Open letter Lord Shiva & Supply teachers & Paraplégie à l’île Maurice

Readers Speak

Open letter to Lord Shiva

I am taking the liberty of addressing an open letter to Lord Shiva on social media because if a group of inconsiderate people believe that playing techno/electro versions of bhajans and mantras is the way to show their devotion there is no way my writing this open letter could be questionable.

 

Dear Lord,

Here comes the time of the year when your devotees set out on a pilgrimage to seek your blessings and bring back the holy water to offer on your Shivlinga. But since a few years this pilgrimage has taken a sour turn for me, and I am not, in my humble opinion, the only one.
As you know Lord, I returned from my pilgrimage yesterday and was sleeping to recover quickly because tomorrow I have to get back to work.
Unfortunately, as it happens every year, I was woken up by an awfully loud and thoughtless playback of religious songs. My displeasure doesn’t stem solely from the fact that I lost my sleep, but also by the fact that I do not understand this practice.

Pardon my ignorance, but I am writing to ask, does this please you Lord?
Are you pleased with such display of devotion when other people’s much needed rest is ruined?
There’s the argument that this occurs only a few days a year and thus shall be borne with. Dangerously however, so many injustices could be validated if we go by this way of thinking.

This year as I was walking to come seek your blessings I noted that the roads were much cleaner, only to later realise that it’s because people were hired to pick up the trash after your devotees. So I ask you, are you pleased when you see your devotees, those undergoing so much during your pilgrimage, to unmindfully toss plastic cups, amongst others while coming to pray?
I wonder what could be your reaction when nowadays people mourn the loss of their homes and belongings due to floods that happen mostly because of our drains are choked with litter. We’ve earned it maybe, right?

It’s 02.10 am and I am wide awake because of that music playing and I can’t do anything besides questioning the essence of the Maha shivaratri pilgrimage now.
Where is the devotion when one can be insensitive enough to smoke while other pilgrims are walking along too, helpless and unable to escape?
Where is the devotion when a pilgrim can almost lose her/his life getting hit by a vehicle only because there’s no other way to walk unless one overtakes towering kanwars that pilgrims can hardly carry (because most of them are pushed on wheels)?
Where is the devotion when one of your devotees has to carry a 2-metre stick to lift electric wires from the top of their kanwars, risking his life and that of others?

You incarnate discipline and self-control, so I feel sad with the way your festival is being ‘celebrated’ these days. I wonder why socio-cultural groups do not engage in a constructive strategy to overcome the problems that are decried every year.

There is so much more I want to say, but I believe that would be getting into a disdainful religious discourse. So I end here, leaving the rest to you and hoping there’ll be a more respectful pilgrimage next year.

Yours,
Anu Fulena

 * * *  

Supply teachers needs permanency

There are at present various supply teachers who have been working for a number of years for the ministry of education. Their hard work has produced results, and in some cases we have seen some of their pupils topping the list in different subjects. Yet they are still to be recruited on a permanent basis.

We know of many who are the only breadwinners of their families and struggling hard to make ends meet. Others have taken up still further studies at their own cost. We know that the government has to cope with different constraints, but we believe the situation of supply teachers must also be looked at with some sympathy. Moreover it is incomprehensible that qualified candidates with Masters degrees and/or PhDs are not called for interviews when recruitment exercises are carried out. How can such things happen?

Narsimha P. Laxmi

 * * *  

 Paraplégie à l’île Maurice

La Fondation NEURAM organise une conférence internationale en mai

Chaque année 500 personnes ont des blessures lourdes suite à des accidents de la route, selon M. Daniel Raymond, expert en sécurité routière pour le ministère du Transport (voir Week End 31 décembre). La prise en charge de ces individus est complexe: notre récente étude a décelé beaucoup de lacunes que nous souhaitons combler.

La Fondation NEURAM se spécialise dans la prise en charge des personnes qui deviennent paralysées à la suite des blessures médullaires, traumatismes crâniens et accidents vasculaires cérébraux. Pour sensibiliser les professionnels de santé, les patients et leurs proches à l’importance de soins spécialisés et pluridisciplinaires dans la prise en charge de ces patients, la Fondation organise une conférence internationale les 16 et 17 mai 2018 sur le thème de la Paraplégie à l’île Maurice.

La conférence a reçu l’aval du ‘President-elect’ l’American Spinal Injury Association (www.asia.org) et du Président de l’Association Internationale de Paraplégie (www.iscos.org).

Elle incluera des ateliers de travail. M. Shivjeet Singh Raghav de l’Indian Spinal Injuries Centre (New Delhi) animera un atelier sur le thème suivant « Groupes de soutien aux patients et leur proches » (Peer Support Worker). Nous souhaitons recruter des personnes souffrant de blessures médullaires pour participer à ces séances afin de devenir des spécialistes et travailler sur une base volontaire dans ce domaine dans le futur, suite à une formation structurée et spécialisée.

Nous prions toutes les personnes intéressées de se mettre en rapport avec nous. Le profil des candidats est décrit sur notre site www.neuram.org. Nos coordonnées sont les suivantes: tel +230 58408877 email: asoopramanien@btconnect.com

Nous faisons aussi appel à tous ceux qui voudront nous aider pour l’organisation de la conférence et nous leur prions de se mettre également en contact avec nous.

NEURAM a été admise à l’exécutif de la Fédération mondiale de Neuro-Réhabilitation (www.wfnr.co.uk) et celui de African Spinal Cord Injury Network (www.afscin.org)

Son président, le Professeur Anba Soopramanien est un spécialiste en blessures médullaires et Rééducation Neurologique.

 

* Published in print edition on 16 February 2018

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