By Dr. Dhanpaul Narine
Rose (Rosannah) Deonarine is an emcee, host and blogger. When she was a teenager she boarded a plane from Trinidad for New York. She had not seen her mother for five years and Rose was looking forward to the reunion. There were different emotions as the plane took off from Piarco. Rose was sad to leave her friends and family behind but at the same time she was looking forward to a new life in New York.
The plane landed in New York on a sunny day in June 1999 and the reunion with her mother was amazing. Rose’s life since then has taken the form of a rollercoaster; she is able to pursue her dreams and to enter into areas that she didn’t think was possible when she was a child.
Rose was born in Penal, in Trinidad, in a close-knit family. Her mom is Ramdaye and her dad is Moonasar Deonarine. Rose is the second to last child in a family of five. She attended a Roman Catholic School in Penal and then High School where she became a prefect. Rose took a liking to English and a teacher Mr. Mohamed was particularly caring.
Rose spent a considerable time with her eldest brother and his family while her mother was in New York. Rajin became a father-figure and his wife Debbie was also supportive, and was like a mother. In fact, Rajin and Debbie took care of four of the children and words are not enough to thank them for their support. The stay with her brother and his wife taught the children the importance of personal responsibility and Rose is all the better for it.
Leaving Trinidad was emotional. Rose said goodbye to Rajin and Debbie and promised them that she would work hard in her new homeland. She was greeted at JFK airport by relatives and her mom Ramdaye was thrilled to meet with Rose and her brother. After an initial period of adjustment Rose made new friends and soon found a job on Liberty Avenue.
She saw New York as the place of opportunities. She says, “I thought that everything was easily accessible in America. I liked Bollywood a lot and I happened to meet with someone that introduced me to Rohit Jagessar.”
According to Rose Rohit gave her a prime time slot on the radio on Fridays on a program called Hungama. Rose is currently on internet radio where she has a show on Bacchanal radio.
Rose obviously has a talent for radio but she decided to venture into other areas. One such was Dulhan Expo. She became a model for the Expo and during one of the sessions a storeowner on Liberty Avenue saw Rose and made her an offer. The idea was to have a West Indian Dulhan Expo. Rose agreed and started to train the models. It was then that another thing happened: Rose suggested that she might be the MC for the show as well and this was accepted.
She got in touch with Rick Ramdehal and a stage show was arranged in 2005. The show was a success and this gave her the opportunity to work on television. Rose interviewed the stars and she became a busy media person. One day, she was approached to MC a sweet sixteen. It was her first attempt at such a function and it came off well.
This led to a job in which she would MC for a number of years. Rose has done so well that she became the first person in her community make the crossover into the Punjabi community. She has been performing MC functions at Punjabi weddings for over ten years and has solidified a space there. The couples would request Rose as part of the wedding package. She says that she fell in love with Punjabi music a long time ago and she thoroughly enjoys it.
A big break came in Rose’s way when she was given a time slot on Bachanal Radio. This has enabled Rose to grow and to be in touch with West Indian music and to meet with different peoples. But above all, Rose remains passionate about her studies. She is in college reading for a degree in English and one day may be a teacher in a classroom.
Rose has a blog to keep in touch her fans and she has her own page on Facebook and is popular on other sites as well. She is optimistic about the future. Rose wants to be successful, to be married with children and to continue in the entertainment industry. In addition, she would like to be a great writer. She writes all the time and takes her work for her peers to review. She is on the editorial staff of her college newspaper and a number of her articles were published.
Rose recently copped exclusive video interviews with major Bollywood stars at the IIFA awards. They included big names like Shilpa Shetty, Katrina, Alia Bhatt, Saif Ali Khan, and others. Rose would like to thank her mom Ramdaye and her family for their love and support. Her major influences include Marci Rupnarain and Ryan Seacrest.
Rose started a DJ company, Siren International, with her brothers DJ’s Nick, Shan and Groove that is doing well. Her website is www. ReadySetRose.com and she likes to watch Shah Rukh Khan movies and trying out different foods.
Rose is a credit to her family and her community. She will definitely go a far way and will bring many honors to her community. We are proud of her and wish her all the best in the future.
