Entries Tagged 'Mauritius' ↓

We all know that on average we shall live much longer than our parents. The question is how will we coop with old age and possibly restricted physical movements? Would there be need to be taken to a nursing home or not?

The Europeans are launching a pilot project under the name of MonAMI to study this issue. With technology they intend to make older people more autonomous within their own home. I found that the technologies deployed were clever and ingenious.

Objective

The overall objective of MonAMI is to mainstream accessibility in consumer goods and services, including public services, through applied research and development, using advanced technologies to ensure equal access, independent living and participation for all in the Information Society.

Aim

The MonAMI project will demonstrate that accessible, useful services for elderly persons and persons with disabilities living at home can be delivered in mainstream systems and platforms. This will be done in close cooperation with users and by involving key mainstream actors throughout the whole process.

Background

Previous European projects have shown that technological augmentation of the living space can help elderly people and people with disabilities to carry out daily living tasks increase their quality of life, thus reducing the need for institutional and other care. Unfortunately, the results of these projects have often stayed in the laboratory or only been implemented on a small, local scale.  MonAMI will build on these experiences and aim for large-scale mainstream deployment.

Could we have some of the technologies imported to Mauritius? Entrepreneurs there could be an opportunity to exploit?

I came back last night from Blue Bay to greet a friend who has been in the island for the last week. Yesterday was the only day of sun she enjoyed. For the whole week it rained and the guests spent most of the day in the hall and lobby of the hotel, as the beach was too windy and cold. I thought that the weather has not been kind to our tourists, at least those who chose Blue Bay area.

I personally witness the strong and cold south-easterly gusts sitting at the bar of the hotel. I was lucky to have my wind breaker jacket and a thick sweater. My return trip on La Vigie motorway was not a comfortable drive with the fog and drizzle.

I felt much better for Mauritius and our tourist industry when I read Reuters today. The cold weather is nothing to the keen kite surfers. Wind is what they have come for and this last week has been bliss to them. “A man’s food is another man’s poison” goes the saying…  

LE MORNE, Mauritius (Reuters) – Her blond hair dripping with salt water, top Austrian kitesurfer Gabi Steidl cuts through the translucent, emerald green waves of the Indian Ocean.

Kitesurfing — a hi-tech hybrid of surfing and kite-flying — is fast winning converts: riders harnessed to kites who stand on boards and skim, surf or even leap, often hanging in the air for several seconds.

With its world-class winds, plenty of breakers and calmer lagoons for beginners, Mauritius is determined to cash in.

“It’s just the most beautiful island and the conditions are perfect,” said 31-year-old Steidl, who gave up a career in publishing to follow her passion full-time.

“It’s like a huge wave playground.”

Back on the beach, a dozen kite surfers check lines and launch their kites as the midday sun hits its peak.

 

We shall have to modify our eating and drinking habits. The price of milk and milk derivative products is likely to reach higher price. In Mauritius, the production of milk is negligible in comparison to our consumption: Mauritius dependents on imports mainly from Australia, Europe and South Africa. We all recall the flop that the government State Trading Corporation had to face with the import of Indian milk.

The world scene of milk production and consumption is indicating a sharp increase of world market price.

In Europe, the price of cattle feeds has shot up as demand increases. The demand for milk and milk products are increasing so rapidly that the EC stock reserves are depleted and EC is considering increasing the production quotas. However the cycle to start production of milk will take some time. The higher demand comes from developing countries and mainly China.

In Australia, a large country producer of milk, the last drought has affected the production. The accrued demand for export has driven the export prices to new heights. This has resulted in a decreased export volume of production at higher prices.

Where do we in Mauritius stand in the face of this situation? What can we do?

Well change our eating and drinking habits. Do we need to eat Ras malai every week? Do we need to drink Alouda so often? With the rising price of gateau ‘dilait’ can be afford to eat them? We are under the tyranny of our purse. Last week our flat neighbour offered us some Soya milk, since she tried out her Soya milk making machine. For breakfast, I ventured to add the vegetarian fat free Soya milk to my brewed cup of Golden Pekoe tea. How awful! The pinch of my purse is not painful enough for me to accept the change in taste. However I sampled a cold glass of vanilla flavoured Soya milk drink; I was delighted.

