Entries Tagged 'Mauritius' ↓

Many in our country view Globalisation as a threat. The industries and companies who have been enjoying positive results up to now feel unsecured. Why? They established their businesses in an environment and found the appropriate niche within the given set. Now and in the foreseeable near future, the environment and conditions are changing the « Fit for purpose » is changing. The thrust brought by Globalisation movement with its battery of changes is pressuring us externally with the new world rules imposed by WTO. If you have not thought of your « fit for purpose » in the fast coming environment, you will definitely feel unsecured and panicky.

Can you alter or intervene on the external factors changing the scene of globalisation? I would bet that there is not much (to be euphemistic) or there is nothing we can about it. The rollercoaster is rolling! The set of conditions which very prevailing when we found our niche of business and giving us our live hood is no more there. We may attempt to delay the effect on us. End of the day, it will be only a provisional and temporary measure. We need to « Fit back to our purpose » fast.

Those who are agile see in Globalisation new opportunities. I am still in the euphoria of the lectures of Timothy Radcliffe to whom I listened last night and last saturday. He said that against the back drop of Mass Media pumping us fear and negativity all day,we have to be the angels of hope and better tomorrows. He is giving a lecture @ the University of Mauritius today.Agility and flexibility of mind and spirit are the qualities we should nuture to drive us. So,I choose to hear Globalisation equals changes, synonymus to opportunities and challenges. In an editorial of the newsletter of a consultancy firm, I read:

« Although the word is widely used, globalization is much misunderstood.

A common mistake is to see its impact in over-simplistic terms: Asia wins,

While Europe and the United States lose. A sense of the passing of America’s

hegemony is palpable, while the rise of China and India is seen as irresistible.

These are developments of epoch-making proportions. It is probably not an

exaggeration to point to the post-World War II boom, or even the Industrial

Revolution, as shifts on a comparable scale. It is a work in progress that may

take 50 years – and, what’s more, the outcomes are neither predictable nor

inevitable.

Globalisation is for many companies both a threat and an opportunity. It gives

access to fast-growing new markets, but it can also bring new and unknown

competitors who have matured rapidly in distant parts. For a large number of

products and services the notion of a purely national market no longer exists. »

If we see Globalisation as an opportunity then we stand to being able to find our « fit for purpose » and be successful.

I would suggest that we review our business under three sets of filters:

Market Strategy and business model (What to, Choice to find the fit?)

Organisation structure and Processes (How to?)

People (Who?)

In short, new environment bring changes which we have to proceed with fast. Do you want to be in the “has been” companies or part of the enterprises of the present & future? Changes bring its lot of challenges with opportunies yet to be discovered. Entrepreneurs your role is to find you’re “fit for purpose” and you bring in creative solutions yet to be rolled out.

I am indebted to my friend Donald Lam, a Mauritian friend working in the UK who provided me the inspiration to write this blog after reading the editorial of his company Siddal & company.

“People are brand” says William Arruda, also called the Personal Branding Guru. Last week, with a group of Company Directors, we derived great pleasure and more importantly gained much insight for our work when we attended a seminar conducted by Helene LACROIX-SABLAYROLLES the dean of marketing of the prestigious French Business school: HEC.

Author of several business books of which the latest “Etes vous vraiment orienté client?” Helene enthused the participants of the seminar. She was given an evaluation score of almost 5/5 by the participants. She replaced the perspective of clients back in haze of Marketing buzz words, techniques and models particularly in today’s fast changing, finicky, volatile environment of zapping. She gave a new meaning to “Segmentation” of products as well as of customers. I found that the practical tools she proposed to extract from, express to and exude our customers in its entity to be most useful.

Bearing in mind that all enterprises should possess a distinctive Brand, she insisted that the enterprises has the duty to deliver on the promises of the Brand values.

We may take the question at a personal level. What Brand are you? Just like in your enterprises you would ask: who are we? What are our values, beliefs goals? How to our customers view us? Are we delivering our brand promises? I invite you to visit a web site which will name the brand you are, once you give your values and goals. Try it out.

