacy was quite long; the store was open from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.. It was closed on Wednesdays and Sundays from noon to 6 p.m. He also had a long walk between Regent Street and La Penitence Road each morning and evening. When rain fell he was delayed for hours; a heavy downpour is quite common in Guyana. One Sunday evening, when I was visiting Daddy during our school holidays, he took me to my first movie at Metropole Cinema and I had my first taste of ice cream. It was a wonderful treat. I was about eight at the time and found it difficult to read the scripts on the screen. On another occasion Daddy gave me six cents which was stolen by a boy from the neighbourhood. I was a country boy unfamiliar with city life.
One night in 1944, there was a lot of excitement in my uncle’s home. The world heavyweight boxing championship was being broadcast over the radio. Joe Louis was defending his belt against Billy Conn. It was one of the few times that I did see my uncle and he was as excited as the others. At that time I realised how similar his voice was to Daddy’s. On other occasions I found it difficult to distinguish their voices.
In 1948 our family moved from Bush Lot to Robb and Cummings Streets in Georgetown. The home was owned by my uncle and we paid no rent. Daddy, my brother Reuben and I took our lunch at the back of Regent Pharmacy. A popular record which was played over the local radio station at that time was by Freddie Martin and his orchestra. Whenever I hear that recording my thoughts always wander off to those days.
One of the most stressful times in Daddy’s life was in 1950 when he was fired from his job as Manager of Regent Pharmacy. We were quite surprised to see him home in the middle of the day. He was too upset to speak. All he did was to show us the letter of dismissal. It was a family crisis and our faces reflected our shock. Daddy was forty-nine at the time and did not have any savings in the bank. How could he when he only earned $12 per week and had a large family to support? He trusted his brother who conned his relatives into believing that he was going to leave part of his estate for his relatives who had worked for him. It would appear that my uncle was upset when he heard that Daddy was planning to open a small Drug Store for my brother Clement. Clement had completed High School and did not have a job at that time. Instead of approaching Daddy to voice his displeasure, my uncle sent the letter of dismissal with a cousin.
I often wonder about the relationship between my father and his brother when they were youngsters. I always heard Daddy referring to him as The Doctor. When they spoke it was always about business. It seemed that Daddy was in awe of him. My uncle never made a social visit to any of his relatives. His life was taken up with his medical practice, business and subsequently with Politics. He headed the Guyana Industrial Worker’s Union (G.I.W.U.) which called a major strike in the sugar industry. It seemed ironical to our family that my uncle was fighting for better working conditions for the sugar workers when he was underpaying his own employees. In 1952-53 he was a Minister of the Government of Guyana with the People’s Progressive Party under Dr. Cheddi Jagan.
In the family discussions which followed Daddy’s dismissal, it was decided that Daddy would go ahead with plans for opening the Drug Store. He got a sympathetic ear for credit from a few business owners such as Lance Rayman of Rayman’s Drug Store, Braithwaite & Co. and Booker’s Drug Store. My brother Lionel, who had received a similar fate earlier, when he opened a store, was a great help to Daddy. Through Lionel, Daddy was able to rent the premises at 5 Camp Street (between D’Urban and Norton Streets) from Mrs. Daniels for $30 per month. Lachmansingh’s Drug Store was opened in 1950 with the minimum of fittings--one set of back shelves, a counter and one show case. I can still remember the smell of fresh paint on opening day. Activity was very slow but Daddy was cautiously optimistic. The total sales on the opening day was $14. Our family stuck together and all of us chipped in to help. I worked all day Saturday and on Sunday mornings. The business gradually expanded.
When we vacated our uncle’s home at Robb and Cummings Streets, we moved to the upstairs of a rented house at Broad and Lyng Streets. It was a smaller home but we had no alternative. Daddy continued to work the same hours as at Regent Pharmacy. He took his lunch and supper at the back of the store. He walked home each evening and took all the notes from the day’s sales. No one ever robbed him. Those were the good old days!
The year 1955 was an eventful year for our family. Daddy bought Lou-Hings Drug Store at Camp and Norton Streets. It became Lachmansingh’s Drug Service. It was a large store with attractive show cases, a phone and with large living quarters upstairs. It was the first time that we would have a phone in our store and home. I was extremely happy.
Shortly after, Daddy had surgery to correct a hernia but unfortunately the nerves controlling his abdominal muscles were paralysed as a result of the anesthetic. The doctors had erred. For the rest of his life he had to take large doses of laxatives twice per week. This seriously affected his health. He worked many hours each day and never did any exercise. I feel that this contributed to his heart condition.
In 1961, I planned on a trip home to Guyana. I was in my third year at Ontario Agricultural College in Guelph. A College friend, Wayne Stinson, was to accompany me to Guyana. We looked forward to the trip. About three weeks prior to our flight I received the sad news by telegram. Daddy suffered a heart attack and passed away; he was a month short of his 60th birthday. It came as a serious shock to me. I had to act very quickly. Wayne Stinson was very disappointed but he understood the circumstances. I flew home to a distraught family.
I have many fond memories of my father. I remember Daddy as being quiet and soft spoken. He had a gentle manner and my brothers, sisters and I found it easy to talk to him. We had a lot of affection for him and he was adored by his grandchildren. He was proud of my achievement at school and he showered compliments when he introduced me to his friends and customers. He tended to be on the conservative side in his personal life and in business. I cannot remember him ever taking a holiday. The Drug Store was an integral part of his life.
Daddy took a lot of pride in his work. This was especially evident when he was gift wrapping or was dressing a cut and putting a bandage over it. He was very meticulous and neat in everything he did. He had very good handwriting. He was always courteous and he was liked by his customers. I have a feeling that he was colour blind because he had difficulty selecting thread to match different colours of cloth. He used to ask someone in the store to make the selection for him.
For many years he was not on speaking terms with his brother Dr. J P Lachmansingh. At one time the latter lived only a block away from us. I was told that in 1960 when my uncle was seriously ill, Daddy did visit him at the hospital.
Daddy was not treated well by his parents but I cannot remember him talking about it. He did not even inherit the little that they did leave for him in their will. I feel that because of his hurt he did not wish to be buried in his home village of Bush Lot. He and my mother are both buried at Le Repentir Cemetery in Georgetown.
