James Ramlall, also known as Bhai (26 January 1935 – 19 December 2018), was a
Suriname
Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...
se
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...
.
Biography
Bhai was born in the former
district Suriname. After getting his teaching degree, he became a teacher at an
elementary school
A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...
in
Harmelen,
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
. After three years of teaching, he decided to become a student.
First he studied Dutch language and literature, and
pedagogy
Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...
. Later he went on to study Indian philosophy and religion, and wrote his doctoral thesis on "The Problem of Being in Heidegger and Sankara".
When Bhai returned to his native Suriname,
he became Assistant Director of Culture and later Director of Culture of the Surinamese Ministry of Education and Culture, and showed himself very active in the cultural world. He founded the conference center "Caribbean Centre" in
Lelydorp
Lelydorp (Sranan Tongo: ''Kofi Djompo'') is the capital city of Wanica District, located in Suriname’s north. With a population of 18,663 (2012), it is the second largest city in Suriname, after Paramaribo.
History
Pad van Wanica
For centuri ...
.
Bhai wrote poetry mainly in
Dutch, but some was in
Hindi
Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
, which was published in the magazine ''Soela''. The poetry can be described as philosophical and meditative.
The
pseudonym
A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...
which used was 'Bhai' meaning brother, and brotherhood is a theme found throughout his poetry.
The Dutch work was bundled into ''Vindu'' (Hindi for: Secret, 1982) from which the concrete-imaging of his earlier poetry completely disappeared. For this bundle, Bhai received the Literature Prize of Suriname 1980-1982.
Since then he turned to poetry, although he sporadically wrote for ''De Ware Tijd Literair''.
In 2003, Bhai received the Gaanman Gazon Matodja Award.
He died on 19 December 2018 at the age of 83.
James Ramlall naar laatste rustplaats
See also
* Surinamese literature
References
Sources
* Michiel van Kempen, ''Een geschiedenis van de Surinaamse literatuur''. Breda: De Geus, 2003, deel II, pp. 814–816.
* Michiel van Kempen, ''Surinaamse schrijvers en dichters'' (Amsterdam: De Arbeiderspers, 1989).
External links
Bhai at Digital Library for Dutch Literature
(in Dutch)
{{authority control
1935 births
2018 deaths
Hindi-language poets
Surinamese poets
Surinamese Hindus
Surinamese people of Indian descent