This latter part seems very much akin to the exercises of knowing who we want to be and making it happen; I used to conduct in the 7 habits seminars.Looking back to those days. I still feel great joy and thankful to the yonder days and to participants who taught me so much on humans and their interactions.A special note of appreciation to a lady, now living in Australia Perth who assisted & accompanied me through a vast number of such corporate seminars.

Last night, after publishing my recent blog on Branding, I had a skype call from Toronto and my caller discussed on the theme. I recalled an article that I had stored and which sold the importance of branding.

“The circle of innovation” and was written by Tom Peters way back in 1997. The points raised then are still very pertinent today and perhaps more so in Mauritius which lags behind in market innovation. You will find for quick reading a one page summary of the book. I am a great fan of Tom and have been watching videos of him and reading his numerous books. Wow! A very energetic speaker he is and very convincing in both content as well as style.

By the way, Tom Peters maintains a blog which I read regularly. He is very generous and offers for free his latest speeches and lectures. I enjoy reading them.

Tom Peters preview of Innovation

I became obsessed with innovation because my clients, in effect, begged me to.

With global competition heating up, company after company–banks, insurers, Big Six accountancies, brokerages, office-furniture makers, packaged-goods firms, software and pharmaceutical houses, engineering services firms–tell me: “My service or product is becoming commoditized.”

If the other guy’s getting better, you’d better be getting better faster–or you’re getting worse.

Translation: It’s innovation, stupid.

And “It” applies to my career, your career, the six-person training department, and the 60,000-body behemoth.

My new book, Innovation, is about one BIG idea: innovation–a “top-line” obsession. And it’s about 15 discrete, biggish ideas. The Circle of Innovation is the overarching idea. Here’s a quick preview.

1. Distance is dead. We’re all next-door neighbors. Incrementalism is innovation’s worst enemy. Mid- to long-term: Business is about augmenting the top line, not cost minimization.

2. Destruction is cool! CDO: Chief Destruction Officer. Easier to kill an organization–and repot it–than change it substantially. Learn to swallow it: destruction is job 1 (before the competition does it to you).

3. You can’t live without an eraser. Forgetting–not learning–is the highest art. Think: organized forgetting, strategic forgetfulness. How? Cherish waste, silliness, failure. Ready. FIRE! Aim.

4. We are all Michelangelos. Convert every “jobholder” into a business person. Convert every job into a business. “Business” is a very different–and more encompassing–word than “empowerment.” Keys: trust and respect; Michelangelos of Housekeeping; Michelangelos of Telemarketing. Boss as relentless architect of the possibilities of human beings.

5. Welcome to the white collar revolution. If you can’t say (specifically) why you make your company a better place, you’re out! As of Now: Me, Inc.! Take me immediate responsibility for change! You (me) are a brand. (Perform a personal brand equity evaluation now!) There are no guarantees, and that can be liberating. Stomp out indentured servitude to BigCorp.

6. All value comes from the professional services. Make staff units the vital centers of intellectual capital accumulation, rather than the prime sources of bureaucratic drag. Tool: Turn purchasing (HR, IS, Finance) into Purchasing, Inc.–a full-fledged professional service firm–devoted to transformational projects and awesome client service!

7. The intermediary is doomed. (Big) organizations without employees. Every task your organization performs is performed better (higher quality, faster, more imaginatively) by some hyper-fast specialist (somewhere) who lives, eats, sleeps, and breathes the narrow task. Flat is too modest a term. (By far.) We are gutting the “center” of vertical enterprises. The intermediary is dying or dead! Hail the disintermediated network “organization”–transparent to its customers (and all members of the value-creation chain).

8. The system is the solution. Systems are the glue in ephemeral, network “orgs.” Great systems are not about “nuts and bolts.” They can be beautiful. Systems Engineering Dept.? No! Dept. of Beauty? Yes! It’s way beyond reengineering.

