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[Prashil Gandhi]: Okay, so hey Andy before we start, I'm just gonna read the oral consent form that we do have to give to our interviewees. So my name is Prashil Gandhi and I am part of the South Asian Oral Histories in Peel research

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project at the University of Toronto Mississauga. Thank you for taking the time to meet today. As part of this project, we are interested in having a recorded conversation and interview, an oral history to be precise, with you on your experience as a South Asian or Caribbean

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in your case, in Peel across several identity markers such as class, caste, gender, sexuality and so on to tell the stories of people and migration, food, business, arts and entertainment that make Mississauga and Brampton in such vibrant and multicultural spaces by making visible these everyday stories.

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We hope to build spaces for connection and community as students of a third year undergraduate course titled Oral History of South Asians in Peel. We receive rigorous methodological and contextual training in the method of oral histories. Um having access to trained researchers who are designing

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and teaching the course/project. After conducting the oral history, we will continue with the university, or sorry, we will continue to work with the University of Toronto Mississauga Library to create an archive of your narration and create a digital, multimedia exhibition of your

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story through a Wordpress website. Our video interview will take place through Zoom which is here right now and I'll be about an hour, hour and a half. Um the interview will be both video and audio with myself and you. Uh we will speak to you about

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your experiences as a South Asian/Caribbean within Peel while exploring the triumphs and tensions of your journey and other themes that are relevant to your field. There is no financial compensation for your participation. The shared questionnaire we co-created beforehand will serve as the base

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skeleton for our conversation today. After I received your verbal consent, I will ask you for signed consent guidelines which include the consent to have your oral history archived by the University of Toronto Mississauga Libraries and display through multimedia elements on the website hub. We are developing

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where students will be able to engage with your stories. After the interview, we will share a digital copy of the narration for your approval to be archived and displayed. You can withdraw from the project at any point without consequences by contacting any of the researchers or

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research coordinator that I'll provide the email for later. Um even after your oral history is deposited within the archives, you can request a change in the terms of access or withdraw your oral history altogether by contacting the U. T. M. Library, which I will provide the

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links for. You will have two weeks to review and sign again the written consent forms you signed and brought with you today. Throughout this process, you'll be engaged with our team consisting of myself as well as our trained research supervisors. If you have any questions concerns

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or complaints about this project, please do not hesitate to contact myself or the research coordinator uh that will provide you the email for or the University of Toronto's Office of Research Ethics, which I will give you the email for as well. You're welcome to raise questions

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at any time, either during this interview or after our conversation today through the contact information provided. At this time, do you have any questions before we proceed? [Andy Ramgobin]: No, no questions. [PG]: Okay. And could you also provide me with your signed consent forms via email for us to

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review uh after the after this conversation. [AR]: Yeah, I'll get to you as soon as I can. [PG]: Perfect. And do we have your informed and verbal consent to conduct this interview and begin our interview questions. [AR]: Yes. [PG]: Perfect, thank you very much. So before we begin the first

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question as an ice breaker would be to uh if you wouldn't mind stating your name, age and the temple you associate yourself with as well as what your role is over there. [AR]: All right, so my name is Andy Ramgobin, I am 22 years old, I

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play the harmonium at the Shiv Ganesh Mandir. My main role there is being performer slash musician um part of the service of the temple. [PG]: Okay, thank you so much. So uh what made you first want to associate yourself with the temple? [AR]: I've been going there

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since I was a kid. My parents used to bring me there every Sunday and uh there was a time period when I didn't really go all that much because I thought you know it's kind of a waste of time but uh through growing up I kind

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of realized that it is an important part of my life and I started going again and it just so happens I do play the harmonium and they do have music as part of the services there and I started joining the Kirtan group as we call it.

