Friends, family and colleagues spilled out of the family home and onto the streets of Bamboo Settlement No. 1, Valsayn, yesterday, as they gathered to say a final farewell to well-loved and respected journalist Sandra Chouthi. The funeral was a sad affair, with relatives crying out and tears rolling silently down the cheeks of friends and colleagues as numerous tributes were read and Hindu bhajans were sung.
Veteran journalists, media managers and government ministers paid their respects and flowers were laid on her body. Chouthi died on Monday at the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope, after living with cancer for some time. The funeral rites were held at Chouthi’s family home, after which she was cremated at the Caroni Cremation Site.
Chouthi’s life was remembered yesterday in the context of her professional and personal integrity and her devotion to her career as a journalist. Chouthi lived her life for journalism, and in many ways the profession changed her awareness of the world. Describing her as fiercely independent and private, her brother Premnath, during his eulogy, said Chouthi began her love of journalism at 13 years old when she submitted public opinion articles to the newspaper.
Premnath said it was those same articles that got her her first job as a journalist at the Trinidad Express. He described his sister as a woman of integrity who never twisted a story and he advised young reporters to look to her as an example. “Outside of work she was a caring, honest, stubborn, passionate, independent woman. There was no one in her life who could bribe her. Her honesty was unparalleled,” he said.
But beneath Chouthi’s infectious smile and caring, fun-loving personality, Premnath said, there was “a sleeping tiger” who was fiercely protective of herself and her family. Chouthi was first diagnosed with cancer in 2010 and was treated until the disease went into remission. The cancer returned late last year.
She received several tributes from current and past colleagues, including T&T Guardian Editor Irving Ward, Express Editor-In-Chief Omatie Lyder and former Express managing director Ken Gordon. Ward cried as he described the journalist as selfless. “She was always willing to listen, to hear, or to give advice,” Ward said. Lyder read tributes from several of Chouthi’s past colleagues, adding her integrity had never been questioned.
Communications Minister Vasant Bharath and Environment Minister Ganga Singh also gave brief remarks during the ceremony. Premnath said his family had no idea that Chouthi had been loved by so many people until they started reaching out to her family after her death, a possible testament to his sister’s humility and simple life.