9. Create waves of lust. (Almost) everything works. Quality per se is not the advantage it once (recently) was. So: Just shout “No!” to commoditization (of anything) /me-too/look-alikes. Embrace: WOW!!!! lusted-after products and services. Ultimate sin: When we do it “Right,” It’s still pretty ordinary.

10. Tommy Hilfiger knows. In a (very) crowded marketplace . . . branding is (far) more important than ever before. It is . . . the age of the brand! Anything can be branded (e.g., chicken, milk). Branding is as much for very wee outfits as for Levis or Nike or starbucks or Intel (Inside).

11. Become a connoisseur of talent. Recruit diversity! Hire crazies! Make revolutionary renewal everyone’s (literal) Job 1. We are all RDAs: Rapidly Depreciating Assets. Therefore: (Continuing) Vitality=(Continuing) Commitment to (Bold/Formal) Renewal Programs by everyone.

12. It’s a woman’s world. Women purchase. They are purchasing agents for well over half the U.S. GDP (commercial and consumer goods). Almost no Big Co.–financial services, healthcare, autos, business services–“gets” catering-to-women-as-premier-purchasers. Why? It takes total transformation–not a “women’s initiative”–to take advantage of this bizarrely neglected commercial opportunity No. 1.

13. Little things are the only things. As markets get more and more crowded, design is often the best “tool” in services and manufacturing for sustainable differentiation. Sad fact: Most companies do anything but OBSESS (e.g., Braun-like, Sony-like) on design. Personal design sensitization is Set No. 1: Home in on (open your eyes to) the pervasive role that design plays in damn near everything–signage, forms, typeface, color (a big deal), etc.

14. Love all, Serve all. Even today a ridiculously small number of sizable firms seek a sustainable edge through incredible service–Disney–or caterpillar–style. To get from (tawdry) here to (Olympian) there takes a wholesale commitment to nothing less than reconceiving the way business is done in your market or niche.

15. We’re here to live life out loud. Transformational leaders will eschew “hands off.” They will be bizarrely focused, tell the truth, and live life on the LUNATIC FRINGE. Revolutionary times call for revolutionary zeal and leaders. Those 15 ideas equal one big idea: Innovation should be your top-line obsession

The last week, we saw on the news, a series of seminars conducted by Laurence Danon, PDG des grands magasins “Le Printemps” for l’Association mauricienne des femmes chefs d’entreprises (AMFCE).

She promoted and argued on the value of Branding. I am pleased to share with you, more specially to the entrepreneurs amongst you, a short reading on communicating your brand and its 5 communication steps.

As such, a brand may be a product, services or even you. Do you market yourself to your entourage, friends or boy/girl companion? Come to think about it: we all need to do so!

Five Communication Steps

To communicate your brand (and your promise) to your target market, Scott Randall of the The Executive Club recently renamed Vistage International suggests the following:

1. Create awareness. People can’t do business with you if they don’t know you’re out there—no matter how good your product is. Building awareness starts with the basic tools of advertising, public relations, newsletters, direct mail and all the things you do to promote your products and services in the marketplace. It also involves the salespeople who get in front of the customer each and every day. How they dress, what they say—everything they do should send a consistent message about your brand. Make sure you have identified your differentiators before you start generating awareness.
2. Get on your customers’ short list (consideration). Make it easy for people to say that you qualify to do business with them. How do you get on your customers’ short list? Identify their purchasing hot buttons and incorporate them into your brand messaging. “Listen to the buzzwords your customers use again and again,” suggests Randall. “They will tell you what your brand promise is.”
3. Establish your differentiators (preference). Consideration answers the question, “Why should I buy this product?” Differentiation answers the question, “Why should I buy this product from you?” Find out what it is about your business or your business model that separates you from the pack. Beware of terms like “service” and “quality.” These have become benchmarks in most industries and are no longer true differentiators.”Don’t expect an ad agency or PR firm to answer the preference question for you,” cautions Randall. “That’s your job. Their job is to take the differentiators you have identified and communicate them to your customer base in the most effective manner.”
4. Study your purchase process. A brand is about experiences. Look closely at the process customers go through to buy from you and assess how difficult or easy it is. Examine everything you do—from purchase price to delivery to exchanges, returns and satisfaction guarantees—and look for ways to improve the experience for the customer. Make the purchase experience as pleasant as possible, and don’t make guarantees you can’t live up to. A pleasant purchase experience combined with a pleasant brand experience leads to customer loyalty.
   