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And from there you know I started associating more with the temple and I started playing more weekends and uh so I kind of grew up into it and it just so happened I did music that I had that relationship worked out with a simple. [PG]: Perfect. And

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would you say that because you joined that group? Um that's what made you attached to the temple? [AR]: Yeah to some degree they will always be my temple no matter which one I end up at because I have performed at quite a few across the G. T. A., whether they were shows

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or just Sunday morning services or special events. But that particular one, Shiv Ganesh Mandir is my home temple where I'll always be considered that this is where I go when I personally want to feel close to religion. [PG]: Right. Okay and so um in terms of being close to

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religion, what does the temple, what role does the temple play in your life particularly. [AR]: So for me it's a place of uh not only a place of worship, a place of contemplation, where you can kind of go and sit and think about life and not like just feel closer

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to God, but feel, you know, a sense of self peace. And uh for me that comes through music personally. So singing what we call bhajans or other forms of uh Hindu music. Um so for me that role of the temple is more so they're as therapeutic,

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I would say. [PG]: Right, right. And so um since you say the temple is quite therapeutic for you, would you also argue that um the temple has given you a sense of community and belonging? [AR]: Yeah, it definitely has over the years, I've got to know quite a

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few people. Um quite a few of them, actually, know me now personally, and some of them I actually grew up with and it's always been a part of the community and expanding outwards from within the temple is the West Indian community of Toronto, which sorry, the West Indian

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Hindu community of Toronto, which includes a lot of other members and through my exposure in the temple, I've gotten to know some of them outside of my temple and I've been able to form relationships and I've actually featured on a few uh youtube videos

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and a few shows outside of my temple through meeting people within the community. [PG]: Okay. And are these youtube videos uh particularly of your, what's it called, performances that you do in the temple or is it of a different nature? [AR]: They're from performances. [PG]: Okay. Okay, interesting. Okay,

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thank you. Um so because you did mention you played the harmonium in, in the temple. Um how did you get into playing the harmonium in general? [AR]: So when I was younger, my cousins actually started doing it first and they did it for a couple of years.

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I think I was about eight or 10 years old. I wanted to start doing it myself. So I started taking lessons and from there I have always been playing the harmonium, not so much these days because of Covid and I don't really practice that much anymore and plus

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temples are no longer open, but I started as a family thing and then you know family as a family, we do our own pujas and religious services and I perform there as well. And from there I started performing the temple and then you know, going onto other shows

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that are from the school that I was learning at for music to uh religious events for other temples. [PG]: Okay, okay. And so you say your main um, what's it called, your may like the reason you got into playing the harmonium was because of the influence that

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your cousins had on you growing up. Right, okay, interesting. And would you say that um playing the harmonium has allowed you to get closer to your religion? [AR]: I don't necessarily look at the harmonium and religion being two, uh two related items More so because the harmonium

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itself is an instrument that was brought into India by the British in the 1800s. So it's essentially a three reed organ, or a two reed organ. Um and the form factor that we have today comes from the fact that the British uh, adapted their European harmonium

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to Indian culture, which required us to sit during services. Um so it'd be more portable and handheld and uh, you actually sit and play it. So I don't necessarily think that religion and harmonium have anything to do with each other. [PG]: No, but sorry for interrupting. But

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what I mean to say is, do you think like because you've been able to perform at these religious um in your temple, essentially you've been able to play um and you've been able to play multiple shows or sermons. So would you say that those have in

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turn helped you get closer to your religion by quote unquote forcing you to go there? Or?[AR]: Uh Yes and yes and no, in the sense, yes, in the sense that, I mean we go there more often, but again, the harmonium is not necessarily just associated with

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Hinduism is also sort of other religions as well. And the music is just beyond not just also always religious music, there's other genres of music in between, but in the broad sense, yes, it did help me get closer to religion. [PG]: Perhaps like because you did mention

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your love of music, would you say your love of music, and uh like you pretty much brought your love of music into religion and it kind of brought you closer, or? No. [AR]: Yes, in that sense it did. [PG]: That's perfect okay, thank you. Um would you say that

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religion plays a big or a crucial role in your life and if it does, how does it shape your day to day life, pre or during covid? [AR]: I wouldn't say it's a big factor in my life, but it's always there, it's there in terms of culture,

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because being uh Indo Caribbean, you know, Hinduism is my religion, but it's also a big part of the way we were raised and uh brought up in the world, it's a big part of our day to day culture. Um and that connection to Hinduism has shaped

