HANWANT LODHA POCKET BOOK NO. 18
Short introduction of the author Hanwant Mal Lodha
Advocate Supreme Court & Rajasthan High Court
UAE/USA/Holland & Mauritius return
17th Oct. 1941 - Born in Jodhpur.
1957 - Declared best debater Jaswant College, Jodhpur.
1959 - Stood first in both All India English & Hindu Inter-University Debate competition, declared best English and Hindi debater of SMK College, Jodhpur-Secy. College Planning Commission - Editor Hindi Section of the Magazine stood first in B.A. Prev.
1962 - Started practice in Rajasthan High Court, in Jodhpur.
1967/69/70 - All three years unanimously and uncontested elected General Secretary, Vice President & President of the then Unified Rajasthan High Court Advocates Association Jodhpur & Jaipur at the record age of 25-27 & 28 years for which received letters of congratulations & High appreciation from Guinness Book of World Records.
1975 - Appointed part time Professor of Law in University of Jodhpur.
1990 - Appointed Panel Advocate of Rajasthan Financial Corporation (RFC) for High Court Cases in Jodhpur.
-For last 44 years, practicing on all three sides Civil, Criminal writ, mostly and specially in High Court only & also appeared in Supreme Court in large no. of cases.
-Completed Silver Jubilee of writing articles & poems in Rajasthan Patrika. As such writing for last 53 years. Innumerable Articles & Poems etc. in English, Hindi, Urdu, Rajasthani, Marwari published in Bhaskar, Danik Navjyoti, Tarun Rajasthan, Jalte Deep, Jangan, Ualkar, Abhay Deep, Abhay Doot, Sanite Business, Management Kota & Commercial Law Garettes New Delhi, Hindi Hindustan & in gulf-papers.
-About 20 pocket books of all-types written & published so-far.
-Gave no. of talks on All India Radio from Jodhpur Station on legal, political & social subjects & recited large no. of children stories.
-Poems recited in Surbhi 'Doordarshan'.-Chief Advisor RAR.
-Recited poems in hundreds of 'Ekal-Kavya-Path' in India, UAE, USA & Mauritius.
Advocate Supreme Court & Rajasthan High Court
UAE/USA/Holland & Mauritius return
17th Oct. 1941 - Born in Jodhpur.1957 - Declared best debater Jaswant College, Jodhpur.
1959 - Stood first in both All India English & Hindu Inter-University Debate competition, declared best English and Hindi debater of SMK College, Jodhpur-Secy. College Planning Commission - Editor Hindi Section of the Magazine stood first in B.A. Prev.
My Visit To Mauritius
For last few years, I have been hearing from many of my relations and friends and also reading in various magazines and newspapers that Mauritius in these days is the greatest liking of the people world over. It is acknowledged as Modern World's Best Sight Seeing Place. I also found that many newly wedded couples from amongst the sons and daughters of our relatives and friends went to my Mauritius to celebrate their honeymoon. I also heard from a large no. of persons that Mauritius is the king of the best sea-beaches of the World. It's full of greenery, gardens, orchards, and hundreds of varieties of plants and trees. Added to this, recently the Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh visited Mauritius and named it as small India or 'Laghu Bharat'. Thus we decided to visit and see Mauritius this year. It has been a strange co-incidence of my life that in the year 2000 or the millennium year when Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee visited USA as the Prime Minister of India, we too visited USA and this year that is in 2005 when Dr. Manmohan Singh visited Mauritius as Prime Minister of India, we too decided to visit Mauritius.
Added to this, as my good luck would have it, my son-in-law Mr. Sanjeev Jain, who is employed as Chief Engineering Manager in Indian Oil Corporation Limited, is also posted in Mauritius. He has been working in Mauritius for the last 3 and a half years and so naturally my daughter Renu and my grandsons Vasu and Prateek have also been living in Mauritius. This year i.e 2005 in the month of April they came to India and planned to return to Mauritius on 15th May. Thus I and my wife Pushpa, on account of hot chase by my daughter Renu and her family made a programme to go to Mauritius on 15th May, 2005 with them. Thus on 15th May at 1 p.m we all the above mention 6 persons or members of my family left India by Air Mauritius plane and reached Mauritius at 8 p.m IST.
As soon as we got down at Sir Sewoosagar Ramgoolam International Airport, Mauritius, I could guess that I have reached an extremely beautiful, enchanting and wonderful country. The greenery all around the airport, the wonderful illumination like that of Diwali, the extremely clean and wide roads, the flavour and sweet smell in the air and thousands of beautiful trees and plants all around the roads were an embodiment of the fact that we have really, reached a heaven like beautiful place. It convinced me that the great famous English writer and Noble Prize Winner Mark Twain rightly said 'that as soon as you reach Mauritius you gather the idea that Mauritius was made first and then heaven was copied after Mauritius'. After coming out of the airpot we boarded a beautiful long car Taxi out of such hundreds of beautiful Taxis and started for the residence of my daughter and son-in-law Renu and Sanjeev. The residence is about 35 kms. from the airport and while we covered this distance it became difficult for me to believe whether we were passing through a city or heaven, most beautifully and kindly blessed by all possible beauties of nature. During this time I also recollected that my son Vipin, daughter-in-law Payal and grandson Parv who had visited Mauritius only for a few months back rightly said that even after seeing Mauritius, one cannot believe that there can be such a beatiful place in the world and the nature can be beautiful to this extent. Permit me to mention here in short, that Mauritius is the World's most beautiful island and place, situated on the south of India in the great Indian Ocean located after the Arabian Sea. In all the World maps it is shown by a small dot - a place surrounded on all sides by sea and where this island ends, on the Southern side there is only sea for thousands of miles until Antartica, on the South Pole meets and diverts the sea.
