The Cutlass

How does someone organize a campaign to fight for their freedom and overturn wrongful imprisonment while still in jail awaiting a fair trial?

Interviewer Brian Ramcharan sits down with Prakash Churaman at his apartment in New York where the 21-year-old is looking forward to a second, more fair, trial to clear his name. Prakash was arrested in December of 2014 at the age of fifteen, sentenced to 9-years-to-life in prison, and denied bail. Despite all the odds, he launched a movement to advocate for his own justice while still imprisoned, refusing plea deals and maintaining his innocence. This past January he was finally released on bail after spending years at Rikers Island. 

While much is known about the circumstances of Prakash's case, little has been said about his life and who he is as a person, as well as his time in jail. This discussion is meant to give some insight into that side of him. Listen to Prakash's memories of growing up in Guyana, moving to Florida, and eventually coming to Queens, his various likes and hobbies, as well as his life after getting arrested. It is necessary to issue a trigger and content warning, as Prakash does detail some of the violence and abuse he encountered. The subject matter can be and is quite disturbing. 

Please know that there are so many ways you can support Prakash. He is relying on your help to secure a better future for yourself. Follow him and his campaign @freeprakashalliance on Instagram and Twitter to share his story and build the movement. Prakash is currently surviving off donations so that he can have a place to stay while awaiting his trial and the ability to work. You can access his GoFundMe page through the link in his social media. That link also contains petitions you can sign and ways to contact individuals involved with Prakash's case. You can read more about him and his case via articles in Liberation News, The Indypendent, The West Indian Online, and The City. He has also been featured on an episode of the Working Class Heroes radio show (@workingclassheroesradio).

You can find Brian @bmr_sound and me @cutlasspodcast on Instagram. Brian is an award-winning producer at Penguin Random House Audio as well as a Grammy-nominated engineer and musician. We were both so honoured to have collaborated with Prakash on this project. Thank you to everyone for listening and joining the fight. Thank you to Prakash for sharing his story.

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To what extent can descendants of Indian indentureship and members of the diaspora recreate history and culture through art and literature? 

Vinay sits down with Krystal Ramroop to discuss why themes of identity resonate so deeply in her writing. They discuss her upbringing in the Bronx and feelings of oneness with, as well as sometimes alienation from, the Indo-Caribbean and South Asian communities. Krystal opens up about her childhood and journey to becoming a writer, detailing how a single trip to Guyana forever altered her perspective. She and Vinay chat about their mutual love of chutney music, which is currently in a precarious state, and equal admiration of Indo-Surinamese culture. Vinay mentions his own hesitations about incorporating tradition into his writing and they both begin to question the notion of authenticity. Krystal dives into including Indo-Caribbean folktales in her work, networking with other creatives, and how she has learned to accept a finished product. She gives valuable advice on starting to write, pitching ideas, and collaborating with other creative platforms. 

Krystal M. Ramroop, better known as Krys, is an innovative American born Indo-Guyanese creative writer and aspiring film and television actress. A first-generation summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the City University of New York’s City College (CCNY), Krystal’s a music, film, and tea junkie at heart and hopes her curiosity and niche for cross-cultural writing will allow her to share her research and experiences and create a realm for readers to join her in. With upcoming releases in Caribbean anthologies, her writings have been featured in Promethean Literary Journal, Akashic Books’ Flash Fiction Duppy Series, Brown Girl Magazine, Avaaz Media, and Brown Sugar Literary Magazine, and her WordPress website, The Art of Storytelling. You can connect with her on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram @krys_mo_ram.

#indocaribbean #indocaribbeanculture #indocaribbeanwomen #indocaribbeanhistory #indocaribbeanart #indocaribbeandiaspora #indotrini #indotrinidadian #indoguyanese #indosurinamese #indojamaican #indofijian #indomauritian #indenture #indentureship #indenturedlabour #indenturedservant #indenturedlabourers #indenturedservants #eastindian #indian #westindian #caribbean #westindies #desi #southasian #india #pakistan #bangladesh #nepal #srilanka #trinidad #trini #guyana #guyanese #suriname #surinamese #jamaica #jamaican #fiji #fijian #mauritius #mauritian #southafrica #southafrican #chutney #chutneymusic #soca #socamusic

Season 1, Episode 4.

Season 1, Episode 3.

Can you revitalize and rebirth a language for new generations while the older native speakers are all but gone?

Vinay sits down with Dr. Visham Bhimull to apply this question to the case of Trinidad Bhojpuri and Caribbean Hindustani. They talk about the arrival of South Asian languages alongside indentured labourers in the mid-1800s, as well as the emergence of Bhojpuri as a lingua franca on the sugar estates in Trinidad and Guyana. Meanwhile in Suriname and Fiji, due to slightly different migration patterns, Awadhi would come to heavily influence Sarnami Hindustani and Fiji Hindi respectively. Bhimull describes the impact of Dutch and French on Caribbean Hindustani as well as the Indian words and phrases loaned to the various Creole dialects in each Caribbean nation. This conversation veers into the mid-1900s when language death was apparent in Trinidad and Guyana, now starting to arise in Suriname in the twenty-first century. He delves into his childhood and adolescence, reflecting on the roles Bhojpuri and Hindi played in his relationship with his grandparents as well as his university classmates. Today Dr. Bhimull's interests have coalesced into the formation of the Caribbean Hindustani page on Facebook and YouTube. On this social media platform he translates the history, culture, and language that were almost at the point of extinction. He has been integral to preserving the integrity of the language and helping it to take new, innovative forms. Bhimull highlights the issues with the approaches to teaching Hindi undertaken by current Indian organizations in the Caribbean as well as the uniquely South Asian obstacles to the survival of Hindi as a language of utility. This episode marks the beginning of a long-standing partnership between The Cutlass and Caribbean Hindustani to further promote the language in the form of audio lessons that are easily understandable and also applicable to the lifestyles of Indo-Caribbean people. 