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me in some way, informs, but not I started the aspect of closer to God, but the aspect of the religion itself, which I believe are two different things in general religion versus God. That's a whole other conversation. Um So yeah, the cultural aspects from Hinduism has

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shaped my life and quite a big way. [PG]: Okay, and you mentioned that the way you were brought up revolved around uh Hinduism quite a bit. So um as a first generation Canadian that you did mention to me um obviously you were brought up um different as

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compared to your parents, but do you personally think religion had an equal role in both your life and your parents his life? [AR]: I think in my parents life it has a bigger role just because they grew up in Guyana and religion was a lot more centralized

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in their lives. So every Sunday the whole community would go to a temple or they celebrate holidays in Hinduism here, not so much like for me we don't celebrate, we only celebrate Holi and some of the other festivals or religious days but not to the

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extent that they did back home. So it shaped my parents in a bigger way but me in a lesser way just because you know my parents as they got older, they didn't necessarily think that Hinduism was the end all be all to life. PG]: Okay, okay. Um on another

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note um do you do you personally draw a line between your personal life and your religious life or would you argue that they kind of go hand in hand? [AR]: That's a good question. Um I think that they go, I don't go hand in hand mostly because

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I, part of my life is I repair harmoniums, that's part of my life um so it does pop up on a daily basis and have to interact with members of the community on daily basis and they know me in a personal way now um so

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it does go hand in hand so I'm not keeping barriers between the two lives but they do kind of mix into each other. Like, I do go to events when I can um and you know, I'm openly Hindu like so I do think they go hand in

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hand. [PG]: Okay, okay. And what was the moment that you realized that the community within the temple was important enough for you to keep coming back and performing? Was it that drive that you had to learn the harmonium in the first place back? Like made you want

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to continue to get better or was it like different? [AR]: I think it would be just the same drive like that government ceremony was kind of there to perform because it's a skill that you can either just keep to yourself or actually show outwardly. So for me

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performing the temple gave that skill set a whole other dimension because performing at the temple, it's different than just performed by yourself at home because you have to improvise and adapt and work with other musicians throughout the service and you have to play for other singers

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as well, so um I think those two things um uh so I think it was important enough for me coming back because I got to develop my skill more for harmonium. [PG]: Right, Right, right, and um again, say like, what was the moment in your life

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personally that you realized, like, hey, I want to continue doing this, I want to continue performing? ;AR]: I think when I was like 12 years old, I was performing a temple my first time and I sang a song, can't remember what song I sang. But the audience is

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really reactive to it And you know, I got people clapping along. I got some good feedback from the other instruments. Like I got some good tableau going. Um it was my first time really feeling the synergy between musicians also synergy before between the crowd as

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well. And that's kind of what fueled me to continue doing it just because I really like the feeling of performing and having an audience that interacts and enjoy the music. [PG]: Right. Right. And now that the pandemic is going on, like how has it affected you in

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relation to your cultural self? Um would you say that keeping yourself spiritual and pious is helping you get by the uh, these dark and unsettling times or not so much? [AR]: Uh, not so much. Not necessarily. It's, it's more so just, you know, dealing with the hand

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that you're dealt covid for everybody. And for me, what's really going through it is through the community on Facebook. There's a lot of live performances that we do on Facebook now and I have featured in some of them throughout the pandemic. That's been kind of keeping

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me grounded. [PG]: Right, and I assume they're through Zoom and then they're just, um, what's it called, streamed outwards to like youtube facebook, et cetera. Okay, that's interesting, interesting. Um how would you, how would you describe your religious experience here as compared to uh, your parents? I

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know you did say that because they got, because their life has continued now in Canada, religious is not become the most important aspect in their life. But like if you had to describe how, um, your parents experienced religion back home versus you experiencing it here, like

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what would your major differences be? [AR]: Back home was a lot more strict for sure. So you have to do with the dress a certain way. You have to act a certain way. You have to go to the temple and if you didn't, there'd be consequences. Um,

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here not so much. I chose to go to temple on my own and then I got older now I chose about myself. My parents were kind of forced to, I chose to continue going. [PG]: So you have that choice. And so because excuse me now, now that

