THE people of Dundee Village, Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara are very multi-talented and they do many things to earn. As for Lalta Persaud, he is a shepherd rearing more than 100 sheep.

The 70-year-old is a trailing youth and he has taken on a rigorous practice of getting his daily exercise to keep off the excess weight.

He has a racing bicycle he would ride every day from the Abary Bridge to his village and he also has a punching bag and would take a few hits daily to keep fit.

The father of two lives alone and he has a large house and at the rear of that, he has a son, who resides in his own home with his family.

He has his sheep pen at the back of their property where his livestock would be until he takes them out to graze in the pasture in the village.

Among the herd is a very large ram sheep nicknamed ‘Chiney Man,’ who is considered the boss of the lot, and he gets on in a bit of loud conversation with Persaud when he doesn’t get his way.

In the early days, Persaud used to be a tractor driver and worked on farms, but he is now a pensioner and, having retired, he is now using his time to rear sheep.

He had already prepared a meal of ground provisions and a stew and was about to heat some freshly bought cow’s milk.

“I had a lot of weight and I felt lazy, so I got up one day and decided to shake the feeling and started to exercise and I lost a lot of weight and I feel good, knowing I can be fit as I was in my youthful days,” he said.

Persaud is a very friendly person who goes about his daily chores and tends to his sheep in an organised way and he would also spend time cooking and taking charge of his exercise.

Seucomarie Ramsarran the village elder
Also in that same village is the home of Seucomarie Ramsarran, a mother of eight, who lost two of her children.

The 70-year-old is an active woman who was doing some laundry and had already cooked and cleaned the house.

Her grandson, whom she took care of since he was a baby, is residing with her but he was away at work in the city. She would wake up early to ensure that his meals are ready before he leaves.

“I am alright and I already did the Christmas cleaning, so I am looking forward to going shopping in the city with my grandson,” she said.

The elder is originally from Unity Village, but relocated to Dundee in 1968 when she married, but her husband passed away nine years ago. He was a fisherman.

Ramsarran is a pleasant elder who enjoys a very simple countryside life of being a mother and a grandmother.

Jaio Ramdat, the shopkeeper
Jaio Ramdat is self-employed. His parents have a shop and a bar, which is equipped with a pool table and he would assist with the daily operations of the business.

He has his own small business of rental tables and chairs for events and functions and considers life in Dundee Village as good.

The 40-year-old told the Pepperpot Magazine that the men of the village would visit to play pool as a form of recreation and also have a drink.

Another section of the business is a grocery shop, which is also supported by the locals.

The village barber
Bachoo (only name) is the village barber and he has a shop located in School Street, Dundee Village and it would be opened daily to accommodate customers, mostly men from the community.

It is considered a ‘chill spot’ for the young men, who would play dominoes as a form of recreation while awaiting their turn to have their hair cut and be groomed.

The father of one stated that everything is good in the village and the people are neighbourly.

“This is the busiest street in the village and a lot of people pass through, so I decided to have my barbershop here which is a good location for business,” he said.

He has been at the location for one and a half years and became a barber because he wanted to be self-employed.

Bachoo would annually take his own money and buy toys for the children in the village and he would do the same this year and drive around to distribute the goodies because of COVID-19.