My dear Billy,
I would like at the very outset to draw your erring attention to the title above and to warn you that it is not my intention this week to talk about thieves in their habitat and how they evolve in their milieus.

My dear Billy,
Mark Twain is often quoted out of context as having declared that God created Mauritius and eventually copied Paradise from it. This may not have been what Mark Twain actually meant during his raving, but it greatly comforts the Mauritian ego.

My dear Billy,
Mauritians are by and large a god-fearing nation. Or at least so it would seem to the foreign visitor, as he would meander through the vast number of prayer houses strewn all over the island. First of all he would be struck by the sheer proximity of these places of worship of the different faiths. Domes, towers and minarets do exist and coexist within a short distance of each other in the towns and villages.

My dear Billy,
We are often reminded that man is the only animal that can speak. In fact, the ability of speaking is one of the greatest gifts that God has given to mankind. By inventing language man can express his thoughts and feelings by articulate sounds in a coherent, organized manner.

My dear Billy,
Martin Luther King had a dream once, and his dream haunted him all through his life. Our ever dynamic Minister of Arts and Culture, Mookhesswur Choonee, has a brand new dream: He wants to make Mauritius the World Book Capital. He has been assailed by this very uncommon and most unlikely dream ever since UNESCO established Bangkok as the World Book Capital 2013.

My dear Billy, My friend Jugdish Joypaul comments on the news everyday on RadioPlus. He has a certain flair for rhyme and humour which is very pleasant and which contributes to a delectable start of the day. He began one of his broadcasts this week by wondering how Mark Twain would react, should he by chance land in Mauritius today.

My dear Billy,
Our Prime Minister has a long-standing, ongoing war with the press. It started in 1995 when he was crowned Prime Minister for the first time. A lull was observed in 2000 when SAJ snatched the Prime Minister’s seat from under him, and resumed in 2005 when he came back to power with a vengeful bang. We don’t know for how long he will keep the topmost office, my dear Billy. But one thing is certain: the press won’t leave him at peace so long as he will be Prime Minister.

My dear Billy,
You will be pleased to know that two weeks after the flash flood which engulfed people and possessions in Port Louis, the capital city is back on its feet and started living again. The rains had caught the population unawares and no one in Paradise island could ever have imagined that such a cataclysm would ever strike Mauritius.

My dear Billy