BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - IN Part One, the popular teacher spoke about the effect prison life had on him, teaching the inmates and helping them to obtain CXC subjects, counselling and general prison life.
In this final episode, Nital talks about losing both of his parents in a matter of weeks and dealing with that grief, his Appeal case and the assistance he provided to another inmate, who was convicted of the same crime, that may have had a hand in him [inmate] escaping jail time.
It was said that there was a fear of you teaching Chemistry to the inmates because they would have made bombs and blow up the prison. What are your views on that?
Nital: “My quest to have Chemistry taught has been protested against because of the nature of the subject. That is only a perception! They would have had out here that Newrish Nital educating criminals. They would have out here that he teaching the criminals how to make bombs. They would have instructed officers to keep an eye on me every second of the day because I am capable of blowing up the station of the prison. They would have had so many things to say. It did not bring me any discomfort; I use my education for positive things.”
There was a Nigerian national at HMP who was convicted of the same crime as you and he received a non-custodial sentence while you were given jail time. Was there any ill feeling?
Nital: “No! There was absolutely no ill feeling. What happened is that I was trying to be wary of associating with him because people might feel that there was some conspiracy...that we acted together.
“I wanted to guard myself against that association within the minds of people, but then I say, 'Man, the truth cannot change. The Lord is above. I am not going to dissociate from him. He is going through his struggle, he came here to study.’ And I put myself in his position where I would have travelled overseas to study already and had to go through some really rough times.
“Prior to his sentencing, he came and he told me he needed some help because he was very anxious with respect to his sentencing and he needed to know what angle he can take, what he can say. I sat with him a few hours and gave him some insights as to what he can relay to his lawyer to provide whatever necessary consideration.
“Even though I was serving my sentence and maybe somebody else might've thought that 'let him serve he damn sentence too', it didn't cross my mind. Anything I can do for anybody to legally get out of prison, I would do that. I would offer my assistance.
“He was just another one out of the tens that it happened to. He was very hurt, he was uncomfortable, he was going through a lot of things and I thought that it was necessary for me to have him consoled in whatever way, even via helping him to assist his lawyer in making submissions. I don't know what was submitted but I know I did a great deal with him and asked him to relay the information to his lawyer to see how much he could have been of assistance to him.”
Did you have any fear that you might have lost your Appeal case?
Nital: “Never! Never ever! No fear whatsoever. Never ever! When God is on your side and facts, there are no substrata of the facts. Facts don't change! You could change your opinion but facts do not change. And the Lord above, He has a bird’s eye view on everything, and regardless if somebody might want to ramble He doesn't permit it. The eventuality is that it would come in favour of whoever it is supposed to come in favour of, and obviously He knew that I was innocent and I didn't do it off of myself. I did it under His command and His watch, so I was always confident that I would win. I never had a doubt. Not even when I applied for bail.”
How did you deal with the passing of your father while in prison?
Nital: “I went to see him. I never left that prison from the time I went there, apart from going down [to the High Court] for status hearing for my appeal. But, on a particular day, there was a police officer who indicated to Mr. Dorset [Prison Superintendent] that he thinks that I should go and see my dad. Occasionally, I would have gotten permission and called him but he had deteriorated to some extent, so I was granted the permission to go and see him on a Sunday. I called out to him and I have a usual tone that I used, so he would know it was me and he answered. I knew it was him because he was the only one in there with that particular identification of vocals.
“He eyed me all over and I cuddled him, fed him from a bottle; I was there for him. I spent about two hours and then I went back down. And the next day I was carrying on classes and Mr. Dorset came up, called out to me and went to his office. Another officer came up and he said, ‘Boy, the Lord does work in a sort of way boy. It's well and good you went to see your dad yesterday.’ When he said that I read through the lines and I realised what he was coming with but nobody else wanted to tell me.
“He died close to the end of February but they [family] held on [with the funeral] because I assured them that I was going to try my utmost, use whatever laws there is to be used, use whatever act I had to use, use whatever emotional appeal I could have used to try and get out there for my mom, especially after the death of my father. He was buried on a Friday and she went to sleep on the Saturday and she never woke up.”
What was that experience like, losing your mom right after burying your father?
Nital: “It was strengthening because it taught me that when the Lord is ready for you there is nothing that anyone can do, and I came to the realisation that I would have to continue life without them. She wasn't sick, sick, sick to say that she would have passed...but I found solace in the fact that they both would have gone to a brighter place, none that mankind could better provide than that Supreme Being.
“I have been using that [comfort] ever since, even though at times I take [a few] moments out to really let it digest and sink in that I don't have my parents around anymore. I have gone on since that. The inmates took it harder than I did. I got letters, I got cards - and they designed their own cards - and letters. They were very touching. Nobody on the outside would have given me anything comparable to what they have presented me with, and they came from some of my best students. About every student did something. They gave me their individual letters. I kept a few of them and occasionally I read them, not to bring back memories of the death of my parents but to look to see how far they would have come from when we first met in 2011.”
Nital said that he has formed a very strong bond with the inmates and he now has "an army of minds", having helped them to further their education.
