The Spirit of the Ocean

WITH INDIAN ROOTS, A LAYERED COLONIAL PAST, AND A VIBRANT CULTURE-MAURITIUS IS FAR MORE THAN A BEACH ESCAPE

- BY SMITA TRIPATHI

THE FIRST THING that strikes me about Mauritius is how much it feels like home. From the large billboards of State Bank of India advertising everything from home loans to credit cards at the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport near Port Louis to Babulal, my chauffeur from the Four Seasons Resort Mauritius at Anahita who greets me in perfect, though accented, Hindi, “Mauritius mein aapka swagat hai (Welcome to Mauritius),” as he opens the door of the car. But unlike other countries such as the Gulf, the UK or Canada, where you meet a lot of Indian immigrants, Babulal, along with half the population of the island nation, is a Mauritian of Indian origin, his ancestors brought to the country from Bihar by the British to work in sugarcane fields in the 19th century.

As we drive from the airport to the resort, I cross large tracts of sugarcane fields. The last time I saw these was when I visited my mother's village in Bihar. Another connection to home.