The pinch of the purse will definitely drive the change in habits of the Mauritian.Adieu mon morceau de Camembert!

My last week’s blog on Joseph TMK and Chinese culture got me back on the track on my studies of East & West culture, East & West thinking and their founding philosophies. Over the last few days, after a brief discussion with a reader of my blog, I was prompted to go back to my memories to revisit my observations of the similarities and differences of the East & West. It definitely helps to write down my thoughts to crystallize them.

These steps recall me of my teenage years when hungry for learning and knowledge; I enrolled to a philosophy introduction course given by Jesuits fathers at Centre St Ignace in Rose hill. For weeks on, I religiously attended the Saturday lectures and studied with all my might to increase my knowledge of the subject. These efforts in a way opened up my curiosity & brain and gave me this impetus to keep on learning. Ever since, I stayed a keen learner.

I recall the lectures of Father de Roton on Socrates and Plato who were the forefathers of Philosophy and how they founded the western mode of thinking.

The last few days then I went back to my books to read up about both Socrates and Plato to refresh my memory. Socrates himself although a great teacher did not hand over any writings, his immense contributions were through the works of his disciplines Plato, Xenophon, Aristotle and Aristophanes.

Perhaps his most important contribution to Western thought is his dialectic method of inquiry, known as the Socratic Method or method of elenchus, which he largely applied to the examination of key moral concepts such as the Good and Justice. It was first described by Plato in the Socratic Dialogues. To solve a problem, you would ask a question and when finding the answer, you would also have an answer to your problem. This led to the beginning of the Scientific Method, in which the first step says to name the problem in the form of a question. For this, Socrates is customarily regarded as the father of political philosophy and ethics or moral philosophy and as a fountainhead of all the main themes in Western philosophy in general.

Could we teach the Socratic Method to our youth of today? Could we bring Socrates and Plato back to life for our population of Mauritius?  I would wish that the authorities of Education in Mauritius could hear me.

Depuis bientôt 2 ans  j’habite dans un appartement en  Copropriété. En plus, je vis en ce moment l’expérience d’avoir pris la responsabilité d’être le président du conseil syndical de notre Copropriété. Pour l’expérience, j’avoue que c’en est une bien belle ! Je considère que les mauriciens en général n’ont pas l’habitude de  vivre en Copropriété et ne  sont pas conscients des contraintes à  vivre dans une proximité rapprochée et d’avoir besoin de partager en permanence l’utilisation des facilités communes.

Des propriétaires qui refusent de payer les charges communes votées par l’assemblé des propriétaires, nous en avons. La Copropriété se trouve dans l’obligation de les traduire en justice ! Des voisins qui essaient de tirer les draps vers eux en voulant toujours plus que les autres, nous en avons. Des resquilleurs qui squattent votre parking privatif dès que vous êtes absents, nous en avons aussi !

Pour accéder à mon appartement, je suis obligé d’utiliser un passage commun et ce, en respectant les règlements dictés par la Copropriété. Vu la proximité de mes voisins, je dois être vigilant  pour ne pas les incommoder. La même règle s’applique également aux personnes qui me visitent.

Comment faire comprendre les règles de la bienséance aux récalcitrants agressifs et changer les comportements de certains co-propriétaires ? Comment faire évoluer leurs mentalités vers un plus grand respect des autres, de leur biens, avec une courtoisie acceptable ? Déjà, malgré une sélection occasionnée par le coût élevé des appartements, nous avons des propriétaires qui ont peu de sens civique; je pense aux immeubles NHDC où est entassée une population sans éducation civique, et belligérante. Bien sur être nantis ne veux pas dire avoir un savoir faire social !

Pour certains,  vivre en communauté et en copropriété n’est pas simple.

Comme nous sommes régis par le code français en matière de copropriété à Maurice, je reproduis ci- après quelques éléments & définitions glanés sur l’internet :

Principes de lotissement

La copropriété est divisée en lots.