Dr. Visham Bhimull is a primary care physician and cultural activist. He is also a language enthusiast and independent researcher of linguistics. A fluent speaker of Bhojpuri and Hindi, he is the creator and administrator of the Caribbean Hindustani Facebook page and YouTube channel. Bhimull makes numerous appearances on Trinidadian news programs and radio stations to promote the study and teaching of Caribbean Hindustani.

#indocaribbean #indocaribbeanculture #indocaribbeanwomen #indocaribbeanhistory #indocaribbeanart #indocaribbeandiaspora #indotrini #indotrinidadian #indoguyanese #indosurinamese #indojamaican #indofijian #indomauritian #indenture #indentureship #indenturedlabour #indenturedservant #indenturedlabourers #indenturedservants #eastindian #indian #westindian #caribbean #westindies #desi #southasian #india #pakistan #bangladesh #nepal #srilanka #trinidad #trini #guyana #guyanese #suriname #surinamese #jamaica #jamaican #fiji #fijian #mauritius #mauritian #southafrica #southafrican #chutney #chutneymusic #soca #socamusic

Are East Indian women better off in the Caribbean now than they would have been had their ancestors remained in South Asia?

Vinay sits down with Patricia Mohammed to answer, or at least make sense of, this very complex question. They begin with the circumstances prompting the arrival of Indian women in the Caribbean from India. It turns out that while indentureship certainly oppressed women, it gave them some unprecedented freedoms. These allowances would shape female identity both on and off the plantations, especially with how they navigated their positions as wives and daughters. Discussions on how gender roles would take root in Trinidad and Guyana would not be complete without considering the emerging class and religious differences after indenture ended. As both nations barreled towards independence, women would inevitably have to negotiate and renegotiate their standing in society. While formation of national identities would undoubtedly suppress certain aspects of Indian culture, women would find themselves in public discourse through vehicles like chutney music. Sexuality and income, apparently, would chart a new course for Indo-Caribbean women. Such conversations cannot be had without acknowledging the growing feminist organizations and emergence of icons like Drupatee Ramgoonai and Professor Mohammed herself. All of these developments would have significant impacts on Indo-Caribbean femininity, an identity that is rapidly changing still to this day. Professor Mohammed is an example of the strides women in the community have been able to take. Her exceptional educational profile and recent work as a filmmaker illustrate how wide the generational gaps in progress are between Indo-Caribbean women.

Professor Mohammed is an Emeritus Professor at the University of West Indies and a key thinker in feminist theory, particularly in the Caribbean. Full Professor of Gender and Cultural Studies since 2005, she has supervised and taught on gender and development, and devoted decades of service to the University, including the development of educational courses and programmes, and serving as Director and Chair of the Campus Committee of the School for Graduate Studies and Research. Her scholarly contributions include over 100 publications in journals, edited books and media, including self-authored books Imaging the Caribbean: Culture and Visual Translation (2010; Macmillan Education), and Gender Negotiations Among Indians in Trinidad: 1917-1947 (2001; Palgrave). Forthcoming works include a collection of essays co-edited with Cheryl Ann Boodram (Connecting the Dots: Life. Work. Balance. Ageing, Ian Randle Publishers) and Writing Gender in the Caribbean: Selected Essays 1988-2019 (Hansib Publications). Since 1986, Professor Mohammed has also been involved in the production of films and other media on gender and women’s issues. In 2019, she was awarded a National Gold Medal from the President of Trinidad and Tobago for her contribution to the country on Women and Development Issues, and in 2018, she was recognised as one of the University of the West Indies 70+ Outstanding Women graduates of UWI in its 70th anniversary.

#indocaribbean #indocaribbeanculture #indocaribbeanwomen #indocaribbeanhistory #indocaribbeanart #indocaribbeandiaspora #indotrini #indotrinidadian #indoguyanese #indosurinamese #indojamaican #indofijian #indomauritian #indenture #indentureship #indenturedlabour #indenturedservant #indenturedlabourers #indenturedservants #eastindian #indian #westindian #caribbean #westindies #desi #southasian #india #pakistan #bangladesh #nepal #srilanka #trinidad #trini #guyana #guyanese #suriname #surinamese #jamaica #jamaican #fiji #fijian #mauritius #mauritian #southafrica #southafrican #chutney #chutneymusic #soca #socamusic

Join host and producer Vinay as he dives into topics of religion, politics, history, culture, and entertainment concerning a subgroup rarely given attention. The story of Indo-Caribbean people is one of trauma, persistence, and innovation. There needs to be a platform to rectify our past, celebrate our present, and unite us for a beautiful future. This podcast will not stray away from difficult conversations and will approach taboo subjects in a progressive manner. Please come along for the journey, bring your friends and family!

Make sure to subscribe, rate this podcast, and follow @cutlasspodcast on Twitter and Instagram. Send your comments and questions to [email protected].

Check out Sae (@saewithjanaally) and The Bollywood Project (@bollyproject) for great content. Follow TP Sounds on Facebook, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube for sick mixes. Look for Jahajee Sisters on Twitter (@JahajeeSisters) and Instagram (@Jahajee_Sisters) to keep up with the work they are doing.