Thursday, December 26, 2013

Parakeet Gets Big New Home


Flying out of the recently inaugurated terminal at Plaisance these days feels like walking through a present. It smells new. On a gigantic scale. Plus courteous personnel will direct you to the right counter while you admire the building's imposing structure. Going through customs is pretty straight forward too and with all the new equipment around there is a simple message that this 57,000 square metre terminal -- or three times the Rashtrapati Bhavan --  is sending out: check me out! Add free Wi-Fi, more comfortable chairs, a lot more shops and restaurants definitely puts our national airport in an entirely different league. That's before taking in the heavenly views of Mauritius on display on the large windows.

Flying into the Terminal is good too. The wider corridors look very neat. One problem though is when you land in that huge hall where the passport officers are. You are not too sure where you need to go. That can and should definitely be improved. And you will have to bear with a bizarre parking design.

Overall the experience is quite nice. But we need to raise our game. By at least making arrivals as pleasant as departures. Fast.

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Kozelidir Person of The Year 2013

Attributed to Jacques Verges for teaching us why monsters should be thoroughly understood. And to Nelson Mandela for running South Africa from prison.

Friday, December 20, 2013

2013: The Year in Review (Q3)

7.7 Milyon Malgas Vote Zordi


Zot pe vot deziem tur eleksyon prezidansyel -- enn swa ant Hery ek Robinson. Zot pe osi elir zot bann depite. Hery se kandida Prezidan aktyel, Andry Rajoelina, ek Robinson se dimunn ansyen lomfor Mada, Marc Ravalomanana. Robinson ti gagn 21% promye tur e Hery ti gagn enn tigit mwins ki 16%.

Dimunn finn perdi lavi ar la pes bibonik bann dernye semen dan pei. Si salte pu vote li pu vote Robinson. Problem ki kav ena seki nu retruv nu ek enn sitiasyon de koabitasyon politik. Ravalomanana ti perdi puvwar par enn kudeta an 2009. Depi sa Mada finn konn enn insertitid politik konstan kinn apovri Malgas buku.

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

2013: The Year in Review (Q2)

Meeting Yvon St. Guillaume

That happened after leaving the funeral of Sir Satcam Boolell in March 2006. I was walking Lady Jag! back to our car when our path crossed that of an elegant man who was happily introduced as YSG. That gentleman became instantly interesting to me after my mom told me that he had voted for Independence despite being from the PMSD.

Yvon was beaming while I was being briefed. He seemed all set to go right into the National Assembly and second that motion for Independence again. If need be. Or maybe just for the fun of reliving those extraordinary emotions at the Champ de Mars when our flag was raised for the first time.

We left after a nice chat and I took his mobile number promising to get back to him. Mostly to perhaps get a chance of listening to the IMAX version of that beautiful story. I never did. I got busy. Firing katyushas. Non-stop. 

R.I.P. Patriot!

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

2013: The Year in Review

January: The Economist says party lists are evil. Humanity starts its biggest gathering. Former MK boss explains how he was fired. Berenger announces he has throat cancer, steps down. Joseph beats Jackie Chan and wins award. Gandhi's assassination turns 65.

February: IPP contracts made public, finally. Heavy-rain shuts down water-starved Dodoland. Pistorius shoots model girlfriend by mistake. CEB contemplates getting Mauritius its own Fukushima. His Airness turns 50 and world longs to see Mike back. After attacking our rupee with our own money Duval tries to usurp the PM's prerogatives. PM says changes to electoral system shouldn't be done on a whim, promises consultative paper.

March: Women contribute a third more than what Mao thought. Fifteen centimetres of rain kill eleven in a flash.

Read the review for Q2Q3 and Q4.

Suarez Wins Player of the Year Award



From the Football Supporters Federation. In the midst of a terrific comeback. He is the league's best scorer for now with 17 goals or four more than City's Aguero. That's more than what 10 teams have scored this season. Liverpool is currently second but the top of the table could see more changes this week-end if Arsenal doesn't win. Good stuff ahead!

Friday, December 13, 2013

Bheenick Should Make Vision 2020 Public

He referred to it nine times at his annual dinner with the economic operators last week. The Governor talked about it again a couple of days ago. And if I remember correctly it is not the first time he's mentioning it as the boss of our Central Bank. Nice.

It would be even nicer if he would do the needful to have a pdf of the document on the BOM's website. Out of intellectual courtesy. Vision 2020 could be the first document to go under "Others" in "Research and Publications". So that a maximum number of citizens can have a look at it.

Friday, December 6, 2013

World To Mourn Madiba for Several Days

Who died last night at 95. Listen to some wise words from Nelson Mandela: religion is a private matter and education is the most important weapon you need to lead.