5. Make it difficult for customers to leave (loyalty). Once you have customers in the door, don’t let go. Once they buy, know who they are and get permission to start a dialog. Know the buying cycles for your customers and get permission to contact them at appropriate times during the cycle (but never spam them).

In a nutshell:

1. Establish your differentiators

2. Get on your customers’ short list

3. Make it hard for your customers to leave.

I cannot insist enough with our entrepreneurs who will take hopefully our economy to a new height, of the importance of Purpose and Innovation. Nikos Mourkogiannis, in his book, “Purpose and Innovation”, cites generously Microsoft and Toyota in their quests in focusing relentlessly and consistently on their Purpose to bring Innovation in their ventures.

“Innovate or Evaporate”, you will recall, was a campaign brought some 2 years ago by NPCC. Since what has happened? Have we experienced an evaporation of our innovative spirit? I understood that NPCC is following up with an Incubator program. Well done!

Micheal Porter, who I admire and regularly search for his great thinking puts: “Innovation has become perhaps the most important source of competitive advantage in advanced economies.”

Are we nurturing a culture of Innovation in Mauritius? Wrong question, my friend Watson would dare say! We cannot afford not to create and not to nourish such a culture. It is a necessity full stop. The question would rather be: “How to we create a culture of innovation?”

I do not know if we have a department of “creativity and innovation” at our University of Mauritius or any of our tertiary institution. I feel that we could start off with one. Mauritian, like any human being, is endowed with a creative mind and ingenuity; what is lacking, is the awakening of the creative mind. Creativity, according to E. De Bono, world renowned “Creativity” author, now based in Australia, states that is a process which can be taught and learned.

Creavitity should be taught at all stages of schooling. The development of the habit of “lateral thinking” will enhance the creative spirit of the individuals. Could we introduce creativity in our school curriculum at all levels?

I had the chance of meeting some Malaysians who are interested in the subject of Creativity and Innovation. We could well learn from Prof. Augustine Ong, who has been recognized by his country, bestowing him wih the title of “Tan Sri Datuk”, for his forward- looking mind and for his great innovative work in the field of Palm oil cultivation and industry.I was honoured to have met him and to have had a glimpse of his wonderful achievement first hand.

Prof. Augustine Ong, to maintain the spirit of creativity in Malaysia, has created and is now driving an organization called “Minds”. Why can’t we do likewise?

After Lean Management which is a “Toyota” much acclaimed management system to be model from for our busineeses, I take much pleasure in sharing the practices of Toyota in making Innovation happen.

Mathew E. May showcases the following Ten Practices that Toyota has adopted on its core principles towards making Innovation happen:

1. Let Learning Lead
“Learning and innovation go hand in hand, but learning comes first.” Education and Learning can drive substantial innovation.

2. Learn to See
“Elegant solutions often come from customers — get out more and live in their world.” The key is to unearth the latent needs of the customers, and perceive the emerging needs.

3. Design for Today
“Focus on clear and present needs, or your great ideas remain just that.” Innovation that drives business in today’s market is likely to get funded and succeed.

4. Think in Pictures
“Make your intentions visual — you’ll surprise yourself with the image.” In Six ways to find innovation, we talked about the need for visual imagery.

5. Capture the Intangible
“The most compelling solutions are often perceptual and emotional.” This is where the product manager needs intuition and the ability to read their customers’ minds.

6. Leverage the Limits
“Restraining forces rule — resource constraints can spur ingenuity.” It is critical to know what you can deliver, how you can deliver and by when.

