Mauritius - A sophisticated Mini India

After a long juggling on my vacation locations, I zeroed-in on Mauritius. I was stunned by its beautiful pics over the net. An island surrounded by blue lagoons!! An island full of green landscapes!! Believe me - it’s ACTUALLY as beautiful as it looks out in pictures. In fact somebody has truly said that pictures themselves can’t express the magnificent beauty of Mauritius, You have to be there to experience it. But this is not the only thing which impressed me. There is a whole different world out there with a complete blend of east and west, which I like to give you a glimpse of. And I would call it – A sophisticated Mini India.

Around 50-60% of Mauritius population is of Indian origin. Interestingly they look like Indian, dress like Indian but don’t speak like Indian. Oh yeah! French is the most common language over here. And these Indians have very well adopted it. Hindi and English have become secondary languages for them, and they JUST manage to speak in these. It’s not only the language what they have adopted well, you can clearly see a reflection of European culture when they talk and move around. Another interesting fact is that most of these Indian migrants hail from Bihar. These people still follow Indian traditions in terms of clothes and rituals. You can see females wearing sarees, salwar suits with the big orange colored sindoor over their heads. People have proudly put up small temples and red flags in front of their houses as a symbol of Hinduism. Along with this Indian culture they have embraced the sophistication of Europe.

Infrastructure of Mauritius is way ahead than India. The planned roads, buildings, shops are the things to cherish. The whole country planning in terms of infrastructure clearly reflects European sophistication. Every corner of Mauritius is well connected with magnificent roads. Though transport options are limited [buses and taxis only] but these are good enough in number and frequency. If you talk about vehicles on the road, you won’t find many two wheelers. There are some scooters and bikes, but 90% of the vehicles on road are 4 wheelers. In fact for every 10 people in Mauritius there is one car on the road [a figure provided by locals]. Most of the international car brands you can see on the roads. By the way, you won’t find any cycles [pedal] here, instead of that a luna like vehicle is in fashion for economically poor class.

Greenery with beautiful landscapes is what you find across all the roads. Houses are usually average built but well planned and demarcated. Even the small streets in capital [Port Louis] are way ahead than our Indian haphazard setups. Capital covers quite less area, so you won’t find many big buildings around, but hotels and resorts spread around Mauritius enhances its beauty in its own way. You can see numerous sugar cane fields around, very well placed in harmony with the other setups like houses, buildings, hotels, etc. How well towns and villages can develop together in harmony, is what this place tells us. By the way, sugar industry is one of the prime industries in Mauritius. Other primary industries include tourism ofcourse.

I had a really short trip of 7 days in Mauritius but would love to spend more time here. I am sure it inspires every Indian who visits there. If I visualize a developed India, I am pretty sure it will look like Mauritius – A sophisticated Mini India.