Mauritius Police, Traffic Police and Roads -
As soon as you get down on the Mauritius International Airport, sit in the car and travel inside the country, the first thing that impresses you is the Mauritian police, Traffic police and the roads. The police is most well dressed and disciplined. it is quite tight and not loose in any way. It is very courteous, soft spoken and helpful to the citizens and tourists. They are so trained because Mauritius is one of the biggest tourist spots in the world and one terror as in India but is a symbol of friendship and helpfulness. It is said that if any citizen or tourist forgets the way or is lost anywhere in the country or is in trouble in far-off fields, forests or in any of the 52 sea-beaches and police is informed on phone or mobile, it will immediately reach the person in trouble and carry him to his destination, hotel, residence or hospital as the need be. The violation of the traffic rule is very rare and so also the accidents. It is amongst one of those countries in the world where the percentage of accidents and crimes is very rare and minimum, because the country being small, there is no way out to run away from the country except by air or sea where passports or visas are required and no one can run but can only drown himself in the sea or put an end to his life by jumping from the hills or by taking some drug or medicine or he has to face the music of law. The roads are extremely beautiful, clean, wide, well-planned and smooth.
Mauritian History -
Arab traders knew of Mauritius as early as in the 10th century but never stopped to settle here. Portugese naval explorers stumbled upon it in the wake of Vasco de Gama's voyage around the Cape of God Hope in 1498. Still, apart from introducing pesky monkeys and rats, the Portugese did little to influence the island. This was left to the next wave of immigrants, the Dutch. In 1598, Vice Admiral Wybrandt van Warwyck came ashore and claimed the island for the Netherlands, christening it after his ruler Maurice, prince of orange and count of Nassau. It was another 40 years before the dutch began to settle the country, preferring instead to use it as a supply base on the route to Java. The colony, however, never really flourished, and the Dutch departed for good in 1710, leaving in their wake the extinction of the dodo and the introduction of african slaves, Javan deer, wild boar, tobacco and sugar cane.
Five years later, French captain Guillaume Dufresne d'Arsal claimed the island, renamed it lle de France and gave it over to the French East India Company to run it as a trading base. Popular settlement began in 1721, and within 15 years the first sugar mill had been built, along with the road network and hospital.
During the second half of the 18th century, the island's capital, Port Louis, became a free trading base and heaven for corsairs - mercenary marines paid by a country to plunder the ships of its enemies. Tired of the competition, the British moved in on the corsairs (and on Mauritius) in 1810. After an inital defeat at the Battle of Vieux Grand Port, the british landed at Cap Malheureux on the northern coast and took the island. The 1814 Treaty of Paris ceded lle de France, Rodrigues and the Seychelles to the victors but allowed Franco-Mauritians to retain their language, religion, Napoleonic Code legal system and sugar plantations. In 1835, the slaves were sea free and the labour force was supplemented by workers brought in from China and India.
Mauritius, Mauritians, India and Indians -
Here I would like to mention that in Mauritius 60% of people are of Indian origin namely Indian Hindus. There forefathers were Indians who worked as indentured laborers in the history of Mauritius. Now these 60% people love Indians, India, Indian religion, culture, music, films, gods namely God Shiva, his Rudra Avtar Hanumanji. They also love Lord Ganesh. In the houses of most of these people there are small temples of Shivji, Ganeshji, Hanumanji just near the compound wall, entrance and main gate of their houses. As far as Indian films are concerned Shah Rukh Khan is their favourite actor. The ambitions of most of such Mauritians is to visit India at least once in their lifetime. They also want a lot of Indians to visit Mauritius and thus recently they have liberalized and relaxed visa rules and it has been decided that if any Indian wants to visit Mauritius for only 14 days then he does not need to obtain visa.