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you've grown older, do your parents, sometimes accompany you while you go or excuse me? Do you find yourself going alone sometimes? [AR]: Like I said again, my neighbors are actually playing music really loudly. It's kind of... [PG]: Okay, okay, no worries. No worries. So, um, you mentioned that

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for your parents growing up, it wasn't much of a choice to go to the temple or um, go to the prayers or whatnot. Um, now that you've grown older and you said your parents have relaxed a bit. Do they still accompany you sometimes when you go

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to the temple or do you find yourself going alone? [AR]: Um They go once in a while. I found myself going alone most of the time. [PG]: And do you think that your personal connection to the temple is stronger than your parents is or is it just a

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different set of nature per se? [AR]: I think it's just a different set of nature. For me because it's...a temple is just a building, right? It doesn't necessarily mean that if your temple went away, you'd be without religion. It's just a place of worship. So,

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you know, if my temple disappeared tomorrow, there's always another place of worship I'm not necessarily has attached to it. And I don't think they are either. [PG]: Okay. Um how is the importance of religion changed for you as compared to when you were a child versus now?

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So I'm sure as a child um actually, you know what, let me just um ignore that part. But like how has religion changed for you while you were growing up like importance-wise? [AR]: When I was a kid, I was like, why do I have to be

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here? I was very annoyed going to temple every Sunday. Um I used to go with my grandmother sometimes. I just didn't want to go uh now as an adult, I chose to go because I thought it was important to keep the culture going plus I perform now. So that's also

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another benefit of going. [PG]: Do you, do you sometimes go when you're not performing as well or do you find yourself going more often when you are performing? [AR]: I found myself going well I perform every time I go so... [AR]: Right okay, okay. But has there ever been

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a case where you haven't particularly wanted, not wanted to or needed to perform but you just went for the sake of going for example. [AR]: Yeah for sure there have been a few times. [PG]: Right okay, okay. I'm sure like on special occasions or holidays like

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you mentioned Holi and Diwali and things like that. Right. Yeah. Okay okay. Um as you as you've grown older uh you've experienced a lot of change um do you think this change has altered the way you look at the world as a whole today? [PG]: Uh Yes

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yes it has I guess the change has altered the way I look at the world in the sense that I've had a more global context now um just because being connected to South Asian community you can get to see what's going on in other parts of

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the world and how other you know not sects but other uh communities across the world as Hindus how they their struggles and what they're going through in their worlds and how they interact with the religion differently. It gives you more global context than previously.

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[PG]: Um If you were to raise your children in Peel is there some piece of advice that you'd give to them knowing what you know now? [AR]: Oh yeah, definitely. Just keep an open mind to different cultures and religions. At first when you're young it's kind of

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hard to kind of conceptualize something bigger than yourself, but as you get older it's a lot easier to think about something bigger than yourself. So I'll give my kids that advice and I will be open. Don't necessarily I think you know all the answers because you don't

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necessarily do and be open to new things. [PG]: Ok, but like specifically in Peel, would you say that like, would you agree that this is a place where you'd want to raise children if you choose to have them? [AR]: Yeah, it's a very diverse community. [PG]: Mhm. Okay, um

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so as you mentioned, it is a very diverse community and so now that we know Peel is like this huge central hub of so many different communities, according to you, why do you think immigration is such a vital source of understanding our society today? [AR]: Because like

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I said, really gives you that bigger picture context. So it allows you to see the world in your own community. So, immigration in Peel, we have a lot of South Asian uh members in Peel. And uh for non South Asian people that it kind of gives you

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an idea of what the world is like outside of Brampton Canada it gives you more of a global perspective and even in Peel like the fact that we have a huge South Asian community, it kind of gives people in the South Asian community a sense of

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home sense of culture, you're not just cutting that tie with the homeland, you're just kind of um taking what you know from India India or the Caribbean and bringing that here and having that opportunity to make that have an opportunity to make that a part

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of life here. [PG]: Okay thank you thank you. Um as as a member of your, sorry as a member of the Guyanese community, do you feel a connection towards the South Asian community within Peel? [AR]: Well that's kind of a mixed bag because growing up, I

