Thoughts and Memories of Ranjit Kumar

by Ranjit Kumar

RANJIT KUMAR was born in the Rawalpindi area of the Punjab, India in 1911 and was educated in England. After qualifying he served for some time as a police officer in the country of his birth but came to Trinidad in 1935 to promote the very first Indian film that was shown in this country, Bala Jo ban. He eventually decided to settle here and it did not take him long to get deeply involved with the problems and issues of public life — and identify himself with the people of this country. He became one of us. Most Trinidadians will remember him as “the man who built Wrightson Road.” Ranjit Kumar is a freelance contributor to the Challenge and the picture that has emerged is that of a cultured and sincere man whose range of interests covers a wide spectrum - from politics to literature; from Hindu mythology to English law; from nuclear warfare to the beauty and (in his experience) fickleness of the female sex; from ' engineering to wine culture. Whatever the topic, I have always taken a delight in listening to this sensitive, well-read and much traveled man expounding his convictions without being dogmatic. Reading his anecdotes concerning his student days in England or his travels on the Continent or his spell as a police officer patrolling the hill areas of the Punjab or his debates in Parliament as an influential member of Captain A.A. Cipriani’s Trinidad Labour Party and subsequently the Butler Party — is an education in itself. He recounts his confrontation with men like Gomes or Bhadase Maraj without any malice or pettiness in his heart. And his concern over the dangers to world peace posed by the nuclear arms race is articulated with an urgency and sincerity that is characteristic of the man.

241 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1981