Descriptions of day-to-day sight seeing :
16th May 2005 (Monday) :
Today we went to see the capital of Mauritius namely Port Louis. It is at a distance of about 20-25 kms. from the city of Quarte-Bornes where we are staying. This whole journey of 20-25 kms. is full of natural beauty, scenery and sugarcane fields. Sugarcane is the most important agricultural product of this country and is exported as such and in the form of sugar throughout the world. The population of Port Louis is less than the other 9 districts and cities of Mauritius, but being the capital, it is the most important, because most of the government houses, banks, business centres are located here above all, the Parliament House is here. The le Caudan waterfront which is located here is the best, most beautiful and one of the no. 1 waterfronts of the world. It is extremely beautiful. It boasts about 80 restaurants and one of the most renowned 5 star hotel Labourdonnais. From this waterfront we can see big ships and cruisers as it faces the Mauritian harbour. The highest court of Mauritius namely the Supreme Court is also situated here. The parties aggrieved from the decisions of this court can approach only the Privy Council of England. Huge multi storied buildings and multi complexes can be seen in this capital. The statue of the first prime minister of Mauritius i.e. the late Mr.Seewosagar Ramgoolam who is considered the founder father of modern Mauritius as he developed Mauritius like anything, is situated on the waterfront. His son Naveen Ramgoolam has also remained as the Prime Minister of Mauritius for 5 years and at present is the opposition leader. The population of Mauritius is about 12 lakhs and the ares is 1860 sq. km.
17th May 2005 (Tuesday) : Our visit to 'Ganga Talao', Shiv temple and hanuman temple.
Today we went t o see places mentioned above which are at a distance of about 25 kms. from the place where we are staying viz. Quatre-Bornes. The most important, notable and remarkable feature or thing which we noted while travelling this distance was the most beautiful greenery throughout, sugarcane fields, palm trees and the coconut trees. On reaching the destination we found out that 'Ganga Talao' was a very very huge pond in which the water was brought and is being brought from time to time from India's different rivers that is Ganges, Yamuna and so on by a large number of worshippers in huge different pots in ships. Thereafter heavy rains supplement this water from time to time. There is a beautiful idol of 'Ma-Ganga' on the front portion of the pond.Just opposite this idol is a beautiful and big temple of 'Shivling'.
It is mentioned on the temple that besides 12 big shivlings which are there in India and recognized by Hindus throughout the world, this is at present the last, that is the 13th and the only shivling outside India recognized and worshipped throughout the world. This temple also contains other idols of gods like Ganeshji, Krishnaji, Kartikey, Vishnuji and Lakshmi Maa. Thereafter we also saw the temple of Hanumanji after climbing about 250 steps. In this temple, is an idol of Hanumanji which is said to be brought by Atil Bihari Vajpayee. From the height of this temple we have a 360 degrees view of Mauritius and experience at a glance, the entire beauty of Mauritius. Just nearby this temple, another 108 feet high statue of God Shiva has been erected which is simply wonderful and worth seeing. It is said that on the festival of Maha Shivratree, about 4 to 5 lakhs of people and devotees from all over Mauritius and the world visit this place most of them travelling on foot and rest in vehicles to offer their prayers to Lord Shiva. During this period people offer prasad (sweets) and free food to devotees walking on foot, to the temple.
18th May 2005 (Wednesday) :
Today we went to the 2 important waterfalls namely Alexandra and Chamarel waterfalls. They are about 40 kms far from the place where we stay. The entire journey was extremely cute and surrounded by thick forests and sugar cane fields which are automatically irrigated by big fountains and thick pipelines. On the way, which is hilly, full of ups and downs, zig-zags is full of blind corner and sharp curves, sea beaches and sea shores are also visible from time to time from different places. At time, it appears at certain points that the sea and sky are kissing each other. On the way, there are fields of Chinese guavas, which is a very popular fruit here. Both the waterfalls are equally beautiful and water continuously falls round the clock for the whole year.
19th May 2005 (Thursday) :
This day is the day for installation of temporary shops, markets and 'haats'. We visited one of them La Forie. Hundreds of varieties of things are put for sale in such fair and Mauritians and foreign tourists from all over the world make purchases. While going to this fair, for the sake of enjoyment we walked on foot up to this fair at a distance of only 1/2 km. from our residence. While walking, I noticed some of these salient features about Mauritians.
1. They do not keep any number, name or address plates outside their houses. In some houses the numbers are written.
2.They believe in great privacy. You would rarely see Mauritians getting out of their houses and interacting with their next door neighbors.
23rd and 24th May 2005 :
On these days we went to see two big malls JUMBO and SUPER U which are situated in the Phoenix and Rose Hill respectively. These are huge departmental stores where virtually everything of the world is available.
These departmental stores are extremely beautiful, clean and pleasing to the eyes surrounded by greenery all around. There are huge food courts in these malls where you can enjoy all types of foods - from Indian to Italian food.
25th May 2005 :
Today we went to see for the second time Port-Louis, the capital of triangular hills, greenery and sugar cane fields. This 15 km. long way is very beautiful, charming, enchanting and pleasing to the eyes. It is difficult to describe it in words and only seeing is believing or not even that because even after seeing it becomes most difficult to believe that there can be such beautiful roads, ways and places in the world. It appears as if the heavens have showered their beauty on earth. In Port-Louis there is this big port where hundreds of huge fort like ships, motorboats visit the port everyday. There are some beautiful statues on this port and the most important of them is one of the father of the nation of Mauritius namely the late ex-Prime Minister Seewoosagar Ramgoolam who is the architect of modern Mauritius. There is also a beautiful museum here containing hundreds of antiques that reveal the history of Mauritius.
