Journalist Ryan Bachoo reflected on his personal journey as an author at his Book Launch on Saturday.
His book, ‘An Unending Search,’ aims to revive West Indian fiction writing in Trinidad and Tobago.
As he thanked those who were instrumental in his journey, he shared that the writing of his book remained a private endeavour for 15 years until its completion. He described the experience as deeply personal and transformative.
“I was doing an interview on Freedom, and Tusca asked me, you know, how many people knew about… zero. My parents didn’t even know that I was in the back room, which is my room in our home, writing a book. They didn’t even know it. They didn’t need to know it. Writing a book, in my opinion, I’m guessing there’s no right or wrong way, but it is a private journey, and you don’t need people coming up to you and asking you, ‘How long do you have again?’ or ‘What’s the book about?’ or ‘How is it going?’ or What’s the plot?'”
Though he filled many pages, he shared that there were days that writing didn’t come as easy as it should.
“There are days when you won’t feel to write. There are days when you feel tired. There are days when you will not be in the mood to write. There are days, the words aren’t going to be coming to your mind… write, because it’s going to feel like labour. It’s going to feel like a second job, and it really should be feeling as though you know this is something you enjoy.”
Dean of the Ken Gordon School of Journalism, COSTAATT, Clarinda Jack, said she met Ryan when he began his journalism studies years ago. She said even at that time she could see that he was a young man with a dream.
“Ryan, thanks for following your dream, for taking a chance, and contributing to the growing body of West Indian literature. You are the quintessential storyteller. You tell us the news stories every night. You tell us stories through The Big Interview. Whether you tell the story from Japan, from Egypt, from Azerbaijan, you tell it with heart.”
Ryan said writers from the West Indies have shaped the fabric of human life in the region.
“That’s not something that’s taught enough. That’s not something that’s understood enough. Naipaul literally shaped, you talk to the experts, you don’t have to listen to me, you talk to the experts at the colleges and universities; he shaped the way we lived today, the way we view ourselves today; he shaped it. They called him a racist, they called him a misogynist, they called him an angry old man, but he shaped the way we lived today.”
With his latest addition, it’s safe to say that he’s also adding to the many West Indian stories with his 12-chapter book. The author dedicated his book to his parents.