May Mauritius and India forever be friends

14 March, 2013

Julius Caesar uttered 'Vini Vici Vidi' (I came, I saw, I conquered) on the soil of United Kingdom after conquering it. Indeed, President of India was on a State visit to Mauritius just for three days but the guest and the host conquered one another culturally and emotionally. On board the aircraft, Air India, the President summed up his visit as 'emotional.'

May I recall that when I had met the father of the present Prime Minister, Sir Shew Sagar Ramghulam in the early seventies at the Arya Maha Sammelan at Alwar, Rajasthan, he had spoken in Bhojpuri, the language of his ancestors who had gone to Mauritius as indentured labour.

The present Prime Minister, Navin Chandra Ramghoolam recalled very fondly the bonds of his people with the Eastern India and said that he always loved to recount the romance and thrill of those days when the first few batches had landed in the unknown place to assist in sugar plantation. I must give credit to the original settlers from Bharat that they maintained their love of language and culture of ancestors.

The Ram Charit Manas of Tulsidas kept their morale high besides keeping them in touch with the language and culture. It may be of interest to those Indians who have not yet visited the Laghu Bharat that is away from the mainland and is nestling as an island in the Indian Ocean.

The scenic beauty of Mauritius beckons. One may go out in any direction on the island nation, and the roar or the murmur of waves of the Indian Ocean cannot be missed.

The urban and the rural divide are not so marked as in the urban and rural markings in Bharat. The clothings and food habits are just about the same. Of course, the young nation of Mauritius has yet to find its distinct identity. There is an appreciable number of men and women from Polynesian and creole descent. Both the French and the English who ruled the island nation have left their marks in the form of language, plays that are often a by-product of the cultural heritage.

Notwithstanding some disparity following the urban and the rural divide, the people live in peace and harmony. The party elders and the gram sabha pramukh see to it that some foreign and imported influence may not mix the poison of separatism and spoil the tranquility prevailing now. Mauritius has the record of unbroken peace and tranquility from the day the present settlement came into being. The people are proud of it.

Clergy-day at Nevada Museum of Art

Jorge Mario Bergoglio is world's first pope from Americas

COMMENTS (4)

Guest

Brigadier CHITRANJAN SAWANT,VSM

AUM. Thanks indeed Dr Ratan Bhattacharjee for reading my article on Mauritius and commenting on it. Of course, we do need a little diversion from an overdose of politics.

0 Replies

Brigadier CHITRANJAN SAWANT,VSM

AUM Dear Dr Ratan Bhattacharjee, Namaste. Thanks indeed for reading my article and commenting on it. Of course, it provides a healthy diversion from the thick of Political battles that we have been fighting day after day.

0 Replies