27th May 2005 (Friday) :
On this day we celebrated the forty-third birthday of my son-in-law Sanjeev Jain. A huge dinner was given by him to about ten of his friends and families. The most important feature to note was that with what great affection and love, joy and pleasure, gay and happiness the Indian sweets and numkeen dishes and Indian food was arranged which all of us relished very much. Besides that, songs were sung, the dances were performed, the poems were recited, and tit bits were narrated. One and all participated in some or the other activity. Many a games were played, balloons blasted and drinks were served. The celebrations started at 8 p.m. and ended at about 2 a.m. much against the desire of all because the children started feeling sleepy and it had become to late in the night and the people had to go back to their homes, some of the houses are situated far off ; otherwise, as per elders they wanted the celebration to continue even till next morning.
28th May 2005 (Saturday) :
On this day we went to see the village of Grand-Baie and the beach Mont-Choisy. Grand-Baie is the most happening place in the whole of Mauritius where you will be able to see a lot of activity after ten p.m. which is a very rare sight of in the whole of Mauritius. On the weekends, the atmosphere here is electrifying. There are a lot of discos and night clubs operating here. It is the perfect place for people loving night life and parties. Not only that, this the place where most beach bungalows are situated. There are also water port facilities like paralyzing or bucket rides and of course the under sea walk that is very unique to this island. A big attraction is the ride in the submarine in which you are taken to the depth of 50 mts. This ride in the submarine is only available in the country of Australia other then Mauritius. There are lot of markets and shops situated in the village selling mostly clothes although the prices are aimed for foreigners coming from Europe and other countries. We can even take catamarans from this place to the other small islands surrounding Mauritius. There many hawkers selling different types of traditional Mauritius food such as gateaux piments and roti chaud ?
31st May 2005 Monday:
After having a picnic at Flic-en-Flac, one of the most beautiful sea-beaches of Mauritius. On 29th about which place, I have already mentioned above and on 30th May, after taking rest, on 31st May we went to Orchard 'one of the biggest multi-storied shopping malls of Mauritius, which like other malls mentioned above is superb. It was very beautiful from inside and there were many shops.
2nd June 2005 Wednesday:
Today we a light house - the highest tower on a sea shore of Mauritius which guides all the 24 hours around the clock to various ships and boats passing through and to and fro, from and via Mauritius. It looks almost like Dehli's Qutub Minar. From here ad - infitnitum sea which is apart of the great Indian Ocean is apparent. The whole view is extremely beautiful and undescribable. The clouds and the sea shore were becoming one as was appearing from the other side all along the distance the vision could go. This day at Mauritius also became memorable for me and my family as I got a news from Jaipur that god had blessed me with a granddaughter, a five years old grandson already being there.
4th June 2005 Friday:
Today we went to Lalaura - the temple of 'Tirupati Balaji' located 15 kms. from our residence. In this temple there is a big idol of 'Tirupati Balaji' there is one more idol of Hanumanji and a big idol of Shiv on a story structure of lotus flower. The whole temple, its land buildings, 'pujas' and 'pujaris' are tottaly under administration, control and governance of 'Tripati Balaji' temple of India. The evening puja was done in a grand manner and attended by a large number of Indo - Mauritians. It is extremely beautiful, calm and quiet temple surrounded by extremely fine greenery and huge beautiful hills on all the sides.
11 June 2005 Saturday:
Today we visited one of the most frequented place in Mauritius,the Seewosagar Ramgoolam Botanical Gardens. It consists of large gardens over a large area consisting all types of trees, some unique to Mauritius. These attractive gardens are one of the most popular tourist attractions in Mauritius, but the shady avenues of palms seem to swallow the numbers. One key attraction is the park's giant Victoria Regia water lilies, native to the Amazon. Other attractions include golden bamboo, chewing - gum trees, fish poison trees and a 200-year-old Buddha tree. These gardens were started in 1735 by Governor Mahe De La Bourdonnais as a vegetable garden for his Mon Plaisir Chateau. The grounds gussied up by French horticulturalist Pierre Poivre in 1768 in his bid to introduce spices, but afterwards lay neglected until 1849, when a British horticulturalist, James Duncan, took over. His legacy is seen today in the gardens array of palms. The fragrant flora of the garden - ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, camphor and sandalwood are a high point, as are glimpses of Mauritian wildlife that are all but unavailable elsewhere on the island. Look for enclosures of Java deer and giant tortoises. There's also an art gallery and a cemetery, whichever way your tastes run.
Culture:
Over half the population of Mauritius is Hindu and roughly another fifth is Muslim; both groups descend from laborers brought to the island by the British to work on the cane fields. While some of the resident Chinese and Sino - Mauritians were also brought over as laborers, most came to Mauritius as entrepreneurs, and many still control the lion's share of village - based commerce. The remaining population is composed mainly of Creoles, descendants of African slaves and Franco - Mauritians, the original settlers of island. Franco - Mauritians, who make up 2% of the population, still control many of the sugar plantations, although many emigrated to South Africa and France following independence.
