Divali so gato patate

The festival of light is here again and 'sweet potato' vendors have invaded the market. Mauritians of hindu faith are all rushing to their kitchens for the preparation of the famous 'gato patate', a special mithaï which requires technique, skillfulness and patience, loads of patience.

By tonight all the bed linen will have been changed, the lawn mowed, the walls painted, the windows washed, the house spotlessly cleaned  and tomorrow all doors  of the home will be opened to welcome Goddess Lakshmi, consort of Lord Vishnu. She, who rose from the ocean of milk when it was churned, will come to bestow fortune, prosperity and wealth on the family.

The 'diyas' (little clay lamps) have been replaced by electric lights in most households but some aficionados still have this traditional lamp lit at the doorstep of their main entrance.

Divali is also associated to Lord Rama whose path was illuminated when walking back from Lanka to his kingdom of Ayodhya.

In Mauritius the festival is now national and priests refer to it in their sermons in church and mawlanas in mosques. Everybody joins in to participate in this universal of celebration of light scattering spiritual radiance far and near. Let us not forget that tomorrow will be a moonless night, one of the darkest of the year. By lighting the diya, mauritians will choose to place the light within them over darkness, they will choose to bless their country.

Et nous nous racontâmes notre ile...

Le Vrai est le centre de recoupement universel des toutes les formes du Beau

                                                                                 - Malcom de Chazal

Coaching & Self-development

Creating the correct environment for learning forms part of the world of any trainer. When coaching people, giving them tips and useful information does not suffice; the main aim is to trigger a questioning process in them which will set them on the right track for self-development.
People often go to a training centre having in mind that they will come out of there with useful information which will help them in their professional path.
When they come to Odigò's, not only do they have the opportunity to get acquainted to a new set of skills and practices but they additionally go back with an aroused curiosity about their inner self. The seed of questioning is thus sowed for the years to come.
Today is the last working session with Valérieanne, Elodie, Gwendolyne and Alison. These four students of the hotel school have been coached for the past 15 days. At our place, they have never been viewed and treated as students but instead as young individuals getting prepared to embrace the market place.The outcome of this experience is that they have been provided with a change of paradigm in their mindset by undergoing a self-analysis process which will harbor a new perspective on life and its challenges.
All this could not have been done without quality coaching at every step if the process. Follow-ups, feedback, on-going interaction, encouragement, creative workshops, practice of presentation skills. research work are but a few tasks and missions accomplished these past days.

Jeûne et Carême à Maurice

Le long de plusieurs mois consécutifs, les différentes composantes religieuses de la société mauricienne célèbrent des périodes dites de jeûne et de carême sur l'ile.
Ainsi, il est fascinant de voir que le carême de Pâques pour les catholiques est suivi par la période de jeûne des musulmans pour le Ramadan dépendant du calendrier lunaire. Quelques semaines plus tard, nous voilà en période de carême pour les tamouls marquant le Govinden, à la fin de laquelle commence celle des hindous en l'honneur des neuf représentations de la déesse Doorga à travers le Navratri.
Ne dit-on pas que le bien engendre le bien? Avec autant de mois de prières, de réflexions, de méditations sur le bien venant du coeur de tout un peuple, la question d'harmonie sociale reste-elle encore à être posée?

Developing People - An exciting adventure

ValérieAnne, Elodie, Gwendoline and Alyson are currently following an intensive course at Odigos Guiding Services. It turns out that developing people is such a joy when the latter are open to learning and inquisitive.

While conventional training is required to cover essential work-related skills, techniques and knowledge, arousing questions in people to uncover their true self and indulge into profound insight is another challenge, yet more interesting. It is a fact; enabling learning and personal development with all that it implies can be life-changing experience as it implies far more exciting, liberating, motivational opportunities for both the people and employers.

Bravo girls for embracing this work which goes much beyond traditional training.

The Mahatma Gandhi in Mauritius

Today is Mahatma Gandhi's birthday and it would be unlikely not to have a special thought for the Great Soul.
In 1926, the Mahatma published his famous autobiography, «The Story of My Experiment with Truth in Gujarati», which was translated in English many years later. In part three, chapter thirteen of his book, M.K. Gandhi wrote: «So I sailed for home. Mauritius was one of the ports of call, and as the boat made a long halt there, I went ashore and acquainted myself fairly well with the local conditions. For one night, I was the guest of Sir Charles Bruce, the Governor of the Colony».

Though he was not world-widely known yet , I cannot help but think that Gandhi's stay in  Mauritius between the 29th October until the 15th November, or a period of 18 days must have left some good vibes behind.There is no doubt that our small piece of land was always at the back of his mind and must have had an impact on him. In 1947, at the height of inter-religious riots in India, in one of his post-prayer speeches, Gandhi mentioned that in Mauritius, Hindus and Moslems lived in peace and harmony. 

When we think about it, within a century our island has welcomed the likes of Gandhi, Queen Elizabeth, Nelson Mandela and Desmund Tutu, four of the great figures of history.
Not bad, for a small rock lost in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

The Dale Carnegie Course

Five members of our team recently enrolled on a 8 session course at Dale Carnegie with four of them achieving outstanding performances. That kind of course with its powerful punch lines and paradigm shift cannot but impact on all participants. The set of principles are actually basic ones but by implementing them on a weekly basis and coming back to talk openly about the outcome has urged us to fully understand the subtleties of these same principles.
Our warmest congratulations go to Elodie who again has stunned everybody with her determination and willingness to succeed with the right ethics and virtue.