AT the age of 55, he is still very much active and hard-working, and though in five years’ time he will retire from his present job, he already knows for sure that he will find something else to do to keep himself busy. 

Meet Mr. Aubrey Stanislaus Harricharran, popularly known as “Son Son,” who has been serving the Guyana National Newspapers Limited (Chronicle) for the past 37 years.

We asked him a bit about his experiences a few days ago during an interview at he Chronicle’s Library, Lama Avenue, Bel Air Park, Georgetown.
Son Son hates the idea of idling but believes in using his time wisely. As such, he is known as a very diligent and efficient worker. In fact, from day one when he came to the Chronicle as a ‘casual,’ his superiors recognised these qualities in him.
In those days, a ‘casual’ simply turned up at the Chronicle in the nights to see if any work was available. If not, they simply returned home. But when the Chronicle managers saw the quality of Son Son’s work, they just had to take him on.
And so he was eventually confirmed as a circulation assistant and then as a dispatch clerk. Over the years, though, his duties have changed tremendously to include many more responsibilities.

Son Son explained that his attitude towards work sprang from his upbringing as a youth and the activities he engaged in as a boy.
He was born and raised at Bagotstown, on the East Bank Demerara, an area he described as the ‘country side’ in those days. While obtaining his education at the St. Theresa’s Primary and Secondary Schools (both in one compound), he often helped his father with the family business.
Explaining what this was like, he recalled how he and a few other siblings woke up at 4 am each day to assist in making the channa, pholourie, icicles, etc. that his father sold to small shops in Georgetown.
His parents, Theresa and the late George had ten children to care for and so those days were a bit rough, but nevertheless enjoyable. After helping his dad whom he described as a “cook man,” he then had to prepare for school.
“Those were good days. It was a bit hard but we programmed ourselves to it. I used to get time to study in the nights and so,” he said.

Work on the Estate

At age 16, Son Son started to work on an estate as a cane-cutter. He believes that his experiences doing this type of work made his work at the Chronicle seem way too easy for him.
His job included cutting canes and fetching and loading them to the punt.
“It was very hard work and we had to walk for one mile to reach the area where the punt collected workers to take them to the back-dam and then walk one mile out at the end of the day. So you had to leave home at about 4:30 am.”
Son Son said if they were late for the punt, even for one minute, they would have to walk for 20 miles in order to reach the cane-cutting destination in the backdam. This would mean that they would have gotten to the work site around midday. “And we had to walk for the 20 miles because if we didn’t work we couldn’t get paid.”
He explained that the payment depended on how many beds of cane an individual chopped and then at the end of the day, how much money they worked for would have been calculated.
“I chopped cane from 7 am to 7 pm. I grew up doing hard work. My parents brought me up like that. Those days weren’t idle time. So now I believe in getting up and get. Even on my day off, I find something to do. I never went to a doctor in all my years. The most I get is fever and so. I didn’t grow up soft,” he related.
“I also treat my body good, and I believe in eating fresh food every day. I go to market and cook every day. I don’t believe in fridge food and those things,” he continued.
Son Son is father to Navindra, Davindra and Natasha.

(By Telesha Ramnarine)