Entries from February 2007 ↓

You will recalled that I told you earlier that my bed time reading was Anthony de Mello‘s book.

His short stories are well worth reading. I would advise you to get this book. To wet your appetite, I have copied yet another extract to you.

Just imagine all the wars going on because of religions. Even worse, ponder on the conflicts which arise between brothers of the same faith! Shiites or Sunnites.

The display at Walt Dinsey World, designed in close collaboration with Bat Conservation International Founder Merlin Tuttle, features two remarkable species: the Malayan flying fox (Pteropus vampyrus) and the Rodrigues fruit bat (Pteropus rodricensis). The Malayan flying fox, also known as the large fruit bat, is easily the largest of the world’s bats. Its wingspan can exceed six feet (1.8 meters). Never before has a bat so large been on public display in North America, and the effect on visitors is dramatic.

The Rodrigues fruit bat, though much smaller, plays a key role in the educational aspect of the exhibit. It is among the rarest of mammals. Native to the single Indian Ocean island of Rodrigues in Mauritius, the species seemed destined for extinction just a quarter century ago, when only 70 Rodrigues fruit bats survived. Intense conservation efforts and a captive-breeding program have increased the population to around several thousand. The legacy of this species’ return from the brink of extinction gives us a perfect conservation message for our guests.

The Disney’s Animal Kingdom has 20 Malayan flying foxes and 7 Rodrigues fruit bats. The bats, all of them males, came from the Lubee Foundation, Inc., of Gainesville, Florida, in 1998. The nonprofit organization, dedicated to conserving Old World fruit bats, was founded by the late Luis F. Bacardi of the Bacardi Rum family, an early and stalwart supporter of BCI.

The Disney Animal Kingdom is visited by millions of pet lovers per year. Has any Mauritian Entrepreneur thought of making use of this unique opportunity to reap in some economic value from our Rodrigues fruit bat?

Because of my wife’s place of birth in La Ferme Rodrigues ,I have a foible for the Island.

Simon Pierre, a été secoué par cette pêche miraculeuse. Et oui, lui-même était au départ, sans conviction et c’était pour plaire à Jésus, qu il jeta les filets. Devant l’ampleur de cette prise, la puissance du Dieu Seigneur se manifesta…et Simon Pierre allait encore une fois de plus se persuader que c’est bien le messie venu sauver Israël. Dieu est présent devant lui. Il tomba aux pieds de Jésus en prosternation.

La première leçon :

Comme Simon Pierre devant la manifestation de la puissance du Seigneur, je dois reconnaître ma modeste condition de pécheur. « Seigneur, éloigne-toi de moi, car je suis un homme pécheur. »
Pratiquer cette crainte de Dieu serait il être en émerveillement devant la toute puissance de Dieu ? Sans toi je ne suis qu’un rien ! Et pourtant, par amour Tu m’a considéré comme frère dans l’humanité, par ton incarnation et ta vie modèle Tu nous as ouvert la voie. Je n’ai pas le droit de refuser Ton amour gratuit. Main tendue, et dans Ta miséricorde infinie Tu nous sauveras.

La seconde leçon :

Simon et ses frères, une fois les barques au rivage, ils laissent tout pour suivirent Jésus. Ils ont trouvé l’essentiel. Tout le reste devient superflu…les barques et filets … les tonnes de poissons pris… Comme Simon et ses frères faire du Seigneur mon essentiel, mon unique raison de vivre…laissant tout pour Le suivre..Je m’abandonne à Toi en toute confiance….

Today in Paris,The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said temperatures were probably going to increase by 1.8-4C (3.2-7.2F) by the end of the century.

Dr Rajendra Pachauri, the IPCC chairman, said: “It is extremely encouraging in that the science has moved on from what was possible in the Third Assessment Report.

“If you see the extent to which human activities are influencing the climate system, the options for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions appear in a different light, because you can see what the costs of inaction are,” he told delegates in Paris.

Writing in the journal Science, an international group of scientists concluded that temperatures and sea levels had been rising at or above the maximum rates proposed in the last report, which was published in 2001.

The paper compared the 2001 projections on temperature and sea level change report with what has actually happened.

