Bush medicine

AS TOLD TO BC PIRES

My name is Davy Sookraj and I’m a landscape artist.

I born and grow and lived 40 years of my life in Santa Cruz, close to the Stollmeyer estate, where my grandparents worked.

That experience shaped me into the human being I am.

I still love Santa Cruz and pass and look for my friend Anthony Campo.

I grow up with my cousins, going in the bush, cocoa fields, going in the river to catch fish. Forest. Living off the land. Adventure, then.

My wife Alana Abdul-Sookraj and I are together 15 years, married seven years.

We have three sons, Jadon Abdul, 14, in QRC, Israel Sookraj, 13, St Francis College, and Darian Sookraj, nine, Richmond Street Boys’.

During the day, if somebody want to eat something, that’s fair for them.

But when we sit down to eat as a family, everybody has to pray together.

I went to Santa Cruz RC, Mt Hope Junior Sec and San Juan Secondary Comprehensive, by Bourg Mulatresse there.

I came out with three passes in 1997.

I don’t regret anything, though, because wherever I am now is where God wanted me to be.

I read my Bible and listen to people talk.

The onliest place I’ve never been is a mosque. And my father is Muslim!

I wasn’t raised in a faith but I had this feeling growing up that we weren’t just here for nothing, there had to be a reason.

I started going to the RC church on my own. My parents never send me. I used to travel to school, so I travelled to church and made First Communion.

When I was around 18 years, I develop this feeling: live and be free, live different from everybody else. I try to move away from people and society.

I realise people’s just kinda fail you all the time. And stab you in your back for no reason.

Once people show me love, I show them love. I deal with everybody everywhere I go with the same level of respect.

If I find like you want to cross my path, I pull myself back. Because I don’t want no conflict!

Some people like problems. But I just like peace.

Life is hard enough. And nobody doesn’t know what somebody else walking around with in their mind.

My hair is all about a spiritual connection to this earth, this universe, the supreme power. My hair is about Jah Rastafari but not Selassie-I.

I not praising no man and figure he’s some kind of God. I not respecting that. I not worshipping no idols.

I just believe in God, something keeping you alive and guiding you.

I did training with the Defence Force. I could have been a police officer.

All these things, I just walked away from it. I didn’t have a family at the time. And I said I have to take care of myself first.

And after that, my whole life turn around into a real positive direction. Today, I have a family, I have two houses, I have a job, a business on the side. Something have to be working.

I listen to conscious music.

Growing up, I had one or two uncles who were Rastas as well. My grandparents were always playing Bob Marley.

Music does really touch your soul.

I wish I coulda sing. My last little son, he’s sing while he studying, in the bathroom, anywhere. No matter what kind of music, he would sing and dance.

I played J’Ouvert, like, twice. Carnival is part of our culture, but I really don’t like it at all. It too violent, too disgraceful and too distasteful.

I worked in the midst of Carnival already, but I don’t take part in the street revelry. It very empty.

Nature is my relaxation. In Santa Cruz, I would just sit and look at the stars over the mountain in the night. In Arima, I sit down by the lake. And watch the water. Take a little smoke.

Just enjoying the birds in the trees and stuff. I might see the caiman. We have capybara, too.

I was just there home and my mom saw an article where they were looking for landscapers. I didn’t know anything about it, but I went and I did landscaping for about two years.

Then I went into land surveying, which I knew nothing about either.

But I always keep navigating back to plants, all the time. The guy at the plant shop where I work know me from 15 years ago. Things could be a little better, but it’s good, because I love what I’m doing.

I love plants, so it’s not like a job to me.

Most of my work is creating and designing gardens and landscapes.

I don’t like doing too much maintenance. I like laying out plants for beds. Creating pathways.

Giving people advice. Recommend which plants to put where, this can’t work here, it might work in a next spot. Some plants can’t take sun, some need rain. After five years, what would be the size of the plant, how destructive the roots could be, all these different things.

The best part of being a landscape artist is the plants.

Is more the plants than the people. I just like being with plants. Remember, they are alive too!

The bad thing about landscaping is the hard work that have to go in behind it. Sometimes you reach a difficult situation and you have to know how to work around it.

Somebody might remove a plant from the ground but they don’t know what kind of root system it have, these kind of things. You’re trying to save the plant and you might kill it.

Sometimes you do a job for a customer and they don’t want to pay.

And they expect me to react, but I don’t. I just walk off. I will take the burden, pay my guys and forget about the money.

But I know it will be on their conscience: “Hey, I ain’t pay that man.”

Is always some problem with some people and I’s just leave it alone. I don’t want no problems.

I really want to open my own, like, official business. I have some really high-end clients.

Most of my things is just recommendations. I don’t have a call card.

As I go along, things kinda falling into place. So I’m just trying to stay on the straight and narrow and just try to push forward. As hard as I could.

I just want to make a better life for my family.

All I have for myself is my good name. I want to keep it so.

Since I young, Europe is somewhere I always wanted to go. So next year I’m taking a trip next to Amsterdam, Italy and Germany.

But I really want to go to Switzerland. I would love to live there.

Is cold. But I would adapt to it.

A Trini is one of the most happiest persons in the world. You might be sad, but just for a moment. Because our country is so blessed, despite all the little odds and ends that happening.

We’re free to do more or less anything in our country. And the way many religions, many different races, live together as one people is the most amazing thing.

Trinidad and Tobago is my home. No matter where I go, I think I will still want to come back here.

I going to Switzerland on a return ticket. In the first instance, yes.

Read the full version of this feature on Friday evening at www.BCPires.com