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Former Member
GROWING up in the rice planting plains of rustic Leguana in Guyana, life for Guyanese Churaumanie Bissundyal was full of challenges and an endless struggle to make ends meet.

Despite many shortfalls in his childhood, hard work and determination has made him one of the most celebrated writers in the Caribbean.

And decades of linguistic experience culminated into a once in a lifetime opportunity for Dr Bissundyal to visit Fiji after he secured the position as a visiting professor at the Fiji National University's Natabua campus.

He works in the drama department.

"I have travelled various parts of the world but I spent over 20 years living and studying in the United States and completed my masters and PhD," the 65-year-old says.

"Being a writer, I wanted to make a contribution towards teaching so planned to go back to the Caribbean to teach. However, I was very intrigued by the Pacific."

Initially, he was to start teaching at the University of West Indies but he made the decision to teach in Fiji.

"When I came here, I found Fiji to be very close to the Caribbean as it had the same people and culture. The landscape is also really amazing. For me, it was hard to adjust to the weather."

As a teacher, he keeps reminding his students about capitalising on opportunities to prosper.

Having been born in a household of six brothers and sisters with labourers for parents, Dr Bissundyal says life was far from rosy.

"We had to work very hard because my family was very poor. We had to work on the rice field and then go to school.

"Most of my friends ended up in the rice field and I said to myself that I would not end up there. We did not have electricity.

"Even though we were poor, my family and I were happy. Easter was one of the best times as I used to fly kites a lot with my friends. Since Guyana has various religious groups, we celebrated all festivals despite the religion we followed."

After making a career out of his pen, Dr Bissundyal led a successful life in New York.

While Fiji's tropical and laid back lifestyle is a completely different scenario compared with the hustle and bustle of the City that Never Sleeps, he has had no qualms about settling here.

According to Dr Bissundyal, life in the Caribbean was a calypso of cultures.

"We have a huge Indian population and people have kept their major traditional festivals like Diwali, Ram Naumi and Holi.

"Life in the Caribbean is very open and people are very extroverted. It is very similar to Fiji."

He said when Indians and Africans were brought to Guyana by the British to work on farms, some people lost their culture in the process.

According to Dr Bissundyal, language was one of the aspects affected by the change.

Inspired by his grandparents, who were Brahmins and studied the ancient Hindu scriptures, Dr Bissundyal also took up Sanskrit in university in an effort to learn his native language.

In doing so, he has published a wide range of poems and novels as well.

And Fiji, he says, is an incredible pot of melting cultures where people have preserved their culture and traditions beyond measure.

In fact, he has been so inspired by Fijians that he plans to write a novel on Fiji in the near future.

"I am very much inspired with life here because it is a very beautiful country."

http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=304932

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