Un lot de copropriété est composé de manière indissociable :

• d’un élément privatif ou partie privative : appartement, garage, local commercial, cave, etc. réservé à l’usage exclusif de son propriétaire.
• d’une quote-part des parties communes et des équipements communs de l’immeuble (sol, couloirs, escaliers, toiture, gros-Å“uvre, ascenseur, etc).

Certaines parties communes, dites “parties communes générales”, sont la propriété de l’ensemble des propriétaires et sont destinées à l’usage de tous : toiture, murs, espaces verts, etc. D’autres, dites “parties communes spéciales”, sont réservées à certains propriétaires (ceux d’un bâtiment déterminé).

La quote-part des parties communes dont chaque copropriétaire est titulaire est exprimée en tantièmes (millièmes, 10 000°, 100 000°, etc.) et est évaluée en proportion de la valeur de son lot par rapport à l’ensemble des autres lots de l’immeuble. Les parties privatives, les parties communes et les tantièmes sont définis par l’état descriptif de division et le règlement de copropriété, qui est un document ayant valeur de contrat à l’égard de chaque copropriétaire. Les parties communes, qui sont en principe listées dans le Règlement de Copropriété, sont gérées par le Syndic, conformément aux décisions prises en Assemblée Générale par les Copropriétaires, selon les règles de majorité prévues par la loi.

Principes de fonctionnement

Copropriétaire

L’ensemble des copropriétaires est regroupé au sein du Syndicat des copropriétaires. Le syndicat des copropriétaires est constitué de l’ensemble des copropriétaires, sans exception. Doté de la personnalité juridique (c’est donc une personne morale), il administre les parties communes, assure la conservation de l’immeuble et la défense des intérêts collectifs. Il est responsable des dommages causés aux copropriétaires ou aux tiers.

Syndic

Le Syndic a la charge de gérer l’immeuble et les équipements communs.

Il est le mandataire du syndicat des copropriétaires. Il n’est pas le représentant de chaque copropriétaire, individuellement. Le Syndic est désigné par l’Assemblée générale. Son mandat est renouvelé tous les trois ans au maximum. Il a trois missions :

1. il exécute les décisions de l’assemblée générale et applique les dispositions du règlement de copropriété ;
2. il administre la copropriété : gestion de l’immeuble (souscription des contrats de fourniture et d’entretien, engagement du personnel) et gestion comptable (recouvrement des charges de copropriété et règlement des fournisseurs) ;
3. il représente le syndicat des copropriétaires dans tous les actes civils et en justice.

Conseil syndical

Le Conseil syndical est un organe de liaison entre les copropriétaires et le Syndic.

Sa mission est d’assister le Syndic et de contrôler sa gestion. Il a un rôle consultatif et n’a pas de pouvoir de décision. Ses membres sont choisis parmi les copropriétaires et sont élus par l’Assemblée générale. Pour exercer sa mission, il peut prendre connaissance et copie auprès du Syndic de tous les documents se rapportant à la gestion et à l’administration de la copropriété.

Le conseil syndical est généralement dirigé par un président. Dans certaines copropriétés, le président du conseil syndical tient un rôle public de représentant des copropriétaires.

Le conseil syndical peut, si besoin est, se faire assister d’un technicien de son choix, dont les honoraires sont à la charge de l’ensemble de la copropriété.

Résident, Bailleur et Locataire

Règlement de copropriété

Assemblée générale

“HIV aids” is a threat to the world. The extent of the possible damage to humanity, up to now cannot be measured. Whilst the cure for the disease has not been found, medicine to control the affliction on the patients exists. Prevention of the spread of the disease requires enormous amount of resources which the under developed and developing countries’ governments cannot afford to bear the costs of and do not have the know-how and will to cope with. The Global Business Coalition has been instituted by Businesses to fight the “HIV Aids” and help to contain this world plague.

We have been talking and discussing about the social responsibility of businesses in our country. How many of our firms in Mauritius have social responsibility programmes? Of the Mauritian firms who are reaping in annual profits of over hundreds of millions of rupees how many have an allocated annual budget to its social responsibility?

