President Christine Kangaloo has paid tribute to two late distinguished figures of the National Council for Indian Culture: Independent Senator Deoroop Teemal and Dr. Deokinanan Sharma, for their lasting contributions to Trinidad and Tobago’s culture.
Speaking on the fifth night of Divali Nagar 2025, the President said both men were cultural trailblazers who served with humility and left behind lasting legacies.
She acknowledged the immense contribution of former NCIC President, Independent Senator Deoroop Teemal, who died in August.
“On behalf of a grateful nation, I say thank you to Senator Teemal and to his family for having given such selfless service to Trinidad and Tobago and to humanity as a whole. As one of your speakers put it so eloquently when he addressed you last Saturday evening, Senator Teemal’s legacy will live on in every deya lit and in every act of Seva performed in the name of culture and faith.”
In paying tribute to Dr. Sharma, the founder of the National Council for Indian Culture (NCIC) who passed away in 2024, she remembered his decades-long commitment to preserving Indo-Trinidadian heritage.
“Dr. Sharma and Senator Teemal did this, not for recognition or reward, but out of a deep love of their heritage and a profound sense of responsibility to the generations to come.”
In 1995, Dr. Sharma was awarded the Hummingbird Medal (Gold) for his contributions to culture, while Senator Teemal, a committed advocate for cultural preservation, dedicated much of his life to national service.
The theme for the 2025 Divali Nagar, Loka Sangraha, drawn from the Bhagavad Gita, calls for selfless action for the greater good. President Kangaloo emphasised that this principle applies to everyone, not just leaders.
“Why? Because the world is not shaped only in parliaments or palaces. It is shaped in homes, in classrooms, in workplaces, in everyday choices, and in ordinary acts of kindness. Leaders may make laws, but it is people who make society. Leaders may set direction, but it is we who create the culture.”