Our Second Weblog Anniversary – Oct. 21, 2009
MY MESSAGE ON THE SECOND ANNIVERSARY OF MY WEBLOG
October 21, 2009.
Today marks the second anniversary of the inauguration of my Weblog on October 21, 2007. I wish to thank all those, my editors, contributors and technical advisers, the sources from which I got inspiration, my interviewers, and you, my viewers from all over the world, of every language and clime; without whose inputs my Weblog could not have earned the success it has. Recently, the Blog won the Graypow Award for distinguished blogging by an over 80 blogger. It is confirmed that I am now the oldest person running a Blog, and I am also the oldest person with an operating Facebook account.
The Weblog has been endeavouring all along to post meaningful content. As the philosopher White puts it; “The best test of any writing is its serviceableness for the moral and spiritual needs of men”.
I have tried by exhortation and example to teach values like perseverance, compassion, service, care for the environment, friendship, unity, love and most of all; it is never too late to learn.
In less than two months, I will have reached my 97th year of my sojourn here on Mother Earth. I have not as one of my erudite colleague told me of himself; “I have gone into complete retirement”. I believe that once you have life and can think, you need not spend the remainder of the winter of your years in hibernation, but with the experiences you have garnered. Live a twilight of usefulness.
My final engagement before my anniversary is to record the reminiscences of my life which I had prepared some time ago, and which with the help of my editor and technical advisers, I am now happy to record.
I may or may not live to see another anniversary. On my last visit to the doctor, I was diagnosed as having a weak heart and will need a pacer, but I have decided against using it. I feel as good as ever. So with the limited time at my disposal, I have to live today as if it was my last, but work as if I will live forever.
I wish you all, my dear viewers, fulfillment and happy blogging.
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COMMENT from Cyril Bryan:
Today marks the second anniversary of this blog which had its first entry on October 21, 2009. On our first anniversary we talked about how the Weblog was started and how we had achieved so much in such a short time. I am truly glad that I am one of the persons responsible in helping “Teacher Randall” (T.R.) to start his blog with my technical support, and the selection of some entries with my comments as a “Guest Contributor” over the last two years.
He has said that my support has encouraged him to be even more dynamic with his Weblog inputs and comments, and has made him new friends, and connected him with past colleagues, students and friends around the world. It is a pleasure that I was able to do this for a man whose world vision is similar to mine, especially in regard to the “Indivisibility of Mankind”, and the belief in “Lifelong Learning”.
This second year has passed quite quickly and the popularity of the Weblog has grown. To date we have had almost 64,000 viewers to some 610 entries which include news items, videos and articles of interest, historical articles and pictures of Guyana, articles from various contributors, philosophy, psychology, education, and of course the articles, poetry and the many comments from Randall Butisingh to the content of the Blog and his correspondence with readers.
This month Teacher Randall begun to publish: “My Story” – The Reminiscences of Randall Butisingh since 1913. This is a truly gripping tale of a man living for over nine decades in a changing world, battling poverty, battling the integration process of different cultures; being accepted for who he is; and being able to fully actualize the reason for his sojourn here on Earth. Life in the early 1900’s was drastically different from life today, but T.R. battled on searching for meaning; searching for relevance; searching for his inner abilities that could transform others through his teaching; searching for inner security and his actualization through his poetry, religious studies and firm beliefs in personal education and lifelong learning. I am sure that everyone would find his story an interesting one.
I think that this Weblog has served a great purpose for many others as it has awakened many, especially older people to the fact that being “old” does not mean being discarded to the dustbin of history. T.R. has told me that he gets correspondence from all over the world from people who are proud of what he is doing and who are emulating his strong beliefs of lifelong learning. Even I was surprised when he told me recently that he had joined FACEBOOK, the social networking site, and invited me to be his friend on that site. He is now not only the “World’s Oldest Blogger” but most likely the oldest FACEBOOK member. Congratulations Teacher Randall!
We do hope that Teacher Randall continues with his good work for us all in the coming year and for many years to come.
Happy Weblog Anniversary Teacher Randall!
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TRIBUTE by Patanjali Ramlall – Guest Contributor
It is with pleasure and wonderment that I dedicate this tribute to Guruji Randall Butisingh.