Fortunately some firms do take the issue seriously. For what I can glean from the press, Beach Comber group allocates substantial resources through the “Fondation Espoir et development” to put to action their social responsibility targets. Barclays Bank has a full time person looking into its social actions. What about the other firms?

Some would argue that you can only be philanthropic after you have collected enough wealth. I am of opinion that all businesses have a duty to have a social responsibility program what ever the size of the enterprise.

Is it possible to have a concerted effort to have a higher impact on the priority issues? In Mauritius we could well have a business coalition, along the line of the Global Business Coalition, to fight off the plagues that are rotting our society such as drug addition and HIV aids. Where are the leaders who would take up this challenge?

Interestingly enough, it may inspire you to visit the website of “The Leaders” of which Nelson Mandela is one of the figure head.

This week again, Newsweek in its issue, highlights the danger of consuming food imported from China. Newsweek is right in alerting the US population on the subject because of the increase dependence of the US on supply from China.

China became the leading exporter of seafood to the U.S. in 2004 – and amounts are rising fast. Chinese imports were up 14 percent in 2005 and 23 percent in 2006. This year, so far, they are up 34 percent over 2006.

“China’s imports of aquaculture products are increasing despite the country’s history of violations for veterinary drug residues,” says Food & Water Watch. “Between 2003 and 2006, 35 percent of all refusals for veterinary drug residues were found on shipments from China. In 2006, 62.4 percent of all refusals for veterinary drug residues came from there.”

The sanitary conditions in China, is being addressed by the authorities of China who have reproduced a report by Zhou Qing on the theme and distributed to the producers. It may take some time for china, to address the ecological issue. The rivers are polluted; there is no control on the fertilizers and pesticides used which find their way in the waters. How long will China take to produce acceptable quality?

The threat of Aquaculture in Mauritius is to be able to produce a proper product at a competitive price. The opportunities are by far larger provided we produce a clean product, a bio one, and target a niche market where the sanitary quality is the premium and price is second. Branding Mauritius as an ecological producer and living the label will be our biggest assets.Government authorities have to be very vigilant in making sure that the farms are within the norms of sanitation. The development of the sector will be long live if the very stringent environmental rules are followed. Let us take the benefits of learning from the mistakes other farms in the world to build our own. Much have to be learned.

The Food & Water website is worthwhile visiting.

Extract on the theme:
Concerns
Salmon farming
Dichlorvos is licensed as a veterinary medicine by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate for use against sea lice (Lepeophteirus salmonis and Caligus elongatus) that afflict salmon. The UK salmon farming industry is mainly based in the western coast and Islands of Scotland there are about 130 salmon farming companies on 280 sites. Production has increased from 600 tonnes in 1980 to 48,000 tonnes in 1993(10). There have been concerns about the discharge of dichlorvos as a result, and the possible effects of dichlorvos on wild salmon. There was an increase in the incidence of cataracts and blindness in wild salmon in the 1980s and this has been linked with exposure to dichlorvos(11).
Alternatives to dichlorvos are now being introduced including the use of sea wrasse as ‘cleaner fish’, and the use of hydrogen peroxide as an alternative disinfectant.

Developing country use
Because of its high acute oral and dermal toxicity, its availability in developing countries is a cause for concern. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the World Bank, GTZ (Germany) and ODA (UK) generally discourage the procurement of such products. The accepted international guide to best practice in the procurement of pesticides is set out in the FAO’s Provisional Guidelines on Tender Procedures for the Procurement of Pesticides(12) which state:
“Pesticide formulations that fall into Class IA or IB … usually have severe restrictions in developed countries; in general they can only be used by specially trained and certified applicators. Such pesticides should not be used by small farmers or untrained and unprotected workers in developing countries”.
Nevertheless research by the Pesticides Trust [now PAN UK] shows that dichlorvos is widely used in a number of countries where the conditions of use have raised concerns. Dichlorvos has caused poisonings in China, Costa Rica, Paraguay, India, Papua New Guinea and Egypt. It is also widely produced – there are facilities in India, Brazil and Mexico(13). For these reasons PAN groups have strongly urged that dichlorvos be included in the Prior Informed Consent (PIC) process from the outset(14). One manufacturer, Ciba Geigy, has agreed to withdraw dichlorvos from sale in the Colombian flower industry (see p14).

