Iconic Gossai is no more

In this Ramesh Ramkalawan photo taken on May 30, 2009 at the Pranav Ashram in Toronto, spiritual teacher Shri Prakash Gossai was reading his last Ramayan Yajna here in honour of the Kissoon family.
Guyanese-born Shri Prakash Gossai who has become somewhat of an institution within the Guyanese and Hindu communities in his homeland, the Caribbean and North America died unexpectedly of a heart attack on June 15, 2009 after taking ill a few days earlier.

Gossai, a Special Assistant to the President of Guyana, was recognized by officialdom for his patriotism, selflessness and his ability to remove barriers and unite people. But more than that he has become a teacher of Hinduism whose very name attracts crowds of several hundreds who flock his congregations to listen to his inspiring sermons and his very moving devotional songs for which he appears to be especially endowed.

Shri Prakash Gossai was cremated on June 18 in New York.The huge turnout in unprecedented numbers to the viewing and the funeral services of the late Shri Prakash Gossai and the public outpouring of grief on learning of his death are testimony to the tremendous love and respect that he had earned during his lifetime.

Known for his humility and pleasant disposition, he had developed a style of his own in his sermons combining his singing talent with his preaching to get the message of the scriptures across to his audience. His appeal had crossed the age barriers as not only did he reach out to the traditional middle aged and older audiences but he was also able to capture the youths, arousing their interest in Hindu Dharma. Shri Prakash Gossai had added a new dimension to Hindu religion wherever he went.
While he was a spiritual leader in the Hindu fold, and deserved to be called a pandit, this icon of humility said he was satisfied to be addressed as Shri Prakash Gossai stating: “I do not like to call myself a pandit because, to me, a pandit is an extremely knowledgeable person in any field and I don’t think that I am that knowledgeable to be classified a pandit.” He was comfortable with the honorific title ‘Shri’ which is one of respect or reverence and to thousands of his admirers, he was considered both learned and respected.

Shri Gossai was an iconic ambassador of Hinduism who was able to build bridges of friendship across the religious divide. This was confirmed when representatives of the major religious denominations in New York showed up at his funeral to pay their last respects to this messenger of peace and goodwill. A huge contingent from Guyana including government officials and private citizens also journeyed to New York to attend the funeral services. Among the dignitaries who attended the funeral were Ambassador Bayney Karran, Ministers Manniram Prashad and Robert Persaud; Chancellor of the Judiciary (ag) Justice Carl Singh; Dr Nanda Gopaul and former Attorney General Doonauth Singh who all paid tributes to Shri Gossai. Justice BK Roy and Bishop Edghill, Chairman of the Ethnic Relations Committee were also in attendance. And several persons from Toronto including Dr Budhendra Doobay and Swami Bhajananandaji also made the trip to New York for the funeral. The eulogy was read by Dr Suresh Narine.

Shri Prakash’s brother, Shri Bankim Gossai who resides in England and is also involved in the religious field, told ICW that “one of the guiding principles of his brother’s short life was his belief that man is born to serve humanity and Shri Prakash never waivered from such eternal principles.” Shri Bankim said that his brother had “displayed unique talent at a very tender age and having realized that, he was clever enough to share it with the rest of the world.” Shri Bankim quoted Mother Teresa that the life of a good person belongs to the world. "Such is the case with my brother who has lived a life of serving humanity.”
Shri Bankim told ICW, “our family extends our humble gratitude to the entire community for their tremendous support and inspiration at this time.”

He added that it is the fervent hope of the community that Shri Prakash’s son, Arun and daughter, Pratiksha would follow in the footsteps of their father in music and prachar work.

Legendary Bhajan singer, Anup Jalota, a personal friend of Shri Bankim and Shri Prakash, was passing through New York, on a concert tour and dropped in at the prayer service last Saturday night and sang in memory of his friend Shri Prakash Gossai.

Arya Samaj Pandit Suresh Sugrim, who was a very close friend and confidante of Shri Gossai told ICW, “the death of Shri Gossai has hit the West Indian community like a tornado and people are suffering from its impact.” He described Shri Prakash as the “Mahatma of the 21st century, a legendary son of Guyana, who gave to the world and kept nothing for himself.” He said Shri Prakash Gossai had donated his talent to the compilation of a CD “Bhikshaa Ya Daan” in collaboration with New Jersey Arya Samaj, which was used to raise funds to support the organization's humanitarian mission in Guyana.
Dr Tara Singh of New York, told ICW that Shri Gossai’s death “has left the people in a state of shock and bewilderment and has catapulted them into emotional disarray.” He said that about four or five thousand people attended the viewing while those attending the funeral were easily double that, with the police being required to control traffic for blocks away.

And in a letter to Stabroek News, pollster and journalist, Vishnu Bisram said “I have never seen such a large turnout for a funeral or wake for a Caribbean person (in fact for anyone) in NY. Thousands turned out for the viewing of the body and funeral rites for Shri Prakash Gossai. It was a phenomenal outpour of grief for the legendary bhajan singer and pandit. People simply loved this soul and they came by the thousands to pay their last respects.”

Pandit Prakash Gossai was born in Handsome Tree, Mahaica on April 23, 1953. He had attended Cummings Lodge Secondary School and proceeded to the University of Guyana where he studied Medical Technology and later did a BSc degree in Biology. His talent in singing won him the Mukesh singing competition in 1981. He later emigrated to New York where he joined the New York Board of Education as a Science Teacher at the Thomas Jefferson High School in Brooklyn. But his religious calling took priority and in 1988 he established the Bhuvaneshwar Mandir. From then on the rest is history. He became a shining light in the Hindu Community and was sought after across the USA, Canada, England, Guyana and the Caribbean and even Venezuela and the British Virgin Islands.
After complaining of chest pains he was admitted to the Balwant Singh Hospital on June 9 and later transferred to the Caribbean Heart Institute in Georgetown. He was subsequently flown to Miami for medical treatment but suffered a massive heart attack and died on June 15, 2009.

At the time of his death Shri Gossai was serving as Special Assistant to President Jagdeo in the Office of the President and Chairman of the National Council on Suicide Prevention, established by the Ministry of Health. He was the recipient of the Medal of Service from the Guyana Government in 2002 “for long and dedicated service in the field of religion as a social and community worker.” He was also honoured by the Devi Mandir; the Premier of Ontario; the Federation of Hindu Temples of Canada; the New York City Council and the Tri-state Alliance for his humanitarian services and religious work.