The models had forecasted a temperature rise between about 0.15C-0.35C (0.27-0.63F) over this period. The actual rise of 0.33C (0.59F) was very close to the top of the IPCC’s range.

A more dramatic picture emerged from the sea level comparison. The actual average level, measured by tide gauges and satellites, had risen faster than the intergovernmental panel of scientists predicted it would.

In my earlier blog in July last year, I mentioned the mitigating effect of global dimming.Now, the 130 scientists have statued: the net effect of global warming is greater than forecasted earlier.
Island country like Mauritius, where a large part of our economy is based on sea related Tourism,has to readjust its economic strategy. Soon,there would  be a Carbon tax for airline travelers which will change the economics of traveling long distances and also an environment tax to be levied from those causing deteriorations of the global  environment.
I wonder if the authorities issuing building permits  on the coast will integrate these  climatic changes to come :the rising sea level, warmer atmosphere, more violent winds  etc…..”Gouverner c’est prevoir” I had been taught by my 6th grade primary school teacher Mr. Aime Laval to whom I am forever so grateful.

The entrepreneur in me sees opportunities to exploit, in the light of such future certainties.

I am happy to come back home after my 10 weeks long escapade to Mysore. My mobility has unfortunately not improved and yet I had a good time and wonderful Karnataka experience.

My India immersion does not end with the trip, as the 1st February,the day following my arrival  is the festival of Cavadee. Another occasion to search & deepen my knowledge of the Indian culture or shall I say the Mauritian Indian customs!
I quote below  an interesting extract of what I found on a website:

The ‘kavadee’ most commonly seen in Mauritius are the ‘pushpa kavadee’ (flower kavadee) and ‘paal kavadee’ (milk kavadee). But there are other types of kavadee as well. In earlier days some devotees used to carry fish as offering instead of milk. On the eve of the festival the penitent who had vowed to carry the ‘Matchak Kavadee’ (fish kavadee) would be shown in a dream the exact place where he would find two fishes. The next morning he would go to the place and would easily catch the fish in a piece of linen used as a net. He would cut each into two halves and put them separately in two earthen pots containing water which he would then tie to his kavadee.

After the ceremony at the temple, the devotee would go back to the river and open the pots. The two fishes would have come back to life in the meantime and the separated halves would have joined together and the fish would leap out of the pots into the river. It was on the occasion of the

‘Sittireye Parouvam’ in 1967 that the ‘fish kavadee’was last performed by an old man named Manmootoo Chellambrum at St Hubert. This miracle was witnessed by hundreds of people among whom were several journalists who published the feat in their papers”.

Tamils worship Muruga with great love and devotion. Many Tamils are called after one of the several names of Muruga: Vel, Velan, Moorghen or Murugan, Soopaya short for Subramanian or Soopramanien, Kadirvelan, Kumaran or Kumara, Thandayudapaani, Palani, Palanisami, Palamiyandee, Swamynaden, Ku marasawmy, Kandasami, Kandan, Sooben, Muth uvel, Mootoosamy, Armoogum or Arumugam.

The Muruga cult is more widespread in Tamil Nadu than anywhere else in India, although worship is offered in many parts of North India as well. People vow to carry a kavadee for various reasons: because of serious health problems or

other failures, or as penance for wrongs done to someone else. There is a ‘janma kavadee’ i.e lifelong kavadee which parents vow when their children suffer from an incurable disease.

In the opinion of some learned people ‘kavadee’ may represent man’s unconscious desire to lay at the feet of God all his burdens and go away with His blessings. It is also a form of purificatory sacrifice — by self-inflicted suffering the penitent washes away his sins and becomes ‘pure’.

Kavadee also symbolises the triumph of good over evil. According to the Hindus our era is the ‘Kali Yug’ (the black era) dominated by irreligion, injustice, violence and evil. The ‘vel’ of Muruga symbolises the spear of victory that will eventually restore peace and harmony in the world. It will destroy arrogance and hypocrisy, violence and injustice — and man will emerge from the ashes of sin and evil like ldumban redeemed.

The Tamils here seem to have evolved their cultural heritage or was it possible for their forefathers were a different breed from their own village unique tradition?