Conclusions
It is accepted that dichlorvos is dangerous to a number of aquatic species and that the discharge of dichlorvos to water should be reduced. Dichlorvos can inhibit cholinesterase levels in humans which may lead to short or longer term neurotoxic effects. Although it has been used for some 40 years, considerable uncertainties remain about whether or not it is implicated in cancer, and the wider environmental consequences of its use. In general and specifically in developing countries and in UK fish farming less hazardous alternatives are available

If I was asked what the word Deoband meant? My reply: Deo from my latin based drawer of my brain gives God and band means a gang. I would very ignorantly conclude: the gang of God. For fun, I curiously asked my wife last night the same question. Her reply was Deo for deodorant and band for a group of things. She thus concluded: ‘Is it a new deodorant brand?”

Having recently read some documents on Islam and the forces and influences of Islam in the present world, the word Deoband has now a new meaning to me. The annoucement of the future visit of Tariq Ramadan and the last conference I attended on the new faces of Islam are still working in my mind and giving a boost to my interest on the subject.

Why did I choose this word? Deoband. Well, it is because of my dear Muslim co-citizens of Mauritius.It is one of the school of Islam which has inspired the converted Muslim Indians. We can safely affirm that with a very few exception the totality of Muslims in Mauritius were Indian converts of Hanifi school of thought.

For having worked a number of years with many of my Muslim friends and for having over ten years work and dealt with the Haj & Umra pilgrimages, I owe it to myself and my Muslim friends a better understanding of the happenings in the world of Islam. I had the opportunity to attend talks with Haj organisers in Jeddah from different countries. I have to admit that converted Indian Muslims are not treated on the same footing as the Arab Muslims.

As the fastest growing population of 19% or over in Mauritius, Muslims mostly Sunnites, are most certainly a group that we have to be aware of. Besides, it is common knowledge that the influence of this section of the population in respect of the economy and society is far greater than its proportional number.

The comparison in the treatment of Muslims in India and in Mauritius is a very worthwhile exercise. Much has to be learnt as the majority of the population considers India as mother India for having originated there, and the secular governments are both democratic.

The Mauritian government has, in a way, been more generous or lenient to the Muslims by allowing foreign mullahs to work in the country whilst India has kept away from external sources. In the past, most of the mullahs were from India. Recently,for the last decade or so, there are a number of Islamic teachers from Pakistan or from Egypt working in Mauritius. Funding from other than Indian sources may well have helped the Muslim community to move away from the ties of Indian sources. Hence we have now a variety of Muslims with different schools of thoughts and following: Al Azhar from Egypt,Wahhabi from Saudi Arabia,Memons from Kutch,Hanifi from India…etc

All Muslims believe the Qur’an is error-free, but they differ on how to apply the Sunnah in order to interpret and understand the Qur’an.

The Aquatic Business Activities Bill has created waves in the Mauritian scene. Whilst La Ferme Marine de Mahebourg has been operating a fish Farm since 4-5 years under very stringent rules set up by the authorities, it would appear that the bill presented at the parliament is causing some war waged by Vassen Kaupaymoothoo. You may recall the blog I wrote earlier on the subject praising the initiative. You may want to refer back to the extract of the article published in Le Mauricien on the 14th July. Vassen Kaupaymoothoo, according to La Vie Catholique, is defending a civic and noble cause for the interest of the nation. The dance saga of Kalipso, which is the name of the organisation through which Vassen Kaupaymoothoo is crusading, has started. No doubt any development or change brings disturbance to the ecology. Did man displace forests to start cultivation many centuries ago? Did man removed vegetation and bushes to build roads? Does the gas produced by your car destroy the air you breathe? Will the setting up of a farm in the lagoons of Mauritius affect the ecology? The answers to all the questions are definitely affirmative. The relevant and pertinent question should be: “Against the other benefits sought by Aquatic Business, how much disturbances to the nature should be allowed?” Don’t you think that the tourism industry likewise bring in its load of pollution? What is required: is precisely to take advantage of nature without destroying it.

