Chapter XX A Prime Minister's Highway
On 28th July Robinson
invited me for a luncheon meeting after which I drove him to the Parkway. Quite
bewildered was he to observe that the first stretch of the Parkway was
completed and when some workmen cheered him, he felt elated and expressed his
desire to open the stretch himself with an appropriate ceremony. I saw no
problem with that and undertook to inform the Works Minister, Hugh Francis, of
the proposed arrangements.
With General Elections due before
the end of the year, Hugh Francis was not about to let Robinson steal any
limelight from the Parkway.
‘Who is Robinson to open the
Parkway?’ Francis asked me belligerently.
‘Chairman, Tobago House of
Assembly’, I revealed to him.
‘You are playing politics,
Colonel’, he accused.
‘I am innocent of this art’, I confessed
but stopped short of saying ‘and the art of smuggling’. He declared he “did not
want Robinson to even visit ‘his’ project much less open any stretch of it. I
was happy to hear that the Project was ‘his’ and bombarded him with the
problems facing the Parkway – quarrying, explosives and relocation of houses in
the Right-of-way. Francis responded he would get the answers from his cabinet
colleagues. But he reiterated that Robinson should be kept away from the
Parkway while he (Francis) decides on the official opening of the Parkway much
in the manner of Field Marshal Montgomery demanding that General Bradley’s Army
be kept grounded while the Field Marshal makes a dash for Germany’s
capture during World War II. Eventually both Francis and Robinson would be
involved in opening other sections of the Parkway just as both Montgomery and
Bradley would be involved in the surrender of Germany.
......
One cool night in September
Claude Noel of Tobago became winner of the
World Light Weight Boxing title. Prime Minister Chambers seized the opportunity
to make Noel immortal and perhaps gain some votes for his party in the
forthcoming elections by renaming Scarborough
Parkway as Claude Noel Highway and personally
coming to Tobago to witness cutting of the
ribbon of the first stretch of the Highway by Claude Noel himself. Several
members of the Chambers cabinet, Hugh Francis and Marilyn Gordon among them,
were invited to the Ceremony but Robinson was not. Chambers did not make a
speech – he just saw. After the official opening I invited the visitors to
drive along the unfinished portion of the Highway to see the progress of the
work. Enroute the Party stopped at Lambeau Lookout that had been created during
the excavation works, for the enjoyment of the traveling public. I had
organized some champagne there to celebrate the occasion. The Ministers were
quite uninhibited after a few glasses and quite openly, and almost within
hearing of the Prime Minister, one Minister chastised another for making a
none-too-wise remark thus, “Now you are talking like Chambers”. No wonder
Chambers cultivated the habit of remaining silent.
Chapter XXII - Disappearances at Varanasi and Bangalore
Dawn was now breaking into a cool
morning and a lovely sunrise filled me with an aura of spirituality. I rented a
boat and took video pictures of the Sunrise and
the Ghats while the oarman rowed on. At the
Cremation ghats a couple of corpses were slowly smoldering on their neat little
oblong pyres. A little further on a row of holy men was meditating in Padmasan
on a narrow ledge of masonry just above the water. It was the Lord Krishna
himself who, in the Bhagwat Gita, prescribed:
In a clean spot having firmly placed his
seat with Kusa grass, a deerskin and a cloth spread thereon one below another,
neither very high nor very low, and sitting on that seat, concentrating the
mind and controlling the functions of the mind and the senses, he should
practice Yoga for self-purification. Keeping the trunk, head and neck straight
and steady, remaining firm and looking at the tip of his nose, without looking
in other directions, pledged to the vow of continence and fearless, keeping
himself perfectly calm and with the mind thoroughly brought under control and
fixed on Me, the vigilant Yogi should sit absorbed in Me. That Yogi attains the
lasting peace, consisting of supreme bliss.
This simple method has not been
improved on in the last 4000 years. One holy man got up after meditating and
walked away half-smiling. I, also,
would like to look and smile and sit and walk like that, so free, so worthy, so
restrained, so candid, so childlike and so mysterious. A man only looks like
that and walks like that when he has conquered his Self. I also will conquer my
Self one day.
