‘Shivie’ made people happy

SLAIN bass guitarist Shivan Premnath Ramdhanie, 28, was not only remembered for his love for music but also for his love of cars and making others happy.

“Shivie was well loved and was a joy to be around. His interest was not only music, he loved cars. He learnt to drive before he was 16 years and his interest went from driving to fixing cars. He made an impression on the lives of all the people he encountered,” said his aunt Virginia Roopchan.

She was delivering the eulogy during his funeral at the home of relatives on Main Road in Gran Couva, his hometown, yesterday.

Ramdhanie, who lived at Barrackpore, was a member of the local rock band, Bon Cane.

On Wednesday, at about 11.30 pm, gunmen shot and killed him at Trooper’s Bar, Mohess Road, Penal. He and other band members had practised at the bar in preparation for a tour in Guyana and Suriname next month. Ramdhanie was sitting at a table with friends when a white Nissan B-15 pulled up and two masked gunmen got out entered the bar and shot him. The killing was captured on CCTV and footage showed that Ramdhanie’s back was turned and he never saw the killers. Another patron was shot and wounded. He is at San Fernando General Hospital.

Roopchan shared fond moments Ramdhanie, a former student of Presentation College, Chaguanas, had with family and friends. “He was very close his mother, Savitri. At times she would return late from work in Chaguanas. Shivie was about four-years-old and would tell her, ‘Come home when it have sun and not when it have moon’,” Roopchan said.

Pundit Atma Maharaj told mourners that based on the number of crimes in the country, no one is sure to live to tomorrow. To die is a must, he said, so people should prepare themselves for death.

Maharaj said about 20 years ago at a funeral, he asked a congregation about how people prepared for death. An old man responded saying he was already prepared because he made a will. Making a will, picking a coffin, choosing a religious leader to do one’s funeral rites are not examples of how people should prepare for death, the pundit said.

“You prepare by bringing your life closer to God. Whatever religion you belong to, whatever faith you may follow, there is only one God. It is man who made religions. We just happen to know God by different names and different forms.”

“Whatever form of God you believe in, pray to him and bring him in your lives. Only then you will be prepared for death. We are here in this world for a short time, for a vacation,” Maharaj said.

Ramdhanie’s body was taken to the Waterloo cremation site.

There is no motive for the killing nor has police arrested anyone for it, however Penal police and Homicide Bureau Region III officers are investigating the case.