English is the official language of the island, though you're bound to hear French, Creole (a melange of French and various African dialects) and a smattering of Indian languages. The island's main contribution to the performing arts is the Creole Sega, a foot - shuffling, body - gyrating, down-night erotic dance that is generally performed on the beach to the rhythm of Latin - American, Caribbean and African pop. Sega variations to Creole music are popular in the island's discos and are certainly more entertaining than the
well - choreographed 'cultural shows' you'll see in hotel lounges.
Probably the most famous novel set in Mauritius is Paul et Virginie, a rather sappy love story by French author Bernadin de St Pierre that you'll find reference across the island. Famous Mauritian authors include Malcom de Chazal, Robert Edward Hart, Edouard Maunick the brothers Loys and Andre Masson and humorist Yvan Laggese. Rene Asgarally and Ramesh Ramdoyal are the best known of the contemporary writers producing works in Creole. Both Joseph Conrad and Mark Twain visited the island and wrote of their experiences, and Charles Baudelaire's very first poem, A une Dame Creole (To a Creole Woman), was written in the Mauritian town of Pamplemousses.
One highlight of a visit to Mauritius is the magnificent mixture of cuisines on offer. The most common varieties are Creole, European, Chinese and Indian, with seafood almost always the specialty. In addition, a typical Mauritian buffet might include a Muslim biryani, Indian chicken curry, Chinese pork dish, Creole roast beef and French - style vegetables. Boiled rice is served with just about everything.Common dishes include rougaille, tomatoes, onions, garlic, meat, fish etc. etc.. Other things like lassi, milk, beer,wines are also available.
Vehicles in Mauritius :
Since 2005 public bus transport in Mauritius is free of charge for students, people with disabilities and senior citizens. There are currently no railways in Mauritius, former privately owned industrial railways having been abandoned. To cope with increasing road traffic congestion, a Light Rail Transit system has been proposed between Curepipe and Port Louis.
The harbour of Port Louis handles international trade as well as a cruise terminal. The sole international airport for civil aviation is Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport, which also serves as the home operating base for the national airline Air Mauritius; the airport authority inaugurated a new passenger terminal in September 2013. Another airport is the Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport in Rodrigues.
As soon as we got down at Sir Sewoosagar Ramgoolam International Airport, Mauritius, I could guess that I have reached an extremely beautiful, enchanting and wonderful country. The greenery all around the airport, the wonderful illumination like that of Diwali, the extremely clean and wide roads, the flavour and sweet smell in the air and thousands of beautiful trees and plants all around the roads were an embodiment of the fact that we have really, reached a heaven like beautiful place. It convinced me that the great famous English writer and Noble Prize Winner Mark Twain rightly said 'that as soon as you reach Mauritius you gather the idea that Mauritius was made first and then heaven was copied after Mauritius'. After coming out of the airpot we boarded a beautiful long car Taxi out of such hundreds of beautiful Taxis and started for the residence of my daughter and son-in-law Renu and Sanjeev. The residence is about 35 kms. from the airport and while we covered this distance it became difficult for me to believe whether we were passing through a city or heaven, most beautifully and kindly blessed by all possible beauties of nature. During this time I also recollected that my son Vipin, daughter-in-law Payal and grandson Parv who had visited Mauritius only for a few months back rightly said that even after seeing Mauritius, one cannot believe that there can be such a beatiful place in the world and the nature can be beautiful to this extent. Permit me to mention here in short, that Mauritius is the World's most beautiful island and place, situated on the south of India in the great Indian Ocean located after the Arabian Sea. In all the World maps it is shown by a small dot - a place surrounded on all sides by sea and where this island ends, on the Southern side there is only sea for thousands of miles until Antartica, on the South Pole meets and diverts the sea.
Mauritius Police, Traffic Police and Roads -
As soon as you get down on the Mauritius International Airport, sit in the car and travel inside the country, the first thing that impresses you is the Mauritian police, Traffic police and the roads. The police is most well dressed and disciplined. it is quite tight and not loose in any way. It is very courteous, soft spoken and helpful to the citizens and tourists. They are so trained because Mauritius is one of the biggest tourist spots in the world and one terror as in India but is a symbol of friendship and helpfulness. It is said that if any citizen or tourist forgets the way or is lost anywhere in the country or is in trouble in far-off fields, forests or in any of the 52 sea-beaches and police is informed on phone or mobile, it will immediately reach the person in trouble and carry him to his destination, hotel, residence or hospital as the need be. The violation of the traffic rule is very rare and so also the accidents. It is amongst one of those countries in the world where the percentage of accidents and crimes is very rare and minimum, because the country being small, there is no way out to run away from the country except by air or sea where passports or visas are required and no one can run but can only drown himself in the sea or put an end to his life by jumping from the hills or by taking some drug or medicine or he has to face the music of law. The roads are extremely beautiful, clean, wide, well-planned and smooth.