Chapter XXIV - Of Prime Ministers, Sex scandals and a Convocation
On 1st September 1983
an Indian satellite was launched into space for weather forecasting among other
things. By a coincidence the new Indian High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago, Placido D’Souza, launched
himself into Tobago that day for political
forecasting. As arranged by me earlier at his request, I drove him straight
from the airport to call on Mr. Robinson. During our drive D’Souza explained
that he was hastening to call on the Chairman because from his reading of the
politics of the Country, Robinson was going to be the next Prime Minister! I
told him he should go slowly in his forecasts for he had been in the country
for hardly four weeks. I, on the other hand, had lived here for eight years. I
had him know that, far from aspiring to be the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Robinson had been talking
about independence of Tobago lately. D’Souza
smiled as only an Indian Foreign Service officer does at an Indian Army
Officer’s deep insight into things political.
Robinson received D’Souza with
great dignity and grace. He opened a bottle of white wine - of which I
thoroughly approved – and consumed most of it. Ever looking at the future,
D’Souza mentioned that Prime Minister Chambers was expected to visit India
later in the year to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Conference and
perhaps a return visit from the Indian Prime Minister could be arranged when
Mr. Gandhi came to this hemisphere next. Quite surprised I was to hear
Robinson: The climate was not right for India’s Prime Minister to visit the
Country. Both our countries have much to learn from each other and the visit
would be more fruitful if it took place after the next General Elections in Trinidad and Tobago
which might be sooner rather than later. That certainly was an articulation of
a Prime Minister-to-be.
Chapter XXV - A National Triumph
In such unhappy times no speech
writers were required by President Ellis Clarke (I doubt if he needed them for
some of his other speeches either) when he came to open the Claude Noel Highway
on 15th May 1984 and addressed the gathering:
Completion of Claude Noel Highway was
one bit of good news in an ocean of bad news. It was clear evidence that the
country can succeed if it does not lose faith in its ability to succeed. What
more do we want to prove to ourselves that we can do the job if we get down do
it?
ANR Robinson described completion
of the Claude Noel Highway with neither cost nor time over-run as ‘a national
triumph’. He mused, ‘this must be a unique record for a project of this nature
at this time in our twin-island Republic’. He told the President, ‘It is a
demonstration to all the people of whom you are the President, that given the
right conditions, they can match their achievements of any people in our part
of the world. I am sure you will agree that such good work is deserving of more
and that a community that can utilize public funds so admirably should have its
just reward.’
The Claude Noel Highway project,
Robinson said, started from very poor and inauspicious beginnings but turned
out to be a spectacular success. He gave three reasons for the success:
- A
competent manager and technicians in residence being allowed to get on
with the job with no political interference whatever by the Tobago House
of Assembly.
- Fullest
on-the-spot co-ordination of the work of the various agencies involved in
the project.
- Co-operation,
patience and understanding from the population at large and especially
from those who have suffered deprivation of their lands for several years
without compensation.
- Robinson said special mention
must be made of the Project Director, Colonel Mahendra Mathur ‘who has combined
a tough and agile mind with diplomatic skills that has proved invaluable in extremely
difficult situations.’ That is the way it was for me in Tobago.
I got the first prize for a review of Naipaul’s book ‘A House for Mr. Biswas’
from the Scarborough Library because there was no second entry and my mind got
called “tough and agile” by the Chairman because there were no other minds
engaged on road construction at that time. Three years and a few million
dollars expenditure had only resulted in the worsening of Shirvan Road, which was being
reconstructed by Works Division then.
Hugh Francis praised the
contractors, Seereeram Brothers, for their outstanding performance but stressed
that it was his Ministry that had been instrumental in placing the
responsibility under the Assembly. ‘This was an indication that the
relationship between the Works Ministry and the Assembly had always been
cordial and one of co-operation at all times’, he surmised. According to
Francis, this was the kind of co-operation that should always exist between the
twin-islands of the Republic and the presence of President Clarke at the
proceedings was a further indication of the spirit of co-operation which ‘lends
lie to all those who try to separate us.’ The Works Minister also commended the
Project Director, Colonel Mahendra Mathur of India, who he said had ‘come from
outside and blended so well that one cannot tell the difference until it could
be said he has acquired honorary citizenship’.