7. Master the Tension
“Breakthrough thinking demands something to break through.” In Failures and Stumbles driving innovation, we talked about the five takeaways stimulating innovation. Accept that mistakes will be made.

8. Run the Numbers
“Think for yourself — temper instinct with insight, focus on facts, and do the math.” A sound technical analysis is critical before you begin a new product innovation. This should take into account such factors as risks, probabilities of success, and lessons learned from past projects.

9. Make Kaizen Mandatory
“Pursuing perfection requires great discipline — create a standard, follow it, and find a better way.” A process is a must have. Think Six Sigma. Think Rigor at Intuit.

10. Keep It Lean
“Complexity kills — scale it back, make it simple, and let it flow.” Innovation happens when you can simplify the intended application and make it so easy-to-use that it becomes a no-brainer.

Bottomline:

Toyota has become the dominant car maker today based on large part due to the Innovation Factory. A Factory based on a foundation of creating elegant solutions through three guiding principles, avoiding three “temptations” and driving ten production practices.

“Toyota is becoming a double threat: the world’s finest manufacturer and a truly great innovator . . . that formula, a combination of production prowess and technical innovation, is an unbeatable recipe for success.”

* Fortune, February 2006

References:

Matthew E. May: “The Elegant Solution: Toyota’s Formula for Mastering Innovation”. Free Press. 2006.

On the 11th October, The Egyptian tourism authorities revealed its new advertising and publicity campaign titled “The Gift of the Sun”. Whilst it is true that RA signifies the Sun god which according to E. A. Wallis Budge was the One god of Egyptian Monotheism, of which all other gods and goddesses were aspects, manifestations, phases, or forms of the god.

The Sun is our main source of light and energy for which we, in Mauritius are especially blessed being in the tropics. We have longer or at least more even daily lighting throughout the year. As a renewable source of free energy, I wonder what stop us from maximizing on the technologies available to benefit fully of God given free energy. Is it lack of imagination? Is it lack of foresight, will power and laziness from us and our leaders? I read an article on Malta where it was stated that over 60% of household are equipped with solar panels for their hot water needs. In Reunion Island, where I visited a few months ago, subsidies and incentives are provided to owners of new houses equipped with solar panels.

On the 19^th October the BBC reported that a Swiss is taking the challenge to cross the Atlantic in a catamaran powered only by Solar energy. I would imagine that most of our Catamarans used to cruise our Tourists around our island could be solar powered. Less dependency on fossil fuels and above all much less pollution would be achieved.

I mentioned earlier, that experiments and tests in Colorado US and many other places are being carried out to sell back to the power generating supplier the excess energy generated by the private home. The authorities, political leaders we pray, must have the foresight, vision, guts and will to drive these changes. Could Mauritius be chosen as a scientific pilot site scaled to a village or town?

Whilst, we always hear on foreign radios or Medias the need to look into renewable form of energy, it would seem that in our country we are timid about it. I would see a newspaper dedicating at fixed interval, say weekly, and publishing an update of the technologies available on renewable energy. I personally read bogs on the subject and find it most interesting.

We could declare that use of fossil energy is “MUDA” for the country and wage a battle to the reduction of its use. Meanwhile I rejoice as the theme of the Egyptian Tourism authority The Gift of the Sun has aroused a renewed interest in “my green bias” for the future of our world.

Entrepreneurs of Mauritius , this may be an area to investigate and to turn into a lucrative business project.

La lecture de ce dimanche à la messe, m’a donné ce matin, une nouvelle dimension et une réflexion approfondie du mois de Ramadan que nos frères musulmans ont vécus ce mois passé. Pourquoi se sont ils privés de nourriture et de boisson pour un mois ? Pourquoi faire pénitence et pourquoi cette pratique de privation qu’ont subi également nos frères hindous pour la fête de Diwali ?

De même que vous ne pouvez pas imaginer la joie et le bonheur que vous, bien portants, avez dans l’utilisation de votre main droite ? J’ai perdu pour l’instant cette faculté, momentanément, je l’espère. Je vous partage la joie et satisfaction, dans me rêves pour l’instant, de frapper avec force une balle de tennis de ma raquette, et de la placer à la ligne, comme je le faisais autrefois.

