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The 'diyas' (little clay lamps) have been replaced by electric lights in most households but some aficionados still have this traditional lamp lit at the doorstep of their main entrance.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

La Messe est dite

La Messe annuelle du Tourisme se tiendra cet après-midi à l'Eglise St François-d'Assise à Pamplemousses.En 1743, la paroisse Saint-Louis fut scindée par l’érection de celle des Pamplemousses qui desservit tout le nord de l’île; elle reçut pour patron saint François-d’Assise, en l’honneur du Gouverneur, François Mahé de La Bourdonnais.

Dans la cour de l'église, tranquillement assis depuis plus de deux siècles, Paul et Virginie assisteront au ballet incessant de ceux qu'on appelle communément les 'acteurs' du tourisme. Le prêtre qui officiera la cérémonie leur expliquera, comme à tous ceux conviés, que cette ile qui aura été témoin de leur amour se doit désormais d'être contée à tous ceux qui fouleront son sol avec passion et intérêt. Les discours aseptisés et fadasses ne tiennent plus la route car le visiteur cherche aujourd'hui à palper le coeur d'une destination.

La messe est désormais dite, cet après-midi marquera enfin le début d'une nouvelle ère pour le tourisme mauricien. Et dire qu'il aura fallu attendre le tricentenaire de l'arrivée des français pour en prendre conscience...

Contons notre ile

Cette semaine l'invitation sera lancée à quelques acteurs du tourisme à venir (re)découvrir notre ile à travers les yeux d'un guide.
Le regard du guide sur son pays diffère quelque peu de celui du citoyen lambda. Son travail consistant à parler au quotidien de son environnement, cet exercice demande une connaissance approfondie de la destination (histoire, moeurs, culture, patrimoine, traditions...) ainsi qu'une envie de transmettre avec sincerité un moment de vérité. Car il s'agit bien là d'un moment de vérité qui connectera le visiteur à l'essence même de ce qui fait notre ile. L'interpretation du paysage environnant peut vite être le sujet d'une certaine subjectivité et le risque de nuire plutôt que de promouvoir la destination est toujours latent. Aimer suffisament son pays afin de pouvoir en parler avec objectivité, honnêteté, sincérité et passion, c'est là où réside toute la force du guide.
Si l'authenticité peut être ressentie à travers les cinq sens, elle le peut aussi et surtout à travers la voix et le message du conteur.

Lettre de Maurice à France pour ses 3x100 ans

Chère France,

Les festivités commémorant ton tricentenaire commencent en ce doux mois de Septembre. Des noms tels que Baudelaire, Poivre, Labourdonnais, Dufresne d'Arsel viendront nous remémorer notre riche passé et celui de Le Clézio souligner notre fierté d'aujourd'hui.

Si les émissions à la télé nous rapprochent quotidiennement de toi, nous essayons, à notre humble niveau, de rendre hommage à ta culture en nous inspirant de certaines de tes traditions, qu'elle soit litéraire ou culinaire.

Toi qui est universellement connue comme la patrie des droits de l'homme, tu continues d'influer sur notre subconscient et ce n'est pas un hasard si dans la vie de tous les jours nous nous exprimons plus aisément dans ta langue que dans celle qui nous est officielle, l'anglais.

Chère France, les siècles sont passés et nos relations sont restées cordiales et fraternelles et nous nous tournons désormais vers l'avenir afin d'embrasser les siècles à venir avec ce même esprit de fraternité et de partage. Comme nous, tu deviens aujourd'hui une terre où le brassage culturel s'intensifie et comme nous, tu apprends à composer avec un paysage sociétal des plus divers. 

Je te souhaite une belle destinée et j'espère qu'on continuera à s'enrichir l'un et l'autre de ce lien qui nous unit.


                                                                                             Je t'embrasse affectueusement
                                                                                                                                    Maurice

The Painting on the Wall

A painting graces the wall of a corridor in our office. Roland was tired of walking by a boring wall and thought it needed to be dressed up, so he made the painting himself using tissue paper and water color.
I guess the colors reflected his mood of the moment. Strangely the more I watch the painting the more it makes me think about windows opened on an ethereal world. I see the sunset on the ocean, the jummah mosque and the royal road in Port Louis.

Elements

Curepipe so ti la pli

The fact that it rains in Curepipe should not deter the visitors from taking a stroll in town.
The place has always had a 'charme à l'ancienne' with its inhabitants who are more or less introverted (maybe more shy as compared to those living in the closest vicinities).
Funny how people, coming to Curepipe, still refer to its local supermarket as Prisunic...

Winter in Baie du Cap

The message reached us on WhatsApp last week and it read:

Hi everyone! Here is a picture of my favorite place!Home!! :)

Yes, Elodie you are indeed lucky to live in the beautiful village of Baie du Cap.

The sky in winter adds a tint of magic to the atmosphere and we suddenly feel like sitting on the grass and giving ourselves to eternity.