DR SAT BALKARANSINGH
A few days ago noted icon, businessman and cultural leader Torrance Mohammed died under tragic circumstances. The artistic fraternity and the country mourn his demise and pay tribute.
Born in October 1931, in Irie Village, Princes Town, he was the fourth of 12 children. His family was Muslim, and he was named Iqbal and later came to be known as Torrance. His great-grandparents had come from India under the British colonial system of indentureship to work on the plantations to build Trinidad’s economy. His father, a village imam, spoke and read the Hindi and Urdu languages, reading directly from the Ramayana, Bhagwat Gita and the Qu'ran.
Given the family’s modest economic situation, young Mohammed lived with his grandparents from four to eight years old. Early life with his grandparents taught him a valuable lesson. His grandfather, a Muslim, was a butcher and his grandmother, a Hindu, was a homemaker. They lived in peace and harmony. This practice of understanding and tolerance served him well throughout his life, as a husband, father, artist, leader, businessman and politician.
He attended the Princes Town RC school. Princes Town was originally called Savana Grande, where a RC mission had been established to colonise and convert the indigenous First Peoples of Trinidad. At eight, Mohammed moved back to Irie village and attended the Irie Government Primary School to sixth standard, then enrolled at the San Fernando Junior Technical School before going to work in the oilfields to supplement the household income.
During his free time Mohammed read extensively and went to the cinema. He learned fast, watching whatever movies came to the southlands – Indian and English – and especially those involving dance. He was also exposed to folk festivals in south; the annual Ramdilla, Jharoo (broom dance) Nagara (sung to Biraha music), kusti or Indian wrestling and Hosay with its martial art of gatka. He also attended Jagnas in Princes Town: the night of Indian weddings when there was music and dancing while meals were being prepared.
Mohammed recalled it was from the triangle – referred to as the square – in the middle of Princes Town that the “bara and channa sandwich” later renamed “doubles” was first introduced on a commercial basis as a street food. Badru Deen’s book Out of the Doubles Kitchen, on the history of doubles, gave credence to Mohammed’s statement.
He changed jobs, from apprentice technician to insurance salesman with the Maritime Insurance Co, learning salemanship, about money and investment, and how to win people’s confidence.
But the artistic impetus, creativity and the bright lights of the stage called. Dancer and choreographer Beryl McBurnie had returned from the US to Trinidad and founded the Little Carib Theatre and its dance company. Culture enthusiast and patron Canon Max Farquhar, rector of the St Patrick’s Anglican Church on Harris Promenade, invited her to teach classes. She commenced training at the old church hal
