Indian Ocean’s another yet a little India - Mauritius

A small yet beautiful town ‘Triolet’ in the north of Mauritius, with a major chunk of the population of Hindus, celebrates Diwali the most happening festival of Hindus in a similar fashion just as India with firecrackers, and radiantly lit beautifully decorated houses. Mauritius is a land of paradise with beaches, and greenery all over, the gigantic sea waves and water sports were so overwhelming for me as I stepped onto this captivating island. Merely a population of 13 lakh and a distance of 5110 km. from India, Mauritius evolved from a volcano. People here live soothing, calm lives without rushing like any other nation. 60% Hindus, 2% Chinese, 17% Anglo Mauritian and South African mix culture of Mauritius fascinates a nature lover like me. Mauritius was influenced by the Dutch then the French and lastly the English culture. The Hindi language flourished with all these languages and cultures.  The capital of Mauritius, i.e., Port Louis is an Information Technology hub.

For the impetus of the Hindi language and to include it as the seventh constitutional language of the United Nations, in Mauritius, the 11th World Hindi Conference was organized and I also got the opportunity to join the conference with globally renowned writers, and thinkers. The conference venue was named Govind Tulsidas Nagar. During those three days, the entire venue was devotedly transformed into a land of Hindi. I was gratified to see the grief of losing the acclaimed politician Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ji there in Mauritius as well, as in India. For mourning, the Indian flags were flown at half-mast and the then Prime Minister of Mauritius Praveen Kumar Jagannath declared Port Louis’s famous cyber tower by the name of Atal Bihari Vajpayee Tower as this tower in Mauritius was built in association with India when Vajpayee Ji was the Prime Minister of India. One fine day my guide Vicky showed me to the top of the Petite Montague hill at a height of 100 meters, the Citadel or Adelaide Fort built in the 19th century. I saw the magnificent city view of Port Louis from a big cannon placed on the terrace of the Citadel fort. Captured by Britishers, the Adelaide fort was named after the wife of William II. The walls of the fort are made of Moorish architectural style with a horseshoe arch. In a unique and a bit weird manner of long rectangular blocks, the walls of the fort are constructed in grey-black coloured bricks.

DIWALI CELEBRATION IN MAURITIUS: Executive in Mauritius Fire and Rescue Service Kritanand Sungkur in a candid conversation with me stated that like India here in Mauritius every festival celebrates with enthusiasm especially the festival of light, Diwali, and the festival of colours, Holi. The deity lord Shiva is worshiped with fervor by Hindus. However here, Diwali is celebrated merely for one night and not for five days as happens in India. But this day becomes so happening and colourful as people with so much devotion do puja of goddess Lakshmi and eat only vegetarian food on Diwali night, decorate their houses with spectacular light displays, colourful rangolis, and diyas, visit family and friends’ houses, and exchange gifts, sweets especially colourful cakes, ladoos, gulab jamoon with each other. In a few Hindu families, the decoration continues for two to three days. The festival of Bhai Dooj too is celebrated by a small number of Hindu families, not by all.When I visited Narendra K. Jain’s house who is residing for a long span in Mauritius and the Secretary of the International Jain Association, Mauritius; MD Rajasthan Group of Company informed me, “The municipal corporation of Mauritius allocates a separate budget for the celebration of Diwali. And artists are invited from India for the cultural performances in Mauritius.”Sungkur further informed that the fourth generation of Indians came as labourers, especially from Bihar and some other states of India to Mauritius, and are now residing here. They have kept alive their culture and tradition by following hanuman chalisa and folk tales. Dedicated to Hindu gods and goddesses, the famous Ganga Talab has been constructed as the religious spot here. In this vein, a place called Apravasi Ghat or Immigration Depot was formed in Mauritius where the contractual Hindu labourers who came from India to work in sugarcane farms of Mauritius first stepped here from their ships. Here, in the ghat, the remains of the utensils and other utility items used by them have been preserved and displayed.  In fact, the names of those workers who landed first here in the ghat have been written on a big transparent glass as an attraction point. The ghat has been developed as a National Monument or World Heritage Site in 2006 by UNESCO under the Government of Mauritius’s ancient monument and archaeological sites act. Owing to the export of sugarcane, and due to the IT, Textile, and Tourism industries, a small island like Mauritius is today marked and recognized well on the World map.