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remember my brother actually told me this when he first started high school had to decide where he wanted to sit on the first day where there's with the Caribbean community which was uh not only Indo-Caribbean but also African, African-descent Caribbean. Um or the

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Indian South Asian community or the South Asian groups so there definitely is a connection there in terms of religion but our points of view are a little different I'd say um we have more influence from the western world just being from Guyana, cause we

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have a heavy British influence that never really went away um and because my ancestors were brought to Guyana from India by the British um they lost a lot of their cultures or some parts of our culture we'll never get back what we are trying to right

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now, especially with our interaction with the South Asian community, there's a lot of things we are relearning but uh it's kind of a mixed bag in that sense because we do have two different elements, the South Asian part of us and the Caribbean part of us,

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which don't necessarily always equal the same thing, so um being connected to South Asian communities a mixed bag, I would say in that sense. [PG]: So overall, would you say it's like a positive experience that you're having with like bringing the South Asian community with the Caribbean

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community or would you say it's not as positive. [AR]: It will be a positive experience. Yeah. [PG]: Right, okay, okay. And do you find that um like you mentioned that um being closer to the South Asian community is helping you, what's it called, find um like make like,

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sorry, let me rephrase that you mentioned that these being closer to the South Asian community made you feel that um because your people were going through colonialism in the past um and it's helping them make that connection. Right, um would you mind elaborating on that? Like

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how like are they doing something differently that you feel like you should be doing as well or not so much? [AR]: So for the music point of view and so I'm gonna go with is um typically in Guyana or even Trinidad and Tobago the same, almost

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the same people, uh music there was primarily bhajans or religious music but in the South Asian community it's not just bhajans it's also qawwali, ghazal, other types of influences. So we were able to retake that part of our religion or part of our culture I should

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say and expand our music knowledge. So now a lot of new people, new kids learning harmonium, there also being taught other styles, not just bhajans, they're also being taught ghazals, raga, qawwali, all kinds of other styles that are primarily found in South Asia that we

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have lost throughout, you know colonialism. [PG]: So so now that you're picking up on incorporating those back into your religious self, do you find that you yourself play different types of music when you're playing at the temple or No, like for example? [AR]: Well it's just one type

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of music unless you are performing for a special event, when one of those special events do happen. It's more a mixed variety, cause sometimes it'll be ghazals, sometimes it'll be thumri, sometimes it'll be um rog. It just depends on the scenario but we are finding that

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there is more of a mix now. [PG]: Okay, okay, that's good. That's that's interesting. Thank you. Um Next question. Um is there a place for Indo Caribbean and South Asian people to come together or are there do you still think that these tensions exist or No. [AR]: I

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wouldn't necessary, there is a place. I don't think there is a specific place because the temples that are Guyanese are, Indo Caribbean are typically Indo Caribbean. Um but there are a few temples out there that cater to both. Uh for example, Mississauga's

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is Ram Mandir. They have a large Indo Caribbean following and a large Hindu following from India. Um so I guess there are places that do incorporate both, but there isn't enough. [PG]: But do you, do you would you say that between the Indo Caribbean community and the

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South Asian community, there are tensions that exist? [AR]: Not necessarily not tensions that I have found personally. [PG]: But perhaps from your parents or your siblings or have they spoken about any tensions or anything like that? [AR]: Not from my experience. [PG]: Not from your experience. Okay, thank you for

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sharing that. Um So you mentioned like the Ram Mandir not being specifically tied to either Indo Caribbean or Hindu. Um how would you describe the, I mean before I even asked the question, have you actually been to those different temples? Yes. Okay, so then how

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would you describe the similarities and differences between, for example, the specific Indo Caribbean temple that you go to as your main home And the mixed one that you've visited? Like what similarities and differences did you find. [AR]: The similarities is that the services are very similar? Um

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They primarily have uh there's Hindi but they're also translated into English um as well, the music is very similar as well. However, for the my home mandir, their uh music there is more what we're used to, so the bhajans are more um what most Guyanese or

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West Indian people are brought up on some more traditional stuff for us. Whereas the ones that temples like Ram Mandir, uh their more mixed with some stuff from India that we don't necessarily know some more East Indian bhajans, Gujarati bhajans, or stuff like that, that's differences.

