Despite non-appearance of Li’l Champs
President Jagdeo said show propitious because it was held on Mother’s day
The Li’l Champs were a no-show, because their flight was delayed twice, but the massive crowd, which included Prime Minister Sam Hinds, his wife Yvonne, children and grandchildren last Saturday night, and President Bharrat Jagdeo and Culture Minister Frank Anthony the following evening, was fully entertained by the multiplicity of cultural fare presented by local artistes and Trinidadian Andy Singh.
Explaining the train of events that eventuated in the non-appearance of the Li’l Champs at the show, co-ordinator of the Dharmic Sabha’s activities, Dr. Vyndhia Persaud said that originally they were working with a Surinamese promoter, whom they had already paid an advance of US$20,000, to bring the Li’l Champs to Guyana.
However, because of the fact that the children could not acquire visas for intransit countries closer to Guyana, such as the UK and the USA, they had to travel through Holland, but because of the ash in the sky problem that delayed flights, they missed the KLM interconnection, forcing the children to remain at the airport for two days.
Two of the children got ill as a result and Hemant Brijwasie began bleeding from his ear so the children had to be returned to their various homes at distant locations in India.
Although the Dharmic Sabha has refunded monies paid for VIP tickets and Vyndhia had gone on air on several television channels to explain the situation to the public, she says that her father and President of the Dharmic Sabha, Pt. Reepu Daman Persaud, is very upset at the fiasco, because never in the history of the Sabha has it been forced into a situation where the organization has not kept faith with its supporters in delivering what they promised, even though in this instance the situation was beyond the scope of anyone to rectify, at least in time for the festival. Vyndhia says her dad is very adamant about telling the truth and that she has been keeping patrons up to date with events as they unfolded, even while she was frantically attempting to resolve the issue.
Vyndhia says that sponsors have been very understanding and have not demanded their money back, because the promoter is resisting requests for the return of the advance.  She was distressed because a lot of money was lost in putting preparatory mechanisms in place for the performance of the Li’l Champs.  However, she has not ruled out bringing the children to Guyana at a later date, because she is now having discussions with Mr. Pankaj Bagreha of Zee T.V., whom she was forced to contact in her efforts to bring the Li’l Champs to Guyana in time to fulfill the expectations of patrons of the Dharmic event.
Nevertheless, the event on both nights was a phenomenal success and patrons enjoyed a variety of traditional Indian cuisine, with delicacies being cooked on site and served hot from the tawa and karaahi, as well as delicious Indian sweetmeats that were on sale in various booths belonging to mandirs across the country.
Innovative and fun games for the entire family, especially children, were part of the many attractions.
In an invited comment Trinidadian singer, Andy Singh, who enthralled the audience and dedicated one song to President Jagdeo, saying that he wished Guyana’s President was president of his country, denounced the lewdness and the wrong message sent by singers of Chutney songs, who extol the merits of drinking alcohol and disrespecting women.
Andy said he grew up in a Hindu home that is very family-oriented and where women are highly-respected.  He said he resigned from his job as an engineer to invest in a pharmacy, where his wife is the pharmacist.  As a father of three Andy said he is very family-oriented and missed his family, especially on Mother’s Day, but that he stayed back to perform at the event because he recognized that the non-appearance of the Li’l Champs left a vacuum, and that his respect for the organizers prevailed on him to remain in Guyana to perform at the show.
Pt. Vinod Nandalall, who rendered songs in the Taan style, said that these traditional songs are being corrupted and called chutney.  He promised that he will join forces with other like-minded persons to restore the culture of clean, traditional music to Guyanese once more.

President Bharrat Jagdeo congratulated the Dharmic Sabha for once again hosting what he describes as an event that celebrates the arrival of Indians in Guyana, and their achievements, and event that, hopefully, will focus attention on the need to build a cohesive society and to respect the pioneering spirit of elders.

The President said that the fact that the celebrations were being held on Mother’s Day was propitious and suggested that the entire celebrations should be dedicated to women everywhere, in particular women who have struggled to help to create the life we have today.  He lauded the contribution of women to the formation of society, which he says most often is not recognized.
He said that children were very important to the immigrants, who struggled against odds to create better lives for future generations. He lashed out at the evil forces that prey on Guyana’s innocent children, in the process destroying their lives.
President Jagdeo vehemently said that Government will not allow legal manoeuverings in courts and technicalities, and propaganda warfare to create distractions and impede the law from protecting the nation’s children.  He lauded the struggle of the many organizations in the various religious communities, as well as the NGO’s, to protect the nation’s children from the various forms of abuse many of them are subjected to, especially by pedophiles. He made special mention of the Dharmic Sabha’s programmes to protect children in the society and said that the children of the future will severely judge society if it fails them.
The President said that the very progressive culture that our ancestors brought to Guyana and shared with our people belongs to all of Guyana, because our cultures encompass our shared history.
Referring to persons who use our diversity to create rifts in the nation, President said that our diversity should instead be a unifying factor in this nation and urged that everyone should resist those who seek to divide the people through their cultural differences.  He challenged the audience to reflect inwards and ask of themselves what they can do to make or influence changes. The President concluded by saying that everyone has a role to play in making changes in the society, because Guyanese need to remain focused on the spirit of family brought to this country by our ancestors.
Seasoned singers such as Sukhranie Budhu, Mohan Nandu, the Emerging voices and other talented artistes rendered melodious items of songs, while the lyrical grace of the Dharmic Nritya Sangh kept the audience spellbound.
The Caribbean Hot Shots Band, led by Dharmendra Gobin, son of legendary local singer, Gobin Ram, accompanied the artistes.