Made in Moris · 3:12pm Oct 4th, 2023
Bonzour, zot tou!
Roughly translates to “Hello, everyone!”
You know, it’s just occurred to me that I’ve never actually talked about where I’m from. Sure, I’ve mentioned it here and there, but never in detail.
Time to rectify that.
Hiya, lovely peeps, and greetings from Mauritius! ‘Tis a small island country off the east coast of mainland Africa, with a population of around 1.3 million people.
Mauritius is located in the Indian Ocean, to the east of Madagascar, and situated close to Rodrigues and the French island of La Réunion. Together, the three counties form the Mascarene Islands. Among our territories include the aforementioned Rodrigues, St. Brandon and Agalega.
Mauritius is multicultural, multiracial and multilingual. The majority of our population is Indo-Mauritian (ancestors from India), but we have a fair share of Sino-Mauritians (ancestors from China), Franco-Mauritius (ancestors from France) and Creoles (ancestors from other parts of Africa like Mozambique and Madagascar). Half our population consists of Hindus (including Tamils and Telegus), with a significant number of Muslims, Christians and Buddhists.
The island was first discovered in 975 by Arabs. In 1507, Portuguese sailors visited it, and then, in 1598, Dutch sailors settled here. France took control in 1710, before the United Kingdom seized it in 1810. We became an independent country in 1968, before officially becoming a republic in 1992.
Now that I’m done reciting the Wikipedia article, let me tell you about my experience growing up there.
I’m Indo-Mauritian, an ethnic group that originated from the arrival of Indian indentured laborers in my country in 1834. I’m also a born, practicing Muslim, but I’m not the most religious person.
You could technically call me a polyglot. I speak fluent English (obviously). Je parle aussi le français, mais pas ci bien que ça.1 Mo osi koz Kreol Morisien, parski li mo lang natal.2 I understand enough Urdu that I can sing along to its songs, but still need subtitles to understand ‘em. And, because I read the Quran regularly, I can also read Arabic, though I don’t understand a word of it.
I grew up in a society that values diversity (even if our Parliament doesn’t really reflect that). Everywhere I go, I can see multiple races, religions and cultures. I turn right and there’s a hijab woman, I turn left and there’s a Hindu procession, I look ahead and there’s a Christian church, I look back and there’s Chinatown. The country is so diverse that each religion has at least one public holiday all to itself.
When I started primary schooling, I, like all the other students of Grade 1, was given the choice to study one of the following Asian languages - Hindi, Tamil, Telegu, Urdu, Arabic and Mandarin. I chose Urdu, which I studied for all six years of primary and the first three years of secondary.
After primary school (Grades 1-6), I started secondary school. The first three years (Grades 7-9) had all subjects compulsory, ranging from science to art to math to business.
Then, once you start Grade 10, only Mathematics, English and French remain compulsory, but there is a minimum of five electives. I picked Physics, Chemistry, Literature in English, Business Studies and Additional Mathematics. I studied these for two years. Once I passed and obtained my Cambridge School Certificate (SC) in Grade 11, I moved on to Grade 12.
There, I chose Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Business as my four required electives. I passed and obtained my Cambridge Higher School Certificate (HSC) in Grade 13.
The S.C. and H.S.C. results are really all you need to get into the country’s colleges. (Colleges abroad are another story.) You apply to the school, submit your results and wait for answers. No interviews, no college essays, no scouts, nada. Just apply and wait.
Mauritius has universal healthcare, free education up until undergraduate level and free public transport for students, the disabled and the elderly.
I never had to hesitate going to the hospital for anything. My mother gave birth twice and it didn’t cost her a cent. Every little problem, every injury, every sickness, we only had to drive to the nearest public hospital. Overnight stays, consultations, tests, even medication; it’s all provided for by the state.
In a similar vein, school is also free. Primary and secondary schooling don’t cost the parents that much. They do have to buy their own books, but even that is freely provided for low-income families.
Students (secondary and primary), senior citizens and the disabled are given passes that grants them free travel by buses and the light rail. For students, this privilege is only for travels to and from their school.
While Mauritius doesn’t have an official language, it does have a native one. Kreol Morisien, otherwise known as Mauritian Creole. Here’s an extract:
Langaz la ti invanter par ban esclav ki ti pe envi comunike ant zot, me so pa ti pe koz mem langaz. Alor, zon invent ene nouvo langaz baze lor Français parski sa mem tou zot ti pe tande.
The language was inverted by slaves who wanted to communicate with one another, but did not speak the same language. So, they created a new one based off of French because that’s all they heard.
Which makes Kreol a fairly recent recent language, having been born somewhere around the 1720s or 1730s.
I’ve been speaking it since I was born, so I always took it for granted. It wasn’t until the language was added to the primary school curriculum that I finally realized something. It’s insanely hard to learn Kreol as a non-native speaker. It’s a language so obscure ( with only a million speakers worldwide) that almost no manuals exist. I did find one, and that too was written by an English immigrant.
Every time I hear someone who's not Mauritian speak Kreol, it fills my heart with a strange sense of pride. Because Kreol is so unknown, if a non-native knows how to speak it, it means they went out of their way to learn. It means that my language, my culture, my country was worth the effort.
And that makes my little heart happy. 
There is so much more I want to talk about when it comes to Mauritius. My religion, my career, the cuisine, the entertainment industry, the politics amongst others. But this blog is getting long enough as is and I think I’ll just leave all this for a second part.
Anyway, lovely peeps, that’s I’lI have for today. Hope you enjoyed this little behind the scenes of my country and shout out to my fellow Mauritian bronies!
Au revoir!
1 “I also speak French, but not as well.”
2 “I also speak Mauritian Creole, as it’s my mother tongue.”
Hey that's great man !
Love to hear your story.
Your country's diversity and tolerance for one another is a lesson for many others.
I live in Australia, and we have similar public education and health standards. School is free and if you break an arm the hospitals are also free.
But your schooling standard does seem more impressive, particularly when it comes to language.
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Just because a place is diverse doesnʼt mean itʼs tolerant. I was going to talk about the politics and issues that arise from multiculturalism, but the blog was getting too long.
That said, thanks for the compliment! And yeah, Mauritius is big on language. Itʼs one of you better aspects.
This was fascinating to read. I confess I've never heard of Mauritius, and now I am wiser.~
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Thanks. Like I said, thereʼs is so much to talk about.
Thank you for your more therough introduction. It was quite illuminating, and I enjoyed the info. I especially like the introduction to and history of your culture. You sound quite blessed to be surrounded by multicultural perspectives and especially strong blessings that they live mostly in harmony with each other. That is a clear model for humanity and very much inline with the true spirit of this wonderful and adorable show we fondly call MLP. May blessings continue to follow you.
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Thanks! And I’m glad you enjoyed the culture lesson. I really do love my motherland and it’s always a treat to share this love with all of you.