Mauritian History -
Arab traders knew of Mauritius as early as in the 10th century but never stopped to settle here. Portugese naval explorers stumbled upon it in the wake of Vasco de Gama's voyage around the Cape of God Hope in 1498. Still, apart from introducing pesky monkeys and rats, the Portugese did little to influence the island. This was left to the next wave of immigrants, the Dutch. In 1598, Vice Admiral Wybrandt van Warwyck came ashore and claimed the island for the Netherlands, christening it after his ruler Maurice, prince of orange and count of Nassau. It was another 40 years before the dutch began to settle the country, preferring instead to use it as a supply base on the route to Java. The colony, however, never really flourished, and the Dutch departed for good in 1710, leaving in their wake the extinction of the dodo and the introduction of african slaves, Javan deer, wild boar, tobacco and sugar cane.
Five years later, French captain Guillaume Dufresne d'Arsal claimed the island, renamed it lle de France and gave it over to the French East India Company to run it as a trading base. Popular settlement began in 1721, and within 15 years the first sugar mill had been built, along with the road network and hospital.
During the second half of the 18th century, the island's capital, Port Louis, became a free trading base and heaven for corsairs - mercenary marines paid by a country to plunder the ships of its enemies. Tired of the competition, the British moved in on the corsairs (and on Mauritius) in 1810. After an inital defeat at the Battle of Vieux Grand Port, the british landed at Cap Malheureux on the northern coast and took the island. The 1814 Treaty of Paris ceded lle de France, Rodrigues and the Seychelles to the victors but allowed Franco-Mauritians to retain their language, religion, Napoleonic Code legal system and sugar plantations. In 1835, the slaves were sea free and the labour force was supplemented by workers brought in from China and India.
Mauritius, Mauritians, India and Indians -
Here I would like to mention that in Mauritius 60% of people are of Indian origin namely Indian Hindus. There forefathers were Indians who worked as indentured laborers in the history of Mauritius. Now these 60% people love Indians, India, Indian religion, culture, music, films, gods namely God Shiva, his Rudra Avtar Hanumanji. They also love Lord Ganesh. In the houses of most of these people there are small temples of Shivji, Ganeshji, Hanumanji just near the compound wall, entrance and main gate of their houses. As far as Indian films are concerned Shah Rukh Khan is their favourite actor. The ambitions of most of such Mauritians is to visit India at least once in their lifetime. They also want a lot of Indians to visit Mauritius and thus recently they have liberalized and relaxed visa rules and it has been decided that if any Indian wants to visit Mauritius for only 14 days then he does not need to obtain visa.
Descriptions of day-to-day sight seeing :
16th May 2005 (Monday) :
Today we went to see the capital of Mauritius namely Port Louis. It is at a distance of about 20-25 kms. from the city of Quarte-Bornes where we are staying. This whole journey of 20-25 kms. is full of natural beauty, scenery and sugarcane fields. Sugarcane is the most important agricultural product of this country and is exported as such and in the form of sugar throughout the world. The population of Port Louis is less than the other 9 districts and cities of Mauritius, but being the capital, it is the most important, because most of the government houses, banks, business centres are located here above all, the Parliament House is here. The le Caudan waterfront which is located here is the best, most beautiful and one of the no. 1 waterfronts of the world. It is extremely beautiful. It boasts about 80 restaurants and one of the most renowned 5 star hotel Labourdonnais. From this waterfront we can see big ships and cruisers as it faces the Mauritian harbour. The highest court of Mauritius namely the Supreme Court is also situated here. The parties aggrieved from the decisions of this court can approach only the Privy Council of England. Huge multi storied buildings and multi complexes can be seen in this capital. The statue of the first prime minister of Mauritius i.e. the late Mr.Seewosagar Ramgoolam who is considered the founder father of modern Mauritius as he developed Mauritius like anything, is situated on the waterfront. His son Naveen Ramgoolam has also remained as the Prime Minister of Mauritius for 5 years and at present is the opposition leader. The population of Mauritius is about 12 lakhs and the ares is 1860 sq. km.
17th May 2005 (Tuesday) : Our visit to 'Ganga Talao', Shiv temple and hanuman temple.
Today we went t o see places mentioned above which are at a distance of about 25 kms. from the place where we are staying viz. Quatre-Bornes. The most important, notable and remarkable feature or thing which we noted while travelling this distance was the most beautiful greenery throughout, sugarcane fields, palm trees and the coconut trees. On reaching the destination we found out that 'Ganga Talao' was a very very huge pond in which the water was brought and is being brought from time to time from India's different rivers that is Ganges, Yamuna and so on by a large number of worshippers in huge different pots in ships. Thereafter heavy rains supplement this water from time to time. There is a beautiful idol of 'Ma-Ganga' on the front portion of the pond.Just opposite this idol is a beautiful and big temple of 'Shivling'.
