Off Road by `gilad

Ever since I’ve started driving, I haven’t stopped cursing the state of our roads! They are very rare those that can be described as “practicable” – from potholes to ditches without forgetting those numerous crossroads with blind spots. It’s a complete mess from which you’ve got to get your way out! I happen to wonder why speed breakers are in use since with those bumpy roads it’s already hard to speed :s

Ah and did I mention about our dear pedestrians who after those campaigns on TV – “Enn Bon Sofèr” – believe they can wander about on the roads as per their wish…specially school kids who I think believe roads to be appropriate for group meetings or maybe it’s a challenge to show that they can block a whole street by walking in crowds when school’s out.

Besides, could anyone remember me what are yellow boxes meant for ? I think I misunderstood it or is it that after you get your license it simply becomes some mere marking on the road?

I know it’s not easy to keep a watch on each and every road user but I believe it’s up to us all to act sensibly and show some responsible behaviour. Yet if our leaders themselves can freeze traffic along a road to pass by in their big cars – just to avoid the traffic jam you see – then it all ends up like the far west : “the mightier and faster wins!”.

Anyway I’m not discouraging those who are actually trying to get their license – driving is indeed a pleasure to experience! It’s just that once you’re out with your license, it’s yet another learning and adaptation phase that’s awaiting you but remember you too you were a” Learner” once and also remember if not today, then tomorrow it will be you who’d be asking the way from the others so just show some civism and we’ll all stand to win out of it.

It’s normal for us to stop and think back at what we’ve been doing when we reach some milestone in our life. The same happened to me recently as I lived the last days of my university life (well as bachelor student). It’s been like viewing how I’ve changed and why and where all this has brought me to and I think university was full of experiences I’d never think I’d live! It’s really true that university not only forges your academic skills but also trains you for life afterwards! I still remember feeling kind of lost in the huge crowd in first year. So many people, so different and sometimes SO WEIRD!!! Lol no offence here to anyone :p . What I mean is that the change from college and university was so “blatant”!

I suddenly realized how society goes lol I mean how we evolve as individuals, how we make this society evolve (or downgrade). We take it all from our young years and we keep on changing in nature (and in attitudes) as we meet other people and learn about their ways and behaviours… I have seen that first of all, we always carry the traits of our past college no matter how grown up we get And sometimes, either we agree to it or not, we tend to be more familiar to those peeps who came from “similar” colleges to ours than others. I find it somewhat sad though n sooo striking how different institutions, in one single country, form different personalities! Maybe that’s why parents get so stressed as to which school to send their kids coz it will all result in the way your kid will end up as an individual…

Secondly, I found out that all those characters you see in serials or movies - you know those kind of “mama difer” ou “mettere difer” - aren’t so fictitious after all!!! At first I was quite shocked how come such people exist! How come each of their actions had a deep meaning behind - very calculated moves, well-placed lies… It’s just so freaking to think that that type of peeps do actually come to university!!! And will tomorrow be “professionals”! I do understand now how come the crime rate in Mauritius is increasing! (hihi some dramatization here I agree )

Finally, there are those special peeps who made it all so great to be at university! Out of that crazy crowd there were those who indeed showed some common sense (no no dramatization here). Those peeps are those special friends I’ve met and who’ve made university life so wonderful. And I’d wish to dedicate this post to them but I believe words aren’t enough to express the moments we had together. We’ve lived like a family, we’ve been always present for each other, we’ve always worked together, helping each other but above all, we’ve been accepting each others’ differences and living it up so well that it gave me more courage to go forward in this brand new world opening to us. It showed me that life’s not always rosy but when you have special peeps around who are ready to share your sorrows and happiness, it suddenly takes rose tints

University life has therefore been very enriching. It’s been like some initiation to life out there, the trailer I wish to keep with me not only those “teachings” but also that friendship I’ve developed, I wish we all keep in touch no matter where we go and am sure we are all meant for a great future. I wish the best to all those special peeps I’ve known and I’d like to tell them that you’ve really held a special place in my heart and it shall always be so…

On hearing the starting notes of Hotel California being played by some students of my sister’s school, I immediately felt myself drifting back to my teen years…

A whole wave of nostalgia caught me first as I realized that those years are long lost now. But then a warm feeling invaded my heart: even if my teen years are over, as I look back at them I feel I’ve nothing to regret. They were among the most wonderful years I’ve had in my life. We’ve been crazy, naughty, mischievous and most of all ignorant of whatever we were doing but still we’ve enjoyed each and every moments. Sure now thinking back at some of my deeds, I might just say how immature I was but still at that age we don’t judge things the same way we do now. Even in ten years, when I’ll look back at my twenties and I’ll definitely think how immature I was. So, I believe it would be wrong then to feel guilty or ashamed of our past actions. Whatever we had done we did it then thinking it was good. As years pass our state of mind changes and it’s quite natural then to believe how immature or stupid our past acts might have been.

