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.
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