Building sustainable industry is the buzz word today. Non abuse of Nature is of essence. I do welcome the crusade of Vassen Kaupaymoothoo to protect nature. He might well be able to set up limits based on scientific studies which will not mar our ecology forever whilst making the most of it. Is waging against the bill the position to take? I would rather see that the ocean scholar proposing solutions and placing limits beyond which Mauritius should not go for fear of disrupting nature beyond repair. The role of Government is precisely to set up the rules.

All of us know the damage overfishing has done to our seas. Greed and abuse of nature in time always pop up. Does that mean we should then ban fishing? Should we fish just enough so that nature has the time to reproduce enough for man to consume and benefit of its gift? A mindful and just man has always a sense of balance. He balances short terms shortcomings against long term earnings and vice versa.

Quote from la Vie Catholique

Portrait Vassen Kaupaymoothoo L’homme en croisade Sorti de nulle part, comme un héros de bandes dessinées, Vassen Kaupaymoothoo livre une guerre sans merci contre les partisans de l’Aquatic Business Activities Bill. Océanologue de formation, il connaît la mer comme sa poche et ne cesse de clamer à qui veut l’entendre que la mer est du domaine public et que cette loi viendra non seulement priver la population d’un droit légitime, mais conduira à la mort de milliers de vies marines. Sa quête est apolitique, se défend-il, étant «surtout un acte civique». Chemise bleue, pantalon beige, coupe de cheveux impeccable, Vassen Kaupaymoothoo fait à la fois père de famille respectable et professionnel digne de confiance. Et son français impeccable ¬ probablement dû au fait que sa mère est française et qu’il a fait ses études en France – ne fait qu’ajouter plus de crédit au personnage. Voilà quelques semaines à peine depuis que Vassen Kaupaymoothoo est arrivé sur la scène publique et déjà sa notoriété est en pleine croissance. Dans l’affaire de l’Aquatic Business Activities Bill, il est l’homme à abattre. Car, au sein de son association Kalipso, qui a vu le jour le 4 juin dernier, l’homme milite pour que ce projet de loi ne se concrétise jamais. Rien de positif De l’Aquatic Business Activities Bill, Vassen Kaupaymoothoo n’en retient absolument rien de positif. Des malheurs liés à cette loi, il en cite à la pelle. D’abord, «dans l’aquaculture, les poissons seront nourris à la farine animale. Ils seront donc vulnérables à des maladies et on risque d’avoir des cas comme celui de la vache folle. Puis, une forte concentration de poissons résultera en une grande concentration de déjection, chose préjudiciable à l’équilibre marin. Ensuite, les prédateurs, tels que les requins, seront attirés. Puis, les odeurs. Ensuite, l’inesthétique, Enfin, le risque de voir un envahissement de poissons génétiquement modifiés dans le lagon,…».«L’aquaculture, affirme-t-ilinlassablement, est contraire au développement touristique.» Faisant fi des pressions, des propos dissuasifs, Vassen Kaupaymoothoo semble bien déterminé à mener son action à terme. L’homme ne pourra être comblé et dormir sur ses deux oreilles que si ce projet de loi finissait par être relégué aux oubliettes. En donnant vie à Kalipso, il avait d’ailleurs trois objectifs: a) Parler de ce problème au niveau national et sensibiliser le public ; b) Atteindre l’Etat ; et, c) Faire que ce projet de loi soit retiré. «J’ai atteint les deux premiers objectifs. Le public est au courant et nous avons rencontré le ministre. Le troisième reste à venir.» Accusé par certains d’être antipatriote et de vouloir faire barrière au développement du pays, suspecté par d’autres d’avoir un hidden agenda, l’océanologue essaie de ne pas en faire grand cas, mais avoue que ce sont des coups durs pour «une personne qui fait son devoir de citoyen». Un simple citoyen Vassen Kaupaymoothoo refuse qu’on parle de lui comme d’un militant, mais préfère se définir comme un simple citoyen touché par ce qui se passe. «Si je ne fais rien, j’aurai un gros problème de conscience vis-à-vis de mes enfants, de la population – car je n’aurais pas fait ce qu’il fallait, quand il le fallait. L’avenir est entre nos mains. Nous avons des responsabilités en tant que citoyens mauriciens. Personnellement, je ne pourrais pas vivre avec un cas de conscience pour n’avoir rien fait pour sauver notre patrimoine et celui de nos enfants.» Conscience citoyenne, patriotisme… ce sont quelque part ces convictions qui poussèrent Vassen Kaupaymoothoo à revenir au pays, il y a de cela une douzaine d’année. Ses études terminées (en France et au Canada) et après avoir parcouru plusieurs régions du globe (l’Europe, le pôle Nord, le Japon…) et travaillé pour diverses organisations, dont le Programme des Nations unies pour le développement (Pnud), le jeune homme rentre à Maurice pour travailler comme consultant, à son propre compte. «Je me suis dit que le futur du pays dépendait des gens qui travailleraient ici. J’ai refusé d’être égoïste. Et comme il n’y avait pas d’océanologue dans l’île…» La détermination Si notre interlocuteur dit n’avoir jamais regretté son choix, il avoue toutefois avoir souvent eu à l’assumer. «Les gens qui vous demandent qu’est ce que vous êtes venu faire ici, le refus de reconnaître vos compétences…» Qu’à cela ne tienne. S’il y a bien un mot que Vassen Kaupaymoothoo a fait sien, c’est détermination. Détermination dans son travail à Maurice. Détermination concernant la croisade qu’il mène au sein de Kalipso. «Je suis convaincu de ce que je fais. Je souffrirai beaucoup plus si je ne pouvais pas aller jusqu’au bout. Ma conviction est totale et désintéressée. Je continuerai à me battre jusqu’à ce que ce projet de loi soit retiré.» La Vie Catholique

