Gunnoo Gangaram was born on 25th March 1919, in the village of Casela, some 4 Km. away from the Palma State secondary school. His father passed away just before he was born and his ailing mother expired when he was three years old. His aunt took him under her care. Although he was orphaned at an early age, through sheer hard work and perseverance, he overcame the fate that was the lot of the children of the working classes of those days.

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His ambition was to become a doctor to be able to alleviate the suffering of his fellow countryman. However, his financial situation did not allow him to pursue his dream. Instead after passing his Matriculation Examinations, he sat for the Nursing Certificate and started his career as a Nursing officer.

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During World War II, he served the Jewish interned at Barkly’s nursing home at Beau Basin. After the war, though he came first in the nursing examinations, he was not given a permanent job in the Government hospital.

Young Gunnoo faced the discrimination of a pitiless society which hardly left him any avenue for employment. He joined the Teacher Training College and sat for the then very tough teachers’ examinations and he came first in the 2nd Class teacher’s examinations. That again showed his determination to excel in whatever he undertook.

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Education: The path to emancipation

Inspired by a teacher called Shammoogum, Gunnoo ran free classes for the underprivileged, teaching them Mathematics and English; he endeavoured to instil in his students ambition, self-confidence and a sense of self-worth. In those difficult and seemingly hopeless times he realised that the only way out of servitude and poverty was through a sound education. During that time, he was also drawn towards spirituality.

He took his first teaching job in 1948, at the Newton College in Rose Hill to teach English, English Literature and Mathematics to Form 4 and Form 5 students. Some five years later he joined Neo College in Port Louis and taught there up to 1960. In 1961 he joined the Port Louis High School as assistant Principal and with Mr. Heeralall Bhugaloo as Manager. However, a difference in appreciation of how the school should be run made him leave the Port Louis High School in the mid-1962.

 

Mr Anand Mulloo the well known writer has this to say about Gunnoo Gangaram in his book”The Edge of the Cliff”

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There are countless number of people, especially the less fortunate of the society who had benefitted with “The Secret of knowledge’ by Gunnoo enabling them to progress.

He started his own college in 1963, but this was short lived. He had to face the tough reality that being benevolent and running a school does not work well, and within 6 months of operation, the institution had to shut down. He left no stone unturned to ensure that all the students got admission in another college. In late 1963, he joined College Flacq.

 

Political career

Gunnoo Gangaram stood as candidate for the general elections of 1953 in the constituency of Plaines Wilhems/Black River. In the 1959 general elections, he was elected in the first position in constituency no. 27, Black River. Again in the 1967 general elections, he was elected, this time in constituency no 12, under the banner of the Independence Party, (a coalition of the Labour Party, the Independent Forward Block (IFB) and the Comite d’Action Musulman) along with his partners Lutchmeeparsad Badry and Harold Walter.

He was appointed Minister of Post and External communications in the first post-independence government of Mauritius. However, the Times, in London reported that, in 1969, Bissoondoyal, the leader of the Independent Forward Block decided to lead his party out of the government over a matter of principle: “We urged restraint in Government spending but were ignored” he said. “We do not mind development, but we do object to the future of the country being forfeited in this way because overseas loans will have to be paid back”.

Mr Ramkisson Jeetah in his article in the journal le VANI, said: “Articulate and in touch with the problems of the country, he formally joined politics in 1959 by adhering to the Independent Forward Block. In that same year he was elected from the Constituency of Black River. He was again elected in 1967 under the banner of the Independence Party as second member for the Constituency of Mahebourg/Plaine Magnien. Mr Gangaram formed part of the Mauritian delegation led by Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam at the Constitutional Conference in London in 1961. It was at this conference that he gave a presentation of the mammoth meeting held at the “Magistrature of Rose Hill, by the IFB, showing that Hindus, Muslims, Chinese and the general population attended that meeting, thus refuting the British’s notion that Independence would create communal problem. He also served as Minister of Internal and External Communications from 1967 to 1969. As a Minister he is remembered for his humility and his friendly disposition.”

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The IFB fought for Independence with the labour party in 1967. Messrs S Bissondoyal, A.W.Foondun, G . Gangaram, L. Jugnauth and R. Jeetah left the government because of fundamental issues. Professor Basdeo Bissondoayal, the founder of the Jan Andolan Movement garlanded them on the 12th of March 1969 at the Swaraj Bhawan lallmatie;the first time he offered a garland to anybody in the history of Jan Andolan

 

As a parliamentarian he was sincere, forceful and eloquent. He never coveted material things, but rather enjoyed serving the poor and needy people of the society voluntarily, irrespective of their religion, caste or colour. He put his time, intellect and power at the service of the country. He will be remembered for his contribution to the constitutional advancement of the country, to the struggle for independence and towards the realisation of the hopes and aspirations of our countrymen.