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And also at the main temple was mostly Guyanese is uh we have a sense of community within ourselves, so you can leave your kids with anybody like w watch like you can leave your kids let them run around and stay with whoever they want to sit

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it's more uh family based and then we don't necessarily have that connection at the other temple with the whole community. That's because uh you know the mentality is birds of the same feather flock together, so people that are Guyanese will trust other people that are Guyanese just because they're Guyanese

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Well that's not necessarily the case. So I've noticed that kids tend to keep themselves came to their family, don't necessarily, you know, mingle as much as they would. [PG]: So, so two questions arise from this. The first question is then, would you say that there is

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a tension between the South Asian community and for example, the Guyanese community because they don't go together or... [AR]: I wouldn't say there's a tension per se, it's just that you're more familiar with the people that have originated from the same location as you, people that came

00:28:59.960 - 00:29:13.120

from Guyana, or they know the different villages, they all have some kind of connection to each other, whether it's through family or friends, like they know each other on some basis, whereas that temples that are more mixed, they don't necessarily know the South Asian side of

00:29:13.120 - 00:29:33.140

it uh per se. [PG]: Okay, and so uh the second question that comes up is have you ever been to a institution that is specifically just South Asian for example? [AR]: Yes, I've been to the Dixie Gurdwara and some other, the Malton one as well. [PG]: Okay, and would

00:29:33.140 - 00:29:49.660

you say the similarities and differences do exist? And if so like what kind of similarities and differences did you see there? [AR]: Similarities is there's a sense of community, so there is a strong sense of community, the differences because it's uh from the Sikh religion, I don't have much

00:29:49.670 - 00:30:06.300

experience with that. The differences are quite vast, I would say, and the way we do services and there is the element of music as well uh since it's in um, I can't remember what the languages is. It's in a different language and I don't necessarily understand um it and

00:30:06.300 - 00:30:21.760

it's also a different style of music as well. The differences are definitely more vast, I would say um just because there's a difference of religion, but a sense of community is still the same. [PG]: Okay, all right, thank you. Um Next question, how would you describe the

00:30:21.760 - 00:30:42.020

relationship between the Guyanese community and the larger South Asian diaspora? [AR]: Uh in what sense do you mean? [PG]: Just like relation in general? Um like not not going back to the tensions that we were mentioning before, but um the overall relationship between the

00:30:42.020 - 00:31:00.180

two communities. [AR]: So what I find is that we don't necessarily fit with the South Asian community, because because there's a little bit of a language barrier, sometimes most West Indian people don't know Hindi um or whatever Hindi we do know is very, very limited. Um So there's

00:31:00.180 - 00:31:17.750

a language barrier um there's also cultural barrier a little bit as well because again, we have more British influence. Um we're a little more westernized and practices like, in Guyana, everyone celebrates Christmas. That's the thing we do because of heavy British influence and India not everyone celebrates

00:31:17.750 - 00:31:38.630

Christmas, right. Even the food is a little different, like um West Indian food or cuisine is different than Indian cuisine and the fact that it's a little more British based or has a more Caribbean influence on it. Uh so it's kind of a mixed. [PG]: So, so

00:31:38.630 - 00:31:57.820

because because Guyanese people have had so much um what's it called, influence from different parts of the world, for example, the British and the caribbean people as well? Um you'd say that the relationship does exist, but it's it's hard to fit in or like, combine

00:31:57.820 - 00:32:16.410

the two? Right, Okay. Thank you. Um Looking back, do you think you've been discriminated based on your race or religion in South Asia or sorry not in South Asia but in in Peel or Canada overall. I've personally never experienced it. Um To be honest with you,

00:32:16.420 - 00:32:32.240

I know people that have but I've personally never experienced it. [PG]: Yeah. Like anyone in your family or anything like that? [AR]: Not that anyone's ever told me, like no one's ever really felt like they were being treated differently. Uh But I have had friends that have felt

00:32:32.240 - 00:32:50.040

that they were treated differently. [PG]: Were your friends specifically like Hindu or Indian or anything like that. [AR]: Yeah. One of my friends uh she's Guyanese as well. She went to uh university further north and she felt like she didn't really fit in, was treated differently based on

