RAD­HI­CA DE SIL­VA

Se­nior Mul­ti­me­dia Re­porter

rad­hi­ca­s­ookraj@guardian.co.tt

San Fer­nan­do Car­ni­val icon Wendy Kallicha­ran will be ho­n­oured with a stand at Skin­ner Park as a per­ma­nent trib­ute to the role she and her hus­band, mas mn Ivan Kallicha­ran played in shap­ing San Fer­nan­do’s Car­ni­val.

The an­nounce­ment was made by San Fer­nan­do May­or Robert Par­ris dur­ing her fu­ner­al at the Sushamachar Pres­by­ter­ian Church yes­ter­day.

Among those in at­ten­dance were Trade Min­is­ter Ka­ma Ma­haraj, Ed­u­ca­tion Min­is­ter Dr Michael Dowlath,and for­mer Agri­cul­ture Min­is­ter Kaz­im Ho­sein.

Ma­haraj de­scribed Kallicha­ran as a leg­end.

In his trib­ute, May­or Par­ris said the pro­pos­al to name the stand was made two months ago.

“ It was the quick­est yes we ever gave,” he said.

“With­out the Kallicha­ran fam­i­ly, there would be no Car­ni­val in San Fer­nan­do. You have left a mark that is un­reach­able by most.”

Ad­dress­ing Kallicha­ran’s chil­dren, he added: “An­drew, Aaron, Ayana — con­tin­ue the lega­cy. San Fer­nan­do mourns with you.”

Aaron who de­liv­ered the eu­lo­gy spoke of the deep bond Kallicha­ran shared with her grand­chil­dren.

“She was their pro­tec­tor, teacher, and biggest fan. They gave her strength. Her ab­sence will be deeply felt, es­pe­cial­ly by my dad,” he said.

He re­called her 60-year mar­riage with Ivan, her love for her sis­ter Kamal­daye Go­sine, and the ex­tend­ed fam­i­ly they cher­ished.

“Af­ter she lost her moth­er, Kamal­daye be­came her moth­er. Their bond brought us to­geth­er. That’s the fam­i­ly my mom built,” he said.

Re­call­ing mo­ments of com­fort and peace, he re­vealed: “I could turn to her at any point — as a boy, a uni­ver­si­ty stu­dent, a hus­band. There was no judg­ment. Just love. That is a les­son for all of us.”

Aaron urged the con­gre­ga­tion to reach out to their moth­ers. “Spend time with them. And if they’ve passed, speak to them any­way. That’s what I’ll do to­mor­row — say Hap­py Moth­er’s Day,” he said.

Mas camp work­er and friend Coryse Oliv­er re­called how Kallicha­ran shaped her life.

“She taught me every­thing. We be­came a team. In good times and bad, Wendy was there. When I was in the hos­pi­tal for three months, she was there. She be­came fam­i­ly,” she said.

Oliv­er said Kallicha­ran’s mem­o­ry will live on, not on­ly in San Fer­nan­do’s Car­ni­val lega­cy but in the lives of those she sup­port­ed and in­spired.

“She will al­ways live on — in my house,” she said.

Jacqui Koon How, a life­long friend, de­scribed Kallicha­ran as some­one who of­fered com­fort to any­one.

“You didn’t need to be fam­i­ly to be wel­comed by Wendy,” she said.

Kallicha­ran died on Thurs­day af­ter a five-year bat­tle with ovar­i­an can­cer.