UDITNARINE Sugrim grew up in a little village located in East Canje called Reliance Settlement. He could remember, at a very young age, always being cultured, taking part in social, educational & religious activities and taking on challenges in and around his community. During the past years, Sugrim noticed that many young and vibrant youth have been committing suicide due to different personal reasons. Knowing this at a young age, he wanted to put a stop to it but didn’t know how. At the time, he had recently joined a social group in my village. The Golden Om Dharmic Youth Organisation has been working alongside social workers and other professionals, in collaborations to prevent citizens from engaging in any act that might harm themselves. A lot of lives have been truly touched and Uditnarine is happy to express that he was a part of that. He took it upon himself to take it a step further, to show youth that they are the future. Sugrim involved some young people from across Guyana and other countries in a short film called “#StopBullying” which was also an initiative started by the said organisation.

Uditnarine was very dispirited as a teenager. At a very young age, he faced bullying and never liked being picked on. He witnessed his very own classmates laugh at him—it made him feel ashamed and embarrassed. He never told anyone because he didn’t want them to see him as weak. Hence, he would always try to overcome it by spreading laughter. Anytime he was around his friends, he would make jokes just to see them laugh. Seeing others laugh is what made him happy. As he reminisced on his past, he never wished or wanted anything like that to happen to anyone—the way he felt and the bullying he faced. “That’s how I started to create awareness on what I’ve experienced in short films via YouTube,” he said.

As long as he can remember, he always wanted to be a creator on YouTube. He enjoys making films and short videos. YouTube has such a huge platform for anyone to showcase their talents and create awareness and Uditnarine plans to take advantage of all of that. The young content creator has been receiving positive feedback from people who have viewed his films and he surely sees himself continuing down this very path even though it is a difficult task to produce, film and edit, I really do enjoy it. The biggest challenge he has ever been faced with was himself. As he was being bullied, he oftentimes blamed his self for it. He always held myself accountable for any bad thing that has ever happened to him in the past. In a way, it was sort of a good thing but when he looked at the downside of it, he was really putting pressure on himself for things he can’t be blamed for. Uditnarine has worked on bettering his self-development for a few years and he can now proudly say that he overcame that type of thinking. He has now developed a more optimistic way of thinking and his life has changed a bit.

Recently, he has been reaching out to persons who might be interested in being in a film that would create awareness on social issues. He is currently working on a three-part series called “Youths; Empowering the Strength in Youths”. The first part of the series was launched in July, where he spoke about youths who are currently going through a rough patch in their lives; who has not felt motivated or good about themselves. It delivers a strong message which shows young people that they are capable of doing the greatest of things and they can become who and what they truly desire to be. This first episode goes into details on what a youth is, how they have advanced, how they deal with certain issues and what they can become. He is also currently working on the second episode, where he would like to feature young people from different backgrounds to share their stories or give advice or even help to spread awareness about the theme. He also wants to showcase the talents of many young and vibrant youth within the episode so that other youths, who are watching, could feel motivated.

In the future, Uditnarine would like to produce more high-quality films and even documentaries from different parts of the world, about people who face other different challenges and somehow help them to overcome it. He even thought about creating or joining an organization where he could make all of that into a reality. He is unsure of how far life will take him but someday, he hopes to one day give back to his very own community. Guyanese YouTuber, Uditnarine Sugrim wants to share his advice to others by saying, “I heard from a song by Raja Kumari, an American-Indian Songwriter:“Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavantu” which means, ‘May all beings everywhere be happy and free’ and may the thoughts, words and actions of my own life contribute in some way to that happiness and to that freedom for all.” He also would like to share his favourite quote which reads: “The best dreams I’ve ever had, are those that happen while I’m awake. Work hard. Be nice to people. And don’t let anything stop you.” – Lilly Singh.