Entries Tagged 'People' ↓

In reply to Christiane’s blog entitled “Our mixed Heritage”, I posted a comment along these following lines:

Mixed Heritage or Metissage is the term I like. As often in nature, cross- breeding enhances the subject, when it strengthens the positive and minimizes the negatives.I for one, looking back at my ancestry, can claim French creole, and Chinese blood, and am very proud of it. Apart from the genetic aspect, I am also proud of my cultural metissage: my mother born of the union of a china man, and a half mulatto, half Chinese. My mother was raised in an environment close to the Vadamotoo family, the “madras baptises” we could say. My mother, who lived in a poverty stricken family since  her early childhood,   managed to get a good education with the help of her neighbors, the then wealthy “Madras” family who considered her as a sister. My mother later married the son of a well- to- do Chinaman, after much persuasion and numerous objections & refusals from my father’s parents. Considered as a mixed marriage by my father’s parents, their union was not at all acceptable. There were not only racial differences; in the late 40’s there were concerns of social ranking, community peer pressures, economical consideration and reputation. If it were not for the perseverance and tenacity of my parents, my brothers & sisters and I would probably never found this world. In the final analysis, my parents had a very successful married life. My mother brought into my father’s family some other values and qualities which have enriched the more Chinese values of the latter. She had to learn the Chinese dialect to converse with her mother- in- law.  Almost nearing her death , my grandma sought forgiveness from my mother for her inappropriate opposition to the latter’s marriage and told everyone around her that she had a most kind, and considerate daughter- in- law. Success is always the result of drive, determination and efforts.

 

A few days have passed since. Thinking back, I said to myself  that we are blessed in Mauritius to benefit from the proximities of the different cultures and customs and to have first hand experiences of them. Stephen Covey, who I believe would be visiting Mauritius soon, taught me a lesson whilst talking of his habit 6: Synergize is valuing the differences. In fact the Covey leadership center had made a film on Mauritius to demonstrate the cultural differences which, when properly channeled could bring in growth and harmony beyond imagination: 1+1 = 3 or more. I thus conclude that the cultural “half blood” or shall I dare say “double blood” is better than each of the single elements that made up the metissage. Vive le metissage!

En ce jour de notre fête Nationale, Maha Shiva Ratree, je voudrai vous présenter, un extrait d’un récit de quelqu’un qui a vécu chez nous il y a quelques années.

Ce qui m’épate c’est la ferveur des dévots de Shiva et surtout le nombre grandissant des pèlerins. Que la fête soit un point de ralliement identitaire de la communauté hindoue ! Que la convergence vers un point commun le grand bassin soit signe d’unite!

Citation

Je me souviens aussi que la vedette incontesté et incontestable de ton marché est ton herboriste, celui là même qui dispense les herbes qui guérissent tout (ou donne la ” vigueur ” sans viagra) de génération en génération. Et puis, sans en avoir l’air, je n’arrive pas à oublier cette spiritualité ambiante de l’Inde mais quelque peu « dévoyée » que tu distilles comme de lourds parfums d’orchidées. Oh, ne te vexe pas ! Quand je dis que ta spiritualité est dévoyée, ce n’est pas une insulte, bien au contraire. Par « dévoyée », j’entends que cette spiritualité a recréé à sa mesure le savoir et l’érudition des bramanes qu’elle n’avait pas pu importé dans les maigres balluchons des coolies débarqués des pointes de l’Inde après l’abolition de l’esclavage ; qu’il s’agit d’une forme de spiritualité sans prêtres, et pratiquement sans livres qui a reconstruit ses structures et son clergé. Par exemple Le Gange et ses pèlerinages ont été remplacés par GRAND BASSIN, ton lac solitaire, niché à l’intérieur des collines, hors des itinéraires touristiques. Et c’est là que chaque année, pendant plusieurs jours les fidèles convergent dans un gigantesque balai qui envahi l’île du Nord au Sud.

Je me souviens que pour la fête de Maha Shiva Ratree, chaque village, chaque communauté tient à transporter à porteurs des ” cathédrales ” de bambous, des feuillages, des pierreries, des décorations, en l’honneur de Shiva. C’est bien normal puisque les habitants les auront patiemment construits pendant de longs mois, comme peuvent le faire en d’autres lieux les écoles de Samba.