00:32:50.040 - 00:33:05.320

her skin color and so on. But for me in Peel at least I haven't felt discriminated against or had prejudice against. [PG]: Okay. But it does exist. Like if you explore outside of Peel for sure. [AR]: Like Peel is such a diverse community that it's not really seen

00:33:05.320 - 00:33:21.890

here, but if you go further north or outside of the GTA, sometimes it is an issue. [PG]: Okay. Okay. Um uh Thinking back to your parents again um What sacrifices do you think that they've had to made uh sorry that they've had to make culturally um For them

00:33:21.890 - 00:33:40.960

to adapt in this community. [AR]: Uh They're definitely they're definitely are customs that are different than Guyana for sure. But overall the lifestyle is fairly similar I guess in terms of day to day um Again because we do have that western or British influence that are you know

00:33:41.540 - 00:33:59.430

we all speak English but it's not great English, it's broken English um culturally wise it's still the same but also different in the sense that um here everything is more refined. Back home you had people with less education people you didn't have the establishments that you

00:33:59.430 - 00:34:20.010

do here, like you don't have the establishment, they're like you do here, it's more of a uh it's more of a simpler life. back home back home back home. [PG]: Okay. Okay and so do you still have family that resides in Guyana or your family?

00:34:20.010 - 00:34:35.820

[AR]: Yes, my family are still there. [PG]: Okay. And I mean if you've ever got to speak to them about this, do you think that um for example the kids there or the people your age over there practice religion differently as compared to you? [AR]: Uh say it about me about the

00:34:35.820 - 00:34:52.490

same also Guyana has modernized quite a bit now. So it's not necessarily the end all be all anymore. It's more so just an aspect of your life opposed to the entirety of your life. [PG]: And so because you you you mentioned that your parents became more relaxed over time?

00:34:52.500 - 00:35:06.270

Do you do you think that for example your dad's brother, do you think he has also become more relaxed over time or because he's in Guyana, Is he still like super strict about going and participating in things like that? [AR]: I think he's also become more relaxed

00:35:06.270 - 00:35:21.360

as the country has as a whole, just because of the Western influence. Um Yeah, it's probably still a big element over there, probably bigger than here, but it's probably been relaxed quite a bit with the newer generations. [PG]: Right. Right. Right. And do you think like um

00:35:21.840 - 00:35:39.320

the pandemic has affected it over there as well? For example, like you're not being able to go and perform? Right. So um are things of the similar nature happening there? [AR]: At first yes, but Covid didn't hit Guyana as bad because I didn't have much travel. So

00:35:39.320 - 00:35:58.520

they're coming back to life as normal as right now. Um whereas in Peel we're entering the third wave so there definitely is there. They have more uh they are able to participate more in the community than we are currently. [PG]: But not so much here. So

00:35:58.520 - 00:36:17.680

then would you say that um in these like how do you find like happiness in these dark and excuse me, unsettling times? [AR]: Uh Just communicating with people I guess from my own groups and outside my own groups and such meeting people where I can. [PG]: Okay and

00:36:17.680 - 00:36:34.620

how how often do you try to because obviously what's going on with the pandemic is forcing you to perform on like zoom on facebook and things like that? Right. Um Do you find yourself participating in that quite often as much as you did when Covid wasn't

00:36:34.620 - 00:36:53.420

a thing? For example if you want three times a week you still try to participate in those zoom. Um What's it called? Community groups three times a week or has it lessened? [AR]: It's definitely a lot less because of the pandemic.[PG]: Okay. And so it's fair to

00:36:53.420 - 00:37:11.030

say that the pandemic does not ruined it but really altered the way. Um You practice? [AR]: Yeah, for sure. [AR]: Okay. Okay. Well that's about it. Those are all the questions I have. Thank you for your time Andy. Do you have any questions for me or anything? [AR]: No,

00:37:11.040 - 00:37:19.750

nothing comes to mind. [PG]: No. Nothing. All right. Thank you so much for your time once again and I hope you have a great day. [AR]: Alrighty, take care. Bye.