Chapter XXVI - My Two Daughters and other Hilarities
My youngest daughter Rashmi was
good at science and Mathematics and I dreamt of her becoming a nuclear
scientist one day. As she prepared to write her ‘O’ Level examinations in 1983,
I sent her application for admissin to Eastbourne Girls School in England for
‘A’ Level studies from where she could apply for admission to a B.Sc. course in
Nuclear Engineering. But Rashmi had other ideas. Her sister, Ira, was already a
student in Canada
and that is where she wanted to go too. In her own inimitable style one day she
mentioned that in her circle of friends those fathers are being applauded who
are sending their daughters to Alma College in Ontario,
Canada. I
caught the infection. It would also save her a year for she would be eligible
to attend an undergraduate course at a University just after one year at Grade
13. Zia said I was making a mistake by tearing away the girls from her and
spending all my savings on education away from home. “The girls would probably
end up marrying in foreign culture too”, she teased me.
All things considered, I chose
for my daughters what was best, or, at least, what I believed to be best for
them. I could have wished, and still wish, that I had been reared and brought
up as they have been. The only ‘culture’ that I passed on to them was a copy of
Rajgopalachari’s Bhagwat Gita each, a book that had played a great part in my
development since I myself began my undergraduate studies. Essence of the Gita was,
I told them, ‘Meditate regularly and work for the good of the world’.
Chapter XXVII - Almost like Hurricane Flora in 1963
Chairman Robinson was also
pleased to throw a victory party at Hotel Caribana on 20th December
that Zia could not attend because of her migraine and at which I was late in
presenting myself. When I reached drinks were flowing and couples were dancing
to tunes of a live band. From the bar I rather fancied a pretty girl who was
dancing merrily with Robinson. With the best of available talent already taken
I was content with my scotch and soda. When the band took a break Ray Robinson,
who was also there without his wife, came towards the bar and remarked, ‘Colonel,
you are not dancing at all’. Even on social occasions he insisted on addressing
me as ‘Colonel’. I told him the truth – it was his partner that I wanted to
dance with or dance not at all. His gesture implied I had some competition on
my hands.
......
Eighty-eight landslides at Parlatuvier-Moriah Road were on my hands
when unprecedented heavy showers inundated Tobago
for five days in December. “Not even the old folks remembered when last there
was a similar occurrence’, reported the Express. On visiting the site I found
the very first landslide was so massive that it would take days to clear from
our own resources. I immediately marshaled all the earth moving equipment in
the island – from the contractors and state departments – and set it to work
round the clock to clear the landslides by the leapfrog method in the mould of
the strategy used by General MacArthur to reconquer the Philippine islands
during World War II.
No sooner had I informed ANR
Robinson of the situation and the remedial measures in train that he expressed
his wish to visit the site himself. Next morning when I went to pick him up he
said that he would rather go in his own jeep that was painted bright yellow and
was more “visible” and that he would like me to drive him. With my own jeep
trailing us we drove to see the devastation. His immediate reaction was to
summon the Coast Guard and the Army for rescue operations; but I told him to
call them only if our own efforts failed. Nonetheless he was very indignant
that nobody from Trinidad had offered any
help.
On the return journey Robinson
commended me for the rapid response to the disaster. Success in projects that I
had tackled and his praise went to my head. And I made bold to boast that I
would change the face of Tobago in the next
two years if I was given a free hand and “would he please remove Hochoy Charles
from the Works Division and let me work directly under the Chairman himself”?
He listened, he pondered, he smiled, but he uttered not a word and stuck to his
traditional indecisiveness. I took that to mean: “I cannot remove him due to
political reasons, but you go ahead and do your thing”. And so I did.