In Spite of the Gods: The Strange Rise of Modern India
My friends Shabbir and ILA from Bombay offered me sometime ago the book written by Edward Luce. I am so grateful to them.

It is a very entertaining and yet very well documented book which I thoroughly enjoyed. Living in Mauritius in the country with the largest majority of Indians in the southern hemisphere, I was enthused with the writings of Edward Luce.

I am now clearer (I guess) or at least I could sense the source of some of the unexplained behaviour of some of our Indian origin brothers of Mauritius particularly some of the prominent politicians. Castes system: origin and practices are very well illustrated in the document. One only needs to transpose the basis concept of Caste system from the Vedic literature to the reality of present Mauritian Society.

I was interested to read Luce’s view on:

1.      The relationship of the between the majority community and the Indians of Muslim faith. How the situation will develop with the Islamic world’s expansion.

2.      The impact of Bollywood and the Cinema on the Indian Society and the world.

3.      The continuing threat of Hindu nationalism.

4.      The modern Global and Medieval co existing together.

5.      The future  issues of India in the face of the United States and China

 

The Guardian English newspaper produced a comment on the book:

While researching this book, Edward Luce visits the Cow Product Research Centre near the central Indian city of Nagpur. It is run by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, a right-wing militant organisation dedicated to, among other things, the ‘reform of the Hindu religion’.

Luce is shown around by a senior activist, who starts by taking him to the laboratories. ‘The first room hit me about 20 metres before we arrived. It contained hundreds of bottles of cow’s urine. Next we were shown cow-dung products. My favourite was cow-dung soap.’ ‘God lives in the cow dung,’ Luce’s guide said. ‘All of these recipes are contained in the holy texts.’

 

This anecdote raises the snigger it is calculated to raise and reinforces a stereotype about India. Luce, however, is no panderer to stereotypes. He shows us that with India, stereotypes exemplified by such anecdotes often turn out to be red herrings.