Je me souviens de la concentration de ces ” monuments ” sur Grand Bassin…… cette marche forcée, de jour comme de nuit, enfants aux crochets des basques des parents, indifféremment à la gauche ou à la droite de l’autoroute. Pour comprendre la ferveur de ton peuple, il faut avoir assisté, à 6 heures du soir, quand la nuit commence à tomber, aux immenses cortèges quasi silencieux de pèlerins en dévotion qui montent en files lumineuses aux temples de Grand Bassin pour y honorer les signes de Shiva, lingam et yoni. Ces signes sont baignés d’offrandes de fleurs et de noix de cocos importées à grand frais d’Agalega et que les prêtres découpent d’un seul coup de coupe-coupe. Je me souviens qu’en début de soirée, au bord du lac, les fidèles jambes de pantalon troussés, les pieds dans l’eau y trempaient de milliers de petites lumières, des pastilles de méta qu’ils laissaient ensuite glisser sur le lac à bord de larges feuilles de manguiers, le tout accompagnée d’une lente constellation de prière.

Fin de citation

Nicole is being treated for cancer.The evil has recently been diagnosed and the progress of the disease is said to be growing fast.I was shocked to hear of Nicole’s illness.
As many Mauritians who have migrated in the 70’s to Canada,some of her children now live in North America whilst Nicole and Maurice had elected to reside partly in Singapore and Floreal Mauritius for some years already. Nicole herself comes from a family with many children. Her sisters and brothers, most of whom are over 60 are presently living in Mauritius,Canada and Italy. How to keep track with the relatives and friends? The blog is the solution.

Reading Nicole’s blog allows the whole gamut of well wishers, relatives and friends to keep track of her progress daily.

Nicole & Maurice: Bon Courage, God Bless you. You are in my prayers.

To bid farewell or to say goodbye may sometimes prove a more difficult task than you can imagine. Having spent over more than nine weeks at the center, I admit that I have taken some habits and mode of living which now I will have to part with. The material comfort and amenities are not the most important things to leave behind: the atmosphere and hospitality climate held by the people are what I shall have to forego. The smiles of the garden hands, the namaste greetings of the therapists met in the yard and the cordial welcoming of the staff which I have begun to know by their first names, the care and attention given by the medical team and last but not least, the friendliness of fellow co- residents will soon vanish for ever, as if it would be the end of a film in which I was one of the actors.

A new page has to be turned. A new page will soon open with, in the background, the memories, experiences of this Mysore hideaway. Life could never ever be the same again! My vision of life is now tinted with the learnings gained through the interactions with persons of such variety and from so many origins. Young,middle aged ,retired, be it from Europe Britain,France,Italy , Spain, Germany ,Austria,Australia , America, Canada,India,Japan, Singapore almost the world has been present. The time frame is lost forever, it cannot be reconstructed again in the same place, same setting with the same persons.

The wonderful moments are in the realm of memories now, too bad if one did not catch them to the fullest of their intensity and made the most of it.

I found that I whisked through the ten weeks. I did not have time to get bored. As opposed to my earlier fear, eating vegetarian for the period was a song! The massage treatments were a bliss and the health care was excellent and the hospitality wonderful. There were quite a number of minor improvements that could have been made to bring to perfection my stay. Perfection they say is not of this world!

I came to buy more mobility in my limbs, I came out without the mobility improvements sought for but depart now with a luggage filled up with love from the staff and co- residents and contented with a nice break from my routine life and hopefully a better body , mind & soul condition.

Thank you all for making my stay an enjoyable and enriching experience. Hopefully the mobility will come at a later stage. Golden cell 208 is now free!