Above all, he was constantly in touch with the downtrodden of the society and Mr Ramkissoon Jeetah was very much privileged to have the advice of Gunnoo Gangaram. “Visit the vast number of homes of less privileged people today", Gangaram used to say, "and each cottage has a story of its own. The badly dressed old man, living upon the sweat of his brows, in any corner of a village, has a rich heritage to share with you".

 

 

In the year 2011 when Sir Aneerood Jugnauth was the President of Mauritius , the Vito centre went to see him in conjunction with the erection of a bust for Gunnoo Gangaram. He penned down the following note:

 

 

Back to Education

When the IFB left the government, Gunnoo Gangaram joined the teaching profession again in late 1969 at Eastern College and served there until 1987. Mr. Ramnath Jeetah the owner of the college had this to say: “Mr. Gunnoo Gangaram was the best educational adviser I happened to have during my 50 years’ career of running a secondary school. He was above all, truthful, faithful and devoted to the cause of a sound education”

Mr Ramkisson Jeetah in his article in the journal le VANI, said: “ I have known G. Gangaram for the last forty years from the time I was a student. When I started working at Eastern College, his excellence in teaching Mathematics, caught the attention of teachers and students. Students would come to him for solutions to their mathematical problems, and, within seconds, he would send them to their classes fully satisfied. Sookdeo Bissondoyal saw in him this excellent penchant for mathematics and nicknamed him Pascal, name borrowed from Blaise Pascal, a French prodigy in Mathematics.” Perhaps this is an incidental similarity but this like Pascal, Gangaram lost his ailing mother at three. His maternal aunt (mowsi) took care of him. Gangaram had lost his father earlier, before he was born.

This is what Dr Daman Dabee, daughter of Mr Ramnath Jeetah had to say: “He was teaching Mathematics and French Literature (Text: Paul et Virginie). He loved to teach history also especially with the help of the book ‘Concise history of Mauritius’ written by Mr Sookdeo Bissoondoyal. In fact he taught literature from Form I to Form VI, using all the books written by Sookdeo and Basdeo Bissoondoyal. Some people remember him as a man who was very much experienced and knew much about the true history of Mauritius. He always used the appropriate terms to describe something or an event. Mr Gangaram was practically never absent from work though he had to travel all the way to Central Flacq from Beau Bassin. He was the first person to reach school after Mr Ramnath Jeetah, the Manager. They would sit in Mr Jeetah’s office and talk for some time before breaking off for their respective duties. In the absence of Mr Ramnath Jeetah, Mr Gungaram used to take care of the school. At school he was very friendly with Dr Dharma Rajan and many other teachers. He was known for some time as the discipline master of the school. The words that can be used to describe him are: Polite, gentle with children, always smiling, calm, full of humility, disciplined, knowledgeable & respectful towards all”.

 

 

 

Spiritual Life and service to the poor

He was the epitome of the art of giving, as he kept helping the downtrodden and the poor with the basic necessities as per his capabilities. Thousands of people came to seek succour from Him over his lifetime. At one time, people believed he had healing powers. He was a nursing officer for a short time and his experience in this domain helped him give medical advice and suggest cures. His training as a qualified nurse not only allowed him to give medical care to those who were sick, but he also used his knowledge of Ayurvedic science to prescribe Tisane a la Saponer, Mazambron paste and Aloe Vera among others. Ramkissoon Jeetah wrote in le Va ni “One day, I drew his attention to Goswami Seetohul's mention of him in one of his interesting articles in L'Express as Hanuman, the great devotee of the legendary Lord Rama; I observed a glow on his face as Hanuman was the deity he had much devotion for.”

Gunnoo loved reading and most of his spare time was spent in going through his rich collection of books on religion, spirituality and philosophy. This collection has now been passed over to his children and grandchildren.

Epilogue

Gunnoo Gangaram died peacefully surrounded by his close family members on 11 May 2006. His message of peace and tolerance and his strict adherence to his party’s ideal of corruption-free politics made him an exceptional person and a great soul.

Remembering the famous song of Frank Sinatra “ I did it my way” we can say that “Gunnoo did Gunnoo did it his wayit his way” in all humility and the pure sense of unconditional love. Suffice to say that when he was approached to be included in the list of those being decorated for the Independence day, he politely refused and thanked them . He had this to say” I did all the services with all my heart for my countrymen and not to win any decoration”