Tamasha To Hit Movie Theatres November 27

It's feeling like a cross between the critically-acclaimed Rockstar -- also directed by Imtiaz Ali and scored by A.R. Rahman -- and Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, the 2013 blockbuster movie that starred the former lovebirds.

We'll find out in a few weeks.

2014: The Year in Review (Q4)

October: Parliament dissolved in trivial manner. Don't bet on Sithanen to eliminate poverty. June happy Pistorius gonna pay something. Mauritian democracy competitive again. Tackling unemployment: how do the zinkus stack up?

November: Indira's assassination: 30 years already. Suddenly, Labour/MMM to create 60k jobs. Something for you to sniff.

December: What voters want. 63% of poll says Ramgoolam not winning majority. Reform wasn't good for poor. Mauritius says no to wicked plan. Claudette's visit turns 35. Manou's dismissal is inelegant and silly.

Read the review for Q1, Q2 and Q3.

2014: The Year in Review (Q3)

July: How to live 3 years more. Why Sithanen should be dumped again. World Cup won by almost a third of host countries.

August: Stray dogs to work for food. Mrs. Doubtfire is dead. Local FB pages with most likes. Ramgoolam has no match, for now.

September: Apple returns to Flint, 30 years after. Loch Ness Monster may need new travel documents. Granny 1, Leopard 0. Labour/MMM alliance dangerous.

Read the review for Q1, Q2 and Q4.

10 Years of Blogging

Completed yesterday. The first post was a note on a statement -- Setting the Stage For Robust Growth  -- made by the then Minister of Finance. The whole thing actually started a short while after a friend did two things: she first asked me why I didn't blog -- given that I was so opinionated -- and then provided me with the url for a couple of blogging services. I eventually settled for blogger and wrote a few relatively long pieces on The Jag!.

As these -- which were essentially a series of short posts combined together -- were taking way too long to my liking I eventually set up Kozelidir with a couple of friends for shorter ones. All kinds of strict guidelines were enforced and these did cause some friction leading some of the initial collaborators to eventually set up their own blogs. Some who were invited never contributed anything and eventually confessed that 'pa fasil sa nivo angle la'.

Many of the posts were also published in the Forum page of Le Mauricien: who said that journalists can't have good taste? Or be addicted to writing that's not too poor?

It's been a lot of work. But definitely a lot of fun too. And the learning has never stopped.

Stay tuned for more!

Why Labour Lost The Last Municipal Elections

Because it didn't take part in them. Although Arvin Boolell did tell us at one point in time that a list of candidates was almost ready. That was just before Navin Ramgoolam stormed into a critical meeting that would eventually have given voters -- especially labourites -- a lot more choice on the ballot paper. Ramgoolam essentially said that the governing parties had set a trap and Labour should avoid it. Understand by that that Arvin doesn't have the right profile. Mamou Ramgoolam also argued that the Labour Party didn't have the money to go into these elections as it didn't have access to its bank accounts.

That's kind of strange when you realise, for example, that the number of years that Dr. Boolell and Dr. Ramgoolam have been in politics add up to more than 50 years. Besides supporters of the Labour Party would certainly have pitched in one way or another to back any good ideas as they have been doing for almost eight decades now. Talking about a trap is also kind of hilarious when you recall what Ramgoolam, Berenger and Sithanen tried to do last December with an electoral reform that was both stupid -- as Mr. 40% + 40% = 80% confessed -- and dangerous. Mr. Bean who is celebrating his silver jubilee this year should definitely watch out for the competition.

And why did Labour lose the 2014 General Elections? Too much money? Profiles that are too perfect? Math skills that are otherworldly?