A Cool Evening on Great Beings

Carnet Hebdo

By Nita Chicooree-Mercier

Village people have a way of recreating the village atmosphere wherever they migrate to. The northern coastal neighbourhood is home to people who have migrated from other villages and towns. But only villagers have the natural way of bringing in casual social interaction without much ado about formalities in their new surroundings. No need to make an appointment to go to someone’s place. Just open the gate, which is rarely locked, by the way, walk into the house and call for the Chachi, Mamou, Bhai, Didi and whoever may be at home.

Early evening is the time to relax while talking about all and sundry in hushed voices in the warm atmosphere of the living room at a friend’s place. Two women living across the road show up in front of the house. The younger one wears a long skirt, a blouse, a shawl on her shoulders and a horni covering her head. If your friend is greeted with “Namasté Phoupou”, you receive the same greeting, as simple as that. What strikes me is the elegance of the traditional dress of village women, which has often been associated with cane cutters’ dress. The electric light in the room brightens up the colorful designs of the blouse, the shiny tikli of her horni and the pooli on her nose. And what with the very dark hair and wide eyes. Your mind travels back to Aapravasi Ghat and the landing of the first Indian migrants with their motri tucked under their arms. What flashes across your mind is a history that stretches back to Bihar, home of Bhojpuri, and Calcutta, a town that has ended up defining identity, Calcuttea, indicating ethnicity, language and religion. You just ask yourself why this kind of dress has been discarded and almost looked down on when it comes to changing fashion across generations. Modernity creates quite a lot of confusion in minds, not to mention the influence of ill-advised westernisation that Bollywood stars propagate.

Evening serial “Shiva” is on television. It naturally draws attention after a few comments in Bhojpuri on the weather and the cost of living. English subtitles are superfluous in such company. They all understand Hindi perfectly well.

“I did not study at school, apart from Hindi,” said Mantee, the younger one. Her sister-in-law nodded, adding, “Same with me.” What is meant by not being successful at school is the failure to pass exams in a number of subjects that require a fair command of English. In her late thirties now, Mantee reads books written in Hindi.

“Do you understand everything?” I asked, pointing at the serial playing on.

“Almost everything,” she answered.

“What sort of books do you read?” I asked out of curiosity.

“Mostly on great souls,” was the answer. She orders her books at a library in Port-Louis.

Three questions pop up in your mind.

Number One: Would Bhojpuri/Hindi-medium of education have changed her school performance? Arithmetic, Environmental Studies and the myriads of subjects would have aroused more interest. Maybe yes, maybe no.

Number Two: How many men and women have stuck only to Bhojpuri and Hindi as a medium of communication in daily interaction and connecting to the world outside? They are officially considered as illiterates and failures.

Number Three: How come this topic has never given rise to debate in the academic circle and at the Ministry of Education? The focus has only been on the promotion of Kreol and lowering standards to haul up a higher number of pupils to secondary level and now on, to university.

The fact is that this category of citizens do not complain about the whole system. They do not bring grist to the mill of ideologues and well-wishers who thrive on the plight of the disgruntled, raise a ruckus and hand a victim card to them, making it a national topic to modify policy-making in the field of education. The fact is the Bhojpuri/Hindi crowd, who do turn to English or French, have never received due attention in academic debates on education. They have been discarded and blatantly ignored. Yet, for other reasons they feel secure in their field of work, culture and choices. Simple people go on with their lives without paying much attention to the mainstream colonial legacy of what is considered worthy or not, successful or unsuccessful.

Pumpkin seeds are shared around. “It is much in the news of healthy food these days,” I observed.

Well, it has always been a habit with them. They have not waited for YouTube posts for advice on grains and seeds. If anything, there are other sources of information on the topic of food issue which are handed down by traditional experience. A handful of jackfruit seeds is very popular in the evenings in summertime.

The host admits she finds herself in a dilemma as regards food choice while watching serials based on scriptures. Eat only vegetables or not. Well, the two ladies opine that the right alternative is taking veg food before watching the serials. Anyway, having dinner or lunch in front of the television is a very bad habit.

The great souls Mantee reads about are the great seers and saintly figures of India, an exploration of the world of sages, yogis, science and miracles, death and resurrection. She mentions a few names, hinting at the very source of beings, Lord Vishnu arising from the sea, the golden fish and the subsequent avatars. In short, the Theory of Evolution formulated differently in the 19th century.

“Do you listen to Sadhguru (the well-known Indian mystic)?”

She rather reads in Hindi about him. No doubt, he incarnates the age of mysticism. Of course, she has read ‘Autobiography of a Yogi’, the life of Shri Paramahansa Yogananda. I agree that there is something godly about this sage, something intimidating in his look.

Books that open windows of the mind and spirit are worth reading. They open hearts and minds to the joy, beauty, and unlimited spiritual potentials that exist in the lives of many human beings.

A Mauritian Swami is well-known internationally and has ashrams across the world. Swami Beeharee is a younger Mauritian swami who never fails to enlighten the audience on the call to the path of spirituality he experienced as a little boy. Indeed, there are exceptional souls who are the chosen ones.

Hamlet-like questions face the protagonists, deities, sages and demons on the screen. Will Shiv listen to Parvati or not? Will his mental strength waver or remain steady? To go or not to go to Sani’s call?

We comment on the resistance to manipulative forces. I cannot help drawing the parallel between the struggles in the realm of divine entities, sages and devilish figures with the same challenges on earth. Evil has always existed, we all agree. No head-scratching on the topic among sages of all times, no brain racking about it as in other traditions. Evil cannot be banned or eliminated. It will arise in different forms. What matters is that righteous forces should eliminate the different forms as they arise one by one and not succumb to manipulation and remain passive.

A professor from India delivering a course on Indian Civilization once remarked that an average ‘illiterate’ Indian person by modern definition is culturally well-equipped to understand and discuss philosophical topics. How true! The legacy is still alive.

Mauritius Times ePaper Friday 18 July 2025