‘This is one holiday that brings everyone together’ – resident 

OVER the years, PHAGWAH celebrations in Albouystown have become part of the street culture that not only brings fun to the residents who play each year but also contributes significantly to the unity and love among them.

Albouystown, regarded as a high-crime area, comes alive each Phagwah day and is a community featured in the press more often than not each time. For decades now, it’s a norm to see scores of residents taking to the streets to play religiously with each other.

If residents do not want to play and wish to remain dry, then the obvious option over the years has been to take another route; otherwise, there’s nothing like passing and simply requesting that people not play with you.

It’s a fun activity for those playing and even for the onlookers. It’s a time of sharing, caring, showing affection to neighbours and friends, and just having fun!

Heimant Ram and his family of James and Hunter Streets know this all too well. He began playing on the streets for as long as he can remember. “I was born and raised there so we have been playing since I know myself. I find it got bigger over the years,” Ram recalled in an interview with Pepperpot Magazine.

His mother has eight siblings, most of whom lived in close proximity on two blocks facing each other. The Lall family is probably one of the most popular families in Albouystown.
Together with his ‘hundred and one’ cousins, they’d all go over by the grandparents and play Phagwah with their elders and friends in the community. All of the cooking would be done over here.

Even as people grew up and some people moved away, the traditions have continued to this day, and they would still return, even if for a brief period, to play Phagwah in Albouystown. “Our friends from small would come back, and even family members,” Ram reflected, adding, “Even strangers would come and play with us. That’s one of the only days people would come back.”
Apart from the fun it brings, Ram pointed to some of the deeper, more meaningful impacts of such an event. “This is one holiday that brings everyone together; it doesn’t matter race, or rich or poor. Everyone comes to play.”

Asked what he thinks is different about “playing Phagwah in the ghetto”, he responded: “The difference is that all ethnicities come together; there is no judgement. Everyone is ‘one’ on that day; nobody is Indian or Black.”