Dear Doctor
Not every single day of your life is the same.
Each day brings its lot of happiness and challenges
because isn’t it life a continuous quest
for equilibrium between the opposing forces?
Today is so special for you.
Blessed was the day when many of moon ago
Out of the love of two persons so dear to
you came the emerging fruit of their union.
Propulsed by the initial impetus given by your parents
you have contrived with your own will and efforts
to forge yourself into the talented person you are today.
Teacher, as you have been trained, you will always be
a knowledge source to your entourage
Your delicate ways and keen attention to the needs of others
are the living proof of your Hippocratic oath
Even your Carnatic talents and singing
gift direct to the healing of mankind.
Man of so much talent I had the privilege to meet.
I am so thankful to the Almighty for this grace
I pray the Lord to bless you and your family to be accompanied by Him forever.
The departure of your daughter this week end from the family nest: like a small bird reaching maturity,
she will be flying on her own wings to catch the wind of success! True, a pinch of the heart may well be felt, but this will quickly be inundated by a feeling of hope at the prospect of the world opening to her
Isn’t it our aim: to nurture new spirits to cultivate our world?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR DOCTOR!

Que pourrait m’évoquer le mot IRIS ?

D’abord ce qui me vient immédiatement à l’esprit :

Iris, la déesse de la mythologie grecque, messagère déesse des arcs en ciel qui illuminent la création de toutes les couleurs. A l’image de RA, dieu de l’Egypte (qui me ramène à la fête égyptienne sur le Nil, de mon ascension à ma cinquantaine),

Iris, sphincter entourant la pupille de l’œil ou encore l’iris de l’objectif de mon appareil à photo,

Iris, fleur de jardin de mon enfance à Port Louis et surtout cette allée de fleur bordant l’entrée de la maison de ma tante à Quatre Bornes,

Iris, tableau de Vincent Van Gogh, que me parlaient Tante Nanny avec grande passion pour l’avoir vu au musée d’Amsterdam,

Iris, aura a partir d’aujourd’hui, une nouvelle évocation : celle de la rencontre avec Paule, qui a donne à son nouveau établissement le nom de « Aux Iris » près de Fontainebleu.

Paule, française, dentiste, professeur de Yoga, interessee a la medecine naturelle, m’a bien entretenu cet après-midi. Merci bien! J’ai senti dans sa présence une douceur ; paix d’esprit et une quête vers une communion avec notre créateur. Nous avons parlé de ses voyages, qu’elle a entrepris dans le passé et comme ancienne membre de Invitation à la Vie et de son projet ou elle a Å“uvré tout l’an dernier. « Aux Iris » un lieu des séminaires, de stage et de ressourcement thérapeutique et artistique.Où le couple Beurdeley dispenseront de l’attention, des soins et du bonheur. Je leur souhaite plein de succès ! O Iris envoie dans le firmanent les couleurs de l’arc en ciel!

The most popular man person of France, Abbe Pierre managed to top Zinedine Zidane in 2003 as the most popular personality of France . This was quite a feat!

Today,he left this world. On hearing of his demise over Radio, when I got time, I took the opportunity to read more information about this illustrious personality. I was aware of his past visit to Mauritius ,when he left his mark by initiating ” Relais de l’esperance” and giving the impetus to “Abri de nuit”, both light house projects run by CARITAS in Mauritius.

From what I read on the net, his work for the poorest of the poor namely creation of the Emmaus movement , Foundation Abbe Pierre will perpetuate his deeds no doubt. We shall miss his independence of mind and frank speaking. He urged all of us to have compassion to each others and extend our help to the rejected of the society…Gays, Hiv infected and others…
What really was a lesson for me from him was his public admission of his weakness. In 2005, called often, a walking live saint by many, he admitted publicly having casual sex with a female partner in spite of his vows of chastity. He succumbed to temptations of the flesh…

Even saints commit sin: after all they are only humans! Immaculate is the term reserved to God & Virgin Mary the chosen by God!To have compassion, to care for your brothers,to forgive I thus conclude is the way of Sainthood.

Merci Abbe Pierre .

Streaky People

We generally divide people into 2 categories;saints and sinners. The division is quite imaginary. For one thing,no one really knows who the saints are and who the sinners are;appearances are deceptive. For another,all of us,saints and sinners, are sinners.

A preacher once put this question to a class of children:” if all the good people were white and all the bad people were black, what color would you be? Little Mary replied: ‘ Reverend Father,I’d be streaky!’

So would be the Reverend. So would be the canonized saints.

Attempts to hide the ‘streakiness’ of our holy people are sometimes successful,always dishonest.

This is an extract of the book “the Song of the bird” which is currently my bed time, resource and soul nourishing book!