And so I starting day dreaming or “flashbacking” about my wonderful teen years: those events that made our hearts quiver with excitement, those laughs we had together, the pleasure we had in hanging out together, the enmity we lived so passionately (LOL), those comments we always made about our teachers and all those “oh so special” things that have become memories worth cherishing.

And then I started to think of where I have reached today in my life, how my university years have just ended and how those years too shall be forever present in my mind and heart. As we were approaching the end of the last semester, I always wished I could’ve done something that would help to capture some bit of those 3 years spent at the university. Then I would get so sad that we were so engrossed in exams and final year projects that we ended up so dully like the waves that come dying on the shore… But then, as the notes of Hotel California went on, it made me realize that I am wrong. We didn’t end up dully. It’s not important to have something special for the last days at university what’s more important is the other days we had together there! Whatever we are going to take with us are those memories that shall always accompany us wherever we go. I might have asked everyone to sign in some diary but I might lose it after or it would surely get old and the ink would fade away… but memories don’t just fade away. Memories ARE those special treasures that keep safe those special moments we’ve had in life. And when we turn back to our past and think of whatever we’ve done, I believe we should all be happy and feel no regrets. Life is just too special and beautiful to waste it in remorseful feelings. We should live it at the most and cherish every moments we’ve lived as these are going to be our special treasures till our death…

Yeah so we are celebrating today our 40 years of Independence - of which I have enjoyed almost 23 years (WOW more than the half :-/ ). However, something’s just annoying me (lol “comme d’hab”). When we have been living in a mood of patriotism and preparation for this event these last few days, I have seen mostly reminiscences of HOW we achieved independence and maybe brief broadcasts on TV about how we have evolved in different fields.

We all know who gave us Independence, how it came about and when it occurred - we all learnt it in school. Maybe it would be good to clear out the fact that we are not celebrating the acquisition of Independence only here, we are actually celebrating the 40 years we’ve been free! Some say it might have been better if we were left as British colony well I might not be able to point out my opinion here because since my birth I’ve been Mauritian and I haven’t felt that difference so…

Yet it would be good if our medias - specially our local TV broadcasting company - could also spread more on those 40 years of Independence. Because achieving it is one thing and maintaining it is another! We all, each and every citizen of this country have been, since 1968, striving hard to make this a success. We must not forget the meaning of an Independence, it is becoming actually self-dependent; and if we think well, it was a huge task and a big risk also undertaken. A risk that today has been rather fruitful I’d say. Though being a little island, lost somewhere in the immensity of the Indian Ocean, we’ve proved to be better off than many other African country.

Hence, for this special day, I’d like all of us to sit and think not about what political party had brought us Independence etc… but how far we have reached. And though we are still miles away from being fully developed, we still achieved a lot in 40 years and we should show the same determinism for future years. After all our small island-in-the-sun needs its people the most to progress and shine as the Star and the Key of the Indian Ocean!

I was just surfing about looking for images about our national independence day slogan -”Nou pays Nou Fierté” (Our Country, Our Pride) when I got the nice surprise of finding lots of search results on Google about the topic. I was quite sceptic at start, thinking that maybe this is some vague search to do on Google but it proved to be wrong. Compared to some years back, there are more results related to Mauritius and this thanks to those Mauritians who have ‘dared‘ to host their blog, view out their opinions and thus make it possible to point out this little island-in-the-sun on the huge ‘internet’s map‘.

What is more surprising is the apparent enthusiasm of our youth in blogging. Though we might say some are unaware of the power of a blog and are doing it ‘just to be hype’ or ‘just for the fun‘, some have really mastered it. It feels really good to see that our younger generations have opened themselves to the internet, using it as a tool to express themselves.