Ainsi, la mortification volontaire et la privation nous font réaliser que nous prenons comme normales et acquises trop de choses. Ce n’est que dans la disette ou le manque que le bonheur absent de l’abondance prend sa plus grande valeur d’appréciation.

Pensez vous à l’instant que vous n’avez pas d’air ou d’oxygène ? Jamais ! Vous n’appréciez donc pas votre bonheur de respirer les poumons pleins et d’être en bonne santé.

Ainsi la pratique de la mortification deviendrait –t- il une voie vers une plus grande sagesse ou vers la sanctification ?

Il me semble que nous sommes dans l’ère du « plaisir instantané avant tout, effort après » et que « jouir du fruit subséquent des efforts fournis » soit rétrograde. « Enjoy now pay later ! » c’est le motto du jour ! « Delayed Gratification » dirait Scott Peck dans son livre « The Road Less Travelled »

Bonne et sainte fête à nos frères musulmans qui pratiquent cet esprit de mortification durant le Ramadan et que la fête EID devienne le fruit de leur efforts. EID message d amour et de paix.« Dieu est Amour »,les musulmans « accordent beaucoup d’importance et d’espace à l’amour, à la compassion et à la solidarité », mais que « l’amour, pour être crédible, doit être effectif », notamment dans le « service de tous dans la vie de tous les jours » et « au service de la recherche de solutions justes et pacifiques aux graves problèmes qui assaillent notre monde ». EID MUBARAK !

Living in our dear multi-cultural island, I feel compel to wish to my blog readers, especially those to whom this auspicious day is meaningful a Happy Divali. “The celebration of the victory of light over darkness” has always been the general theme of Diwali, I have always been taught. As I understood, unlike other nations in India, the people make no distinction between a religious celebration and a cultural feast.

To enrich my cultural knowledge, I have ever since my youth always sought to understand the celebrations of my fellow Mauritians. Today, is an opportunity to deepen our understanding of meaning Diwali or Deepavali as expressed by Indians of southern states, Tamil Nadu and others.

“The Festival signifies the triumph of light over darkness, good over evil, justice over injustice and intelligence over ignorance. The goddess worshipped at Divali is Mother Lakshmi or Lakshmi Mata. Lakshmi Mata is the goddess of light, wealth and beauty and is also associated with prosperity, luck, riches, abundance, financial well being, and generosity.”

A Toronto based Hindu religious personality Shri Gyan Rajhans gives his 10 reasons for celebrating Diwali:

The Festival of Lights is for All

Why do we celebrate Diwali? It’s not just the festive mood in the air that makes you happy, or just that it’s a good time to enjoy before the advent of winter. There are 10 mythical and historical reasons why Diwali is a great time to celebrate. And there are good reasons not just for Hindus but also for all others to celebrate this great Festival of Lights.

1.Goddess Lakshmi’s Birthday: The Goddess of wealth, Lakshmi incarnated on the new moon day (amaavasyaa) of the Kartik month during the churning of the ocean (samudra-manthan), hence the association of Diwali with Lakshmi.

2. Vishnu Rescued Lakshmi: On this very day (Diwali day), Lord Vishnu in his fifth incarnation as Vaman-avtaara rescued Lakshmi from the prison of King Bali and this is another reason of worshipping Ma Larkshmi on Diwali.

3. Krishna Killed Narakaasur: On the day preceding Diwali, Lord Krishna killed the demon king Narakaasur and rescued 16,000 women from his captivity. The celebration of this freedom went on for two days including the Diwali day as a victory festival.

4. The Return of the Pandavas: According to the great epic ‘Mahabharata’, it was ‘Kartik Amavashya’ when the Pandavas appeared from their 12 years of banishment as a result of their defeat in the hands of the Kauravas at the game of dice (gambling). The subjects who loved the Pandavas celebrated the day by lighting the earthen lamps.