It is mentioned on the temple that besides 12 big shivlings which are there in India and recognized by Hindus throughout the world, this is at present the last, that is the 13th and the only shivling outside India recognized and worshipped throughout the world. This temple also contains other idols of gods like Ganeshji, Krishnaji, Kartikey, Vishnuji and Lakshmi Maa. Thereafter we also saw the temple of Hanumanji after climbing about 250 steps. In this temple, is an idol of Hanumanji which is said to be brought by Atil Bihari Vajpayee. From the height of this temple we have a 360 degrees view of Mauritius and experience at a glance, the entire beauty of Mauritius. Just nearby this temple, another 108 feet high statue of God Shiva has been erected which is simply wonderful and worth seeing. It is said that on the festival of Maha Shivratree, about 4 to 5 lakhs of people and devotees from all over Mauritius and the world visit this place most of them travelling on foot and rest in vehicles to offer their prayers to Lord Shiva. During this period people offer prasad (sweets) and free food to devotees walking on foot, to the temple.
18th May 2005 (Wednesday) :
Today we went to the 2 important waterfalls namely Alexandra and Chamarel waterfalls. They are about 40 kms far from the place where we stay. The entire journey was extremely cute and surrounded by thick forests and sugar cane fields which are automatically irrigated by big fountains and thick pipelines. On the way, which is hilly, full of ups and downs, zig-zags is full of blind corner and sharp curves, sea beaches and sea shores are also visible from time to time from different places. At time, it appears at certain points that the sea and sky are kissing each other. On the way, there are fields of Chinese guavas, which is a very popular fruit here. Both the waterfalls are equally beautiful and water continuously falls round the clock for the whole year.
19th May 2005 (Thursday) :
This day is the day for installation of temporary shops, markets and 'haats'. We visited one of them La Forie. Hundreds of varieties of things are put for sale in such fair and Mauritians and foreign tourists from all over the world make purchases. While going to this fair, for the sake of enjoyment we walked on foot up to this fair at a distance of only 1/2 km. from our residence. While walking, I noticed some of these salient features about Mauritians.
1. They do not keep any number, name or address plates outside their houses. In some houses the numbers are written.
2.They believe in great privacy. You would rarely see Mauritians getting out of their houses and interacting with their next door neighbors.
23rd and 24th May 2005 :
On these days we went to see two big malls JUMBO and SUPER U which are situated in the Phoenix and Rose Hill respectively. These are huge departmental stores where virtually everything of the world is available.
These departmental stores are extremely beautiful, clean and pleasing to the eyes surrounded by greenery all around. There are huge food courts in these malls where you can enjoy all types of foods - from Indian to Italian food.
25th May 2005 :
Today we went to see for the second time Port-Louis, the capital of triangular hills, greenery and sugar cane fields. This 15 km. long way is very beautiful, charming, enchanting and pleasing to the eyes. It is difficult to describe it in words and only seeing is believing or not even that because even after seeing it becomes most difficult to believe that there can be such beautiful roads, ways and places in the world. It appears as if the heavens have showered their beauty on earth. In Port-Louis there is this big port where hundreds of huge fort like ships, motorboats visit the port everyday. There are some beautiful statues on this port and the most important of them is one of the father of the nation of Mauritius namely the late ex-Prime Minister Seewoosagar Ramgoolam who is the architect of modern Mauritius. There is also a beautiful museum here containing hundreds of antiques that reveal the history of Mauritius.
27th May 2005 (Friday) :
On this day we celebrated the forty-third birthday of my son-in-law Sanjeev Jain. A huge dinner was given by him to about ten of his friends and families. The most important feature to note was that with what great affection and love, joy and pleasure, gay and happiness the Indian sweets and numkeen dishes and Indian food was arranged which all of us relished very much. Besides that, songs were sung, the dances were performed, the poems were recited, and tit bits were narrated. One and all participated in some or the other activity. Many a games were played, balloons blasted and drinks were served. The celebrations started at 8 p.m. and ended at about 2 a.m. much against the desire of all because the children started feeling sleepy and it had become to late in the night and the people had to go back to their homes, some of the houses are situated far off ; otherwise, as per elders they wanted the celebration to continue even till next morning.
28th May 2005 (Saturday) :
On this day we went to see the village of Grand-Baie and the beach Mont-Choisy. Grand-Baie is the most happening place in the whole of Mauritius where you will be able to see a lot of activity after ten p.m. which is a very rare sight of in the whole of Mauritius. On the weekends, the atmosphere here is electrifying. There are a lot of discos and night clubs operating here. It is the perfect place for people loving night life and parties. Not only that, this the place where most beach bungalows are situated. There are also water port facilities like paralyzing or bucket rides and of course the under sea walk that is very unique to this island. A big attraction is the ride in the submarine in which you are taken to the depth of 50 mts. This ride in the submarine is only available in the country of Australia other then Mauritius. There are lot of markets and shops situated in the village selling mostly clothes although the prices are aimed for foreigners coming from Europe and other countries. We can even take catamarans from this place to the other small islands surrounding Mauritius. There many hawkers selling different types of traditional Mauritius food such as gateaux piments and roti chaud ?
31st May 2005 Monday:
After having a picnic at Flic-en-Flac, one of the most beautiful sea-beaches of Mauritius. On 29th about which place, I have already mentioned above and on 30th May, after taking rest, on 31st May we went to Orchard 'one of the biggest multi-storied shopping malls of Mauritius, which like other malls mentioned above is superb. It was very beautiful from inside and there were many shops.