As we are going to celebrate our 40 years of independence, I think it would be better to turn our attention to our youth, this nation’s future. I believe if blogs (and all internet community networks) have become so famous among young Mauritians it is mostly because they feel the freedom of expression in it. They feel like in touch with everyone, free from societal pressures and a way to escape from the loads of ‘palabes‘ (gossip) we would usually hear if we did communicate as we did here on the net.

Our youth, no matter how much we can hear about it, is still very promising. Just a look at some of our bloggers’ articles or some of the Flickr pics we can see the talent behind. Yet, there’s no so real platform for them to express it in the open here. Hence the ‘gateway‘ they found in the multiple network communities on the net.

I would personally encourage all of those young Mauritians to perceive in this way because unknowingly, they have become like ‘virtual ambassadors‘ of our country. It feels so good to type in some creole words in Google and actually get results So for this 40 years of independence, I salute our youth who has accepted the ‘internet revolution‘ and proved to the world that though we are some tiny-miny point on the world map, we still move with the ‘waves of change‘ of this whole world!

So hip hip hip hourray to Mauritian Youth !!!

I presume my title and pic has already given you hints about what I’m going to write here…

I’ve obviously watched the film – not downloaded this time but real cinema viewing . And I definitely decided to have a post about it because this is yet again another big hit of Amir Khan as director and producer.

This time though leaving the register of patriotism, he touched another serious and maybe not so well known subject – dyslexia… However I’m not going to write much about that, the film would have more impact on you I’m sure.

I just wanted to share with you the pleasure I had in watching the film as in a way or the other it brings us back to our childhood. The film is a very good description of the world as a child, though dyslexic, but still same as any other child… We go back to those years where we had fun with friends, we got lost in dreams and we hardly were aware of the whole lot of things awaiting us in the adult life.

And of course, Amir Khan shows us how harsh also a child’s life can be no matter how innocent and carefree it might be. We tend to neglect children’s feelings thinking that they do not have worries but we do. But it is completely wrong! Children also feel stress, tension and pressure - all due to us, who expect much from them without thinking one moment what would be their aspirations…

Parents of course would want the best for their children, this is some legitimate feeling. Yet they should not forget that each child is in fact an individual with his/her own dreams. Obviously some dreams are just too far-fetched to become true and as parent one should guide one’s child towards reality. But the point here is that we should realize that we all have different skills and aptitudes and we are all destined to different paths – artists, architects, managers etc…

The film has very deep messages for all of us – parents, teachers, friends, siblings and humans as a whole! It is more than depicting the difficulties of a dyslexic child. I would recommend it to anyone, this is nothing like some commercial Hindi movie, this is real “7ème art”! A film that will make you laugh, cry and finally exuberate but as well ponder over how to behave with a child with a better understanding of his/her world.

P.S: The film’s official site - click here

A new year has started and we often ponder about the previous one: what we have achieved, what we had aspired and what we got…

This post is going to be about this: MY retrospective…

In 2007, I experienced a few new things like my very first blog post. And sincerely this was and is still is a great experience! Blogging, as I was just discussing with a friend of mine, is the sole satisfaction of having written something and made it available to such a huge amount of potential readers. It opens the world to you and vice versa.I hope this year more people - specially Mauritians - are going to realise its real meaning and not just sue people unnecessarily for their posts! Of course, here I am referring to this post you can check it out….

Since the festive periods are here, I believe most kids and ‘non-alcoholic‘ peeps shall be ‘feasting‘ on the fizzy drinks… Yet recently, a friend of mine experienced the terrible ‘after-effects ‘ of having too much fizzy drinks - her front teeth’s enamel being gnawed up till the nerves OUCH!

This is why am having this post just to advise you peeps to beware of those oh so tasty fizzy drinks! Specially colour-added ones! What actually happened to my friend mentioned above was that having drunk too much of those drinks directly from the plastic bottle, it continuously came into contact with her front teeth, which gradually acted upon her enamel (some chemical reaction happening here) where as a result the enamel got kind of ‘dissolved‘. The symptoms of course would be ‘sensitive teeth‘ where you’d at first find it difficult to have something cold then solid because your teeth are losing there ‘armour‘ and your nerves are getting exposed…

The same can happen to your bones! Yes well read, bones… However, this might take a longer time in the sense that the drink does not get into direct contact with your bones as it gets digested first. The consequent digested substance, from the drink, then flows to your bones via the blood. Though the concentration is less than in the mouth, it creates some damage and if you keep taking those drinks regularly, it might accelerate the process…

Quite freaky I’d say! Yet the solution is first and foremost to reduce your intake… Try to avoid colour-added ones as far as possible. And if you are taking some colour-added one do use a straw to prevent it from getting into contact with your teeth.