,,,,,
To inspect the quality of work done
by the National Housing Authority at Bon Accord in the sphere of drainage and
sewage, the inhabitants invited Chairman Robinson and me to visit the area
sometime in May 1985. It was while I was trying to figure out the solution to
flooding caused by insufficient work done at the time of building the housing
colony that some locals addressed Robinson as Prime Minister. From then on
Robinson looked and acted every inch as Prime Minister. No more did he appear
indecisive. He was earnest whenever he spoke on any national subject and
wherever he went he was genuine. Soon the whole country saw him as the Prime
Minister in waiting.
The project of Shirvan Road had been in execution for
almost five years and there was a distinct possibility that at the rate the work
was going it would take another five years to complete it. This work was given
out on contract by me and for the residents of the area it appeared to be
miraculous when it was completed at the end of July 1985.
‘The project’, explained Chairman
Robinson after his usual rhetoric about me, ‘took place in the context of the
Assembly’s 10-year development plan which embodied an orderly approach to the
development of Tobago, with priorities
established so that they can be achieved’. ‘Tobago
may be regarded by some as being some place behind God’s back. But slowly we
are moving before God’s face’, he declared.
Chapter XXVIII - In the Interest of my Children
The convocation at the Trent University
was a colourful open-air affair. There were the usual speeches by the Vice Chancellor
and the chief guest, and after the ceremony students and professors chatted in
a nostalgic manner. But I was a combination of the three Buddhas: I saw
nothing, I heard nothing, and spoke nothing. I followed Ira with my video
recorder wherever she went and, much to her consternation had the completely
unintended but entirely desirable effect of keeping her admirers away from her.
Lest I come in my daughter’s way
again, I offered to skip the evening Ball. But when she insisted, I acceded to
her wishes on the condition that I would go back to my Hotel at 10 P.M. At the
Dance that evening Ira introduced me to two Iranian girls, Farah and Afreen,
assuming they and I would mix more easily because of our respective cultural
backgrounds, and then she excused herself to enjoy the evening with her
friends. But not for long. I had taken what was given to me philosophically.
Aware of their evident shyness at conversing with members of the opposite sex,
I tried my expertise in Palmistry to get some conversation going. They got
intensely interested in this science and by turns implored me to tell them what
the future would bring to them. I explained to them the technique of Palmistry
and told them that ultimately Palmistry only reflects the Theory of Karma and
that their future was literally and figuratively in their hands.
And when I saw admiration for me
in their eyes, to enlarge my image in their esteem I offered to teach them
simple quick dancing steps. Just then Ira appeared, gave me a smile that a
mother might give to a mischievous son, reminded me that it was already past 10
P.M. and said she would come with me to the Hotel whenever I was ready. As it
turned out her other friends – Jill, Anne, and Christine – were also interested
in Palmistry. By turns I read their palms and danced with them till 2 A.M. I
thought I was working in the best interest of my daughter, but she walked out
on me at midnight and I had to find my own way to the Hotel.
Chapter XXIX - Order of the Boot
A letter to the Editor of the
‘Express’ articulated, ‘Colonel Mahendra Mathur’s contribution to the nation
should never be allowed to be forgotten. I therefore, recommend that he be given
a national award for his valuable contribution to our nation’.
The award that awaited me on my
return to Tobago was the ‘Order of the Boot’.
While Chairman Robinson and I were away from Tobago,
Hochoy Charles dumped me. He did not like my highhanded ways that brooked no
interference from him and probably used his influence to initiate a letter from
the Director of Public Administration directing me to report to the Permanent
Secretary at the Ministry of National Security to assume my substantive post as
Technical Officer there.
I was enjoying my job in Tobago and felt confident that I could contribute a
little more towards its development. Once again I went complaining about Hochoy
Charles to Robinson. But Robinson had a different theory about my transfer. The
Central Government did not like the way their Threat-in-Chief, Robinson, looked
good in the media because of rapid development in Tobago
and wanted to remove me to slow down the pace. He also consoled me by saying, ‘That
is the way the PNM destroys efficient civil servants’. And Hochoy Charles he
blamed not at all. Robinson’s loyalty to Charles remained steadfast all his
life.