2nd June 2005 Wednesday:
Today we a light house - the highest tower on a sea shore of Mauritius which guides all the 24 hours around the clock to various ships and boats passing through and to and fro, from and via Mauritius. It looks almost like Dehli's Qutub Minar. From here ad - infitnitum sea which is apart of the great Indian Ocean is apparent. The whole view is extremely beautiful and undescribable. The clouds and the sea shore were becoming one as was appearing from the other side all along the distance the vision could go. This day at Mauritius also became memorable for me and my family as I got a news from Jaipur that god had blessed me with a granddaughter, a five years old grandson already being there.
4th June 2005 Friday:
Today we went to Lalaura - the temple of 'Tirupati Balaji' located 15 kms. from our residence. In this temple there is a big idol of 'Tirupati Balaji' there is one more idol of Hanumanji and a big idol of Shiv on a story structure of lotus flower. The whole temple, its land buildings, 'pujas' and 'pujaris' are tottaly under administration, control and governance of 'Tripati Balaji' temple of India. The evening puja was done in a grand manner and attended by a large number of Indo - Mauritians. It is extremely beautiful, calm and quiet temple surrounded by extremely fine greenery and huge beautiful hills on all the sides.
11 June 2005 Saturday:
Today we visited one of the most frequented place in Mauritius,the Seewosagar Ramgoolam Botanical Gardens. It consists of large gardens over a large area consisting all types of trees, some unique to Mauritius. These attractive gardens are one of the most popular tourist attractions in Mauritius, but the shady avenues of palms seem to swallow the numbers. One key attraction is the park's giant Victoria Regia water lilies, native to the Amazon. Other attractions include golden bamboo, chewing - gum trees, fish poison trees and a 200-year-old Buddha tree. These gardens were started in 1735 by Governor Mahe De La Bourdonnais as a vegetable garden for his Mon Plaisir Chateau. The grounds gussied up by French horticulturalist Pierre Poivre in 1768 in his bid to introduce spices, but afterwards lay neglected until 1849, when a British horticulturalist, James Duncan, took over. His legacy is seen today in the gardens array of palms. The fragrant flora of the garden - ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, camphor and sandalwood are a high point, as are glimpses of Mauritian wildlife that are all but unavailable elsewhere on the island. Look for enclosures of Java deer and giant tortoises. There's also an art gallery and a cemetery, whichever way your tastes run.
Culture:
Over half the population of Mauritius is Hindu and roughly another fifth is Muslim; both groups descend from laborers brought to the island by the British to work on the cane fields. While some of the resident Chinese and Sino - Mauritians were also brought over as laborers, most came to Mauritius as entrepreneurs, and many still control the lion's share of village - based commerce. The remaining population is composed mainly of Creoles, descendants of African slaves and Franco - Mauritians, the original settlers of island. Franco - Mauritians, who make up 2% of the population, still control many of the sugar plantations, although many emigrated to South Africa and France following independence.
English is the official language of the island, though you're bound to hear French, Creole (a melange of French and various African dialects) and a smattering of Indian languages. The island's main contribution to the performing arts is the Creole Sega, a foot - shuffling, body - gyrating, down-night erotic dance that is generally performed on the beach to the rhythm of Latin - American, Caribbean and African pop. Sega variations to Creole music are popular in the island's discos and are certainly more entertaining than the
well - choreographed 'cultural shows' you'll see in hotel lounges.
Probably the most famous novel set in Mauritius is Paul et Virginie, a rather sappy love story by French author Bernadin de St Pierre that you'll find reference across the island. Famous Mauritian authors include Malcom de Chazal, Robert Edward Hart, Edouard Maunick the brothers Loys and Andre Masson and humorist Yvan Laggese. Rene Asgarally and Ramesh Ramdoyal are the best known of the contemporary writers producing works in Creole. Both Joseph Conrad and Mark Twain visited the island and wrote of their experiences, and Charles Baudelaire's very first poem, A une Dame Creole (To a Creole Woman), was written in the Mauritian town of Pamplemousses.
One highlight of a visit to Mauritius is the magnificent mixture of cuisines on offer. The most common varieties are Creole, European, Chinese and Indian, with seafood almost always the specialty. In addition, a typical Mauritian buffet might include a Muslim biryani, Indian chicken curry, Chinese pork dish, Creole roast beef and French - style vegetables. Boiled rice is served with just about everything.Common dishes include rougaille, tomatoes, onions, garlic, meat, fish etc. etc.. Other things like lassi, milk, beer,wines are also available.
Vehicles in Mauritius :
Since 2005 public bus transport in Mauritius is free of charge for students, people with disabilities and senior citizens. There are currently no railways in Mauritius, former privately owned industrial railways having been abandoned. To cope with increasing road traffic congestion, a Light Rail Transit system has been proposed between Curepipe and Port Louis.
The harbour of Port Louis handles international trade as well as a cruise terminal. The sole international airport for civil aviation is Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport, which also serves as the home operating base for the national airline Air Mauritius; the airport authority inaugurated a new passenger terminal in September 2013. Another airport is the Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport in Rodrigues.