I too will find it somewhat difficult to slow down on those fizzy drinks, I admit, but still I’d rather keep my smile and bones, don’t you think so? So said, I hope you all have a wonderful festive time with friends and family.

CHEERS !!!

We’ve all been accustomed to the term fast food but how many of us are aware of slow food? In fact I came across the term in a documentary I watched on TV and thought of sharing it to others as I quite liked the idea behind…

Slow Food is first of all a community of people who are for the promotion of healthy food and the preservation of traditional food production around the globe. Quoting from the official Slow Food site:

The whole idea behind is to bring some awareness in people about having healthy food i.e. mostly food made of fresh and natural ingredients instead of fast food where ingredients are all commercial ones: sugar-added, conservatives, aspartame etc… Of course who among us doesn’t find fast food tasty! Yet it is not about banning such food but instead it is about the way the food is being cooked. Above in the picture, you can see a “slow food version” of a hamburger and chips. The only difference between the “fast food version” is that everything is home-made from the bread to the mayonnaise. And once again it is not about YOU having to prepare all this; the term home-made here implies that the cooks have themselves prepared each part of this meal rather than having the bread delivered - ready-made, the mayonnaise right from a stock of jars and the chips pre-cooked and frozen.

When we talk of defending the biodiversity, the aim behind is to promote the use of ingredients and natural resources as per seasons where they are available. It thus helps to keep a balance in the ecosystem whereby life cycles of organisms (including plants) are being respected. For example, it is better to wait for salmons to come back to the seas and then order for them than try to get some all year through. Otherwise it diminishes the number of salmons and leads the species to danger of extinction.

So finally, I have liked this slow food idea a lot specially when we think of all health problems that crop up due to the food we are having! And anyway it is about making outdoor food healthier and of better quality not only for health but also for the joy of our palates! So it would be great to spread the word everywhere and support such an idea as like the saying goes: ‘If we are what we eat, who wants to be fast, cheap and easy!’

P.S: Check out more about this on the Slow Food website.

These last 3 days, the campus of the University of Mauritius has been vibrating on the rhythms of the Student Council and Student Union elections. Students have been witnessing massive demonstrations on the part of the different teams running for the elections…

For the past weeks, we have been living a campaign full of rumors, critics and heated conversations (occasionally). Every strategy was good to gain the trust of voters and whether they worked out or not, we shall see that today afternoon after deliberation of results…

What I wanted to point out on this event, is that no matter what has been said, what has been promised and what has been planned throughout the campaign, candidates and their managing team have shown their full talents in being future politicians. Every move was well calculated, with the single aim to defame the opposing team… At times we wonder who is right and who is not! It seemed like it is some kind of competition where it is much more important to show how unscrupulous the opponent is than saying what they are going to do for us if they are elected. Typical politician behaviour!

From defaming the opponents, to having banners everywhere, to distribution of flyers and talks to students in classes, every effort was put into action to win these elections. The most striking part I’d say was during those 2 days of elections where partisans of both parties were shouting out loud their party’s name and candidates’ numbers just to impress the voters and try to show the ‘man power’ behind the party. It was literally a showdown to opponents when they’d bring a group of voters from classes and no need to describe the faces of the opposing teams then! Not a single class was spared, meaning that there were always partisans stationed outside the door waiting for students to get out to ‘escort’ them till the Raised Plaza where voting took place. Every single vote counted and canvassing was being done in every corners of the campus. A real event I’d say and so much energy invested! It’s just a pity then when the team has lost…

Anyway, this has shown the craze for our youth for electoral campaigns, their passion and energy, yet I wonder whether this would mean better politicians for our future as what I’ve been witnessing, there has been much character assassination and defamation than real struggle for students’ rights… And that’s why I’d rather advise people not to get too much involved to the point of losing your friends just because they are supporting the opposing team and not to just believe rumors. After all politicians are politicians, they are definitely going to join up forces one day or the other. The only losers will be us…

P.S: No offence to any candidates here my point of view is general and this is how I see elections whether on the campus or at national level. Yet as voter I have to see which one is more favourable to me and of course give my vote