5. The Victory of Rama: According to the epic ‘Ramayana’, it was the new moon day of Kartik when Lord Ram, Ma Sita and Lakshman returned to Ayodhya after vanquishing Ravana and conquering Lanka. The citizens of Ayodhya decorated the entire city with the earthen lamps and illuminated it like never before.

6. Coronation of Vikramaditya: One of the greatest Hindu King Vikramaditya was coroneted on the Diwali day, hence Diwali became a historical event as well.

7. Special Day for the Arya Samaj: It was the new moon day of Kartik (Diwali day) when Maharshi Dayananda, one of the greatest reformers of Hinduism and the founder of Arya Samaj attained his nirvana.

8. Special Day for the Jains: Mahavir Tirthankar, considered to be the founder of modern Jainism also attained his nirvana on Diwali day.

9. Special Day for the Sikhs: The third Sikh Guru Amar Das institutionalized Diwali as a Red-Letter Day when all Sikhs would gather to receive the Gurus blessings. In 1577, the foundation stone of the Golden Temple at Amritsar was laid on Diwali. In 1619, the sixth Sikh Guru Hargobind, who was held by the Mughal Emperor Jahengir, was released from the Gwalior fort along with 52 kings.

10. The Pope’s Diwali Speech: In 1999, Pope John Paul II performed a special Eucharist in an Indian church where the altar was decorated with Diwali lamps, the Pope had a ‘tilak’ marked on his forehead and his speech was bristled with references to the festival of light.

What I found most interesting was his 10^th reason which gives this day its universal peace dimension.The above message seems also to calls for the unity of the different factions of Hinduism: AryaSamajist, Jainism and Sikhs.

I wish that Diwali be a day where all Mauritians would look up to and work towards our common heritage, our common goals and our need for unity.A day from when on, we take the resolution to stop our differences from dividing us. A day, when we become conscious that our differences enrich our Mauritian Nation and that because we are different, together we can do far better. Diwali, the festival day of Synergy over Division!

Dengue fever, Malaria and Chickungunya have been very much on the news this week. The common thread is Aedes albopictus, the formidable stripped mosquito, known also as the Tiger mosquito.I found  Wikipedia quite up to date thereon.

Here is my story of the stripped Mosquito.

This reminds me my school days, when, I had the chance to have a break away from school. My treat was to rush to Jardin Balfour and walk down the banks of the river to reach the Balfour water falls. At the foot of the falls, especially in summer, in company of the school mates, we would enjoy the cooling and wonderful atmosphere of a swim in the river. There after, we would armed ourselves with our specially implements for the catch of Camarons. Bambous were used to hold the bait made of lumps of bread. A lasso made of selected and purposed engineered grass weed to hook the delicious and precoius preys, was used with great skill to lift up the camarons whilst they were enjoying our bread.

Skills, patience and stillness were the absolute qualities needed from the errant school boy turned fisherman. Whilst I had my attention & vision fully committed on the prey some 3 feets below in the clear water of the bed of the river and both hands busy, holding on the left the bamboo bearing the bait and on the right the lasso to hook the camaron, came bzzzzzz the stripped mosquito on my bare thigh. There was no way to shake off of the sucker who found in me fresh blood to quench his thirst.I decided that I shall go for my camaron at all cost and would support the painful sting of the monster mosquito. My eyes were playing pingpong. A few seconds I focused in the bed of the river through the crystal clear water, slowly waiting for the camaron to back up into my lasso to loop my prey and the next second in complete stillness, watching the skinny Tiger mosquito drawing blood from the stung thigh. I was almost there, the loop had got to half the body length of the camaron and I just need a few millimeters more to hook my trophy.In the while the Tiger Mosquito drew so much blood that it swelled like a ballon. The skinny became round and heavy. Having finished the business and had his fill, he took off. The mosquito was so heavy that he felt in the water, causing a commotion and ripple in the water. The stillness was broken causing my Camron to run away.

To hell “Aedes Albopictus.”