My earliest memories of Guruji go back to 1956, when I was in 1st standard at Lusignan Anglican School, now Lusignan Government, East Coast Demerara, British Guiana, now Guyana. I often read the proverbs that he posted on the wall, behind my class, three of which were:
LEARNING IS BETTER THAN SILVER AND GOLD; SILENCE IS GOLDEN; and CLEANLINESS IS NEXT TO GODLINESS.
He practiced and lived them all. He was always the consummate teacher and guide, never causing pupils to be scared of him, teaching in a compassionate manner, going that extra ten miles, e.g. Gardening, Art, Poems, etc. I never heard him lift his voice to any student, and some of his words were in the colloquial manner of the day, trying to accommodate his young charges who were then trying to grapple with Standard English; and he had a knack for doing the right thing without pretense or offense. All of these qualities he not only lived, but continued to improve on them visibly and by hard work over the years.
He continues to be a guide, teacher, a poet, philosopher, always in the pursuit of knowledge – in art, music, language(s), comparative religion, etc. Most of all, to continue to impart his life’s knowledge and share his wisdom with us is quite an accomplishment in his 98th year.
He was my Headmaster when I passed the School Leaving examination and left school at age thirteen in 1962. Never could I, at that time have dreamt that he would continue to be my teacher and that we would have this avuncular relationship, now at my age 60. First: he was my teacher, then Headmaster, friend, philosopher, historian, poet, and now I am a guest contributor on his blog.
While I was on a Shrimping trawler off the coast of South America, (Brasil, French Guiana, Surinam, to name a few), from age 15 to 22, I never thought that I could touch base with this humble man again, and that I would be privileged to have him at my home as an honoured guest. His blog has greatly enlightened me and improved my awareness of life and the world. I gained a lot from his tireless writings and insight, and I wish him good health and strength to continue his great work for as long as possible.
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Tribute by CYRIL A. SARJOO, former teacher at Lusignan Primary School –
I have known Teacher Randall since the 1950’s. Now he is the world’s most senior blogger and I wish to congratulate him on the 2nd anniversary of his weblog.
I am proud that he is a Guyanese and I am honored to have known and worked with him.
I have been reading his weblog and made a few contributions.
He has accomplished quite a lot academically and spiritually.
His spiritual revelations and his relationship with and his obedience to God have caused God to bless him and keep him alive to this golden age of 98 years.
His philosophy of life as evinced in his poetry and blog is very inspiring.
His many and varied accomplishments have earned him several international and local honors and awards and even a painting by a renowned Indian artist.
I wish him all the best and pray that Almighty God will continue to bless him with good health and spiritual strength.
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Tribute by Lyndon Barton
Dear Teacher Randall,
CONGRATULATIONS! on the 2nd anniversary of your weblog, and best wishes for your continued success.
As one of the readers and occasional contributor to this weblog, I am happy to see the way it has evolved to become a unique global forum that not only shines a positive light on our homeland GUYANA and the Guyanese culture, but also one that affords readers the world over a rare opportunity to gain valuable insights into your longevity and philosophy of life, which you so willingly share though your poems, thoughts for the day, inspirational messages, personal interviews, and recent book “My Story.”
For all this, I, personally, feel privileged and proud to be your former pupil, then a colleague, and now a friend.
Keep up the good work!
Lyndon
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Tribute by Rampersaud Tiwari.
Randall Butisingh will be 97 on December 1, 2009. He is the world’s oldest Blogger and probably the oldest Buxtonian alive. He was and still is a teacher, educator, writer, poet, artist, Hindi scholar and iconic community leader. I am now in my 77th year, and I am privileged to have known him since my early childhood years in our native Buxton Village on the East Coast of Demerara in Guyana, South America.
This tribute on the 2nd Anniversary of Randall Butisingh’s Web Blog is to me a kind of celebration of his achievements and his contributions during a long and useful life. At this distance in time, I can only dimly imagine the struggles, sacrifices and efforts he must have made in his journey in life. As I reflect on his life, I remember hearing a Hindu Vedic recitation of “a Light that shines beyond all things on earth and beyond the highest, the very highest of the heavens. This is the Light that shines in the Heart” – taken from the Chandogya Upanishad; and which in my view epitomizes the spiritual qualities that helped to shape the human values that shine in his heart.
Randall’s parents were part of a small number of indentured Indian immigrants who had completed their terms of indenture or had been expelled from the neighboring sugar estates who settled in Buxton in the closing years of the 19th century. Randall’s father was a Koker Attendant in the village. With good schooling as the objective for their children, Randall’s parents encouraged him to pursue his studies at school with dedication and diligence at a time when many East Indian children of school age, for historical and economic reasons, were unable or refused to attend school and get an education. From the time Randall started his primary schooling, he was a student who tried to achieve his best although he was not one of the brightest students.
The defining moment in Randall’s scholastic career arrived in 1925, when at 12 years old, he secured 62% of the marks in the examination for the Buxton Scholarship. The other successful candidates were Ballbir Ballgreeme Nehaul with 80%, who later became a medical doctor, and Claude Holder with 61%. The Scholarship was awarded to Ballgreeme Nehaul, who became the first Buxton scholarship winner. However, Randall Butisingh’s 62% could have secured his placement in the prestigious Queen’s College, but this was not to be, as his parents could not afford the expenses for him to do so.
This missed opportunity did not prevent Randall from becoming a Teacher and serving at all relevant levels leading ultimately to Acting Headmaster, the status from which he retired the Guyana Teaching Service in 1972. A significant feature of his career was his mastery of the Hindi language which was a subject in the national examinations for teachers in the colony. In later years, he helped to promote the teaching of Hindi in extra mural classes at the University of Guyana (UG) through the good offices of the Indian High Commission in Guyana, the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and the Hindi Prachar Sabha of which he was a founding member.
Randall Butisingh was also a founding member of the Indian National Congress of Buxton. Patterned after the Indian National Congress of undivided India, the Buxton Congress was established in 1946. The objectives of the Buxton Congress were to promote strong bonding feelings of communal harmony and nationalism in Guyana and to persuade the British to “QUIT BG” since the country was then a colony of the United Kingdom.
“APADANA SOBHINI PANNA” – WISDOM BEAUTIFIES CHARACTER: from Buddhist Pali.
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Tribute from Miles A. Hintzen
Congratulations, sir, on the second anniversary of your blog. Kudos also to the associates – editors, technicians, and others – who have helped you launch and maintain this wonderful and scintillating site on the internet.
It was only earlier this year, on my own personal journey to trace the roots of my biological father, that I stumbled on your Weblog. Since then I count myself blessed for this fortuitous accident which has now transformed me from a man on a genealogical expedition to a servant of God on that most meaningful of all journeys – the travel along life’s highways in search of the true meaning of life and its purpose beyond the realm of physical being.
Sir, your pieces have helped me along and have added tremendously to my understanding the real destiny of man and woman on this earth and in the hereafter. The short time that I have had the pleasure of your distinguished acquaintance has already surpassed multiple lifelong associations with others in providing me with food for thought on the most pressing matters of the day. To be sure, it has opened my eyes to the beauty of life and shown me how a single individual can so value and utilize every precious moment that Almighty God has given him to make the world a better place .
You, sir, are a living legend. Would that God in his infinite wisdom should allow you another century on this planet or several more decades to illumiate us with your keen observations and lifelong experiences.
On further reflection, sir, that would probably be unfair to God, for while we here do need you so badly, learned teacher, there awaits for you in another phase of existence, rewards, fulfillment, and honor befitting of how well you have shown us the paths to our own successes, happiness, and destinies.
I only pray that God will see fit in his benevolence grant us the blessing of your presence among us for a very, very long time, before requesting the pleasure of your presence elsewhere!
Congrats again, sir…and may God keep you in good health!
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Randall Butisingh's Weblog 
Azad said,
October 22, 2009 at 12:48 pm
Mr. Butisingh,
Congratulations to you and all the folks involved in making this blog possible. Hope it goes on for years to come. With all the nonsense going on out in the world today, we need more enlightenment as you share on this site.
Thank you
randallbutisingh said,
December 9, 2009 at 5:42 pm
Thanks to those who have contributed to the second Anniversy of my Weblog, and also to those who have visited without whose participation the weblog would not have had world wide acclaim and have merited the distinguished Graypow Award. I trust that during this new year we wil be able to provide you with as the phi;osopher White puts it: “The best test of the inspiration of any writing is itsserviceableness fot the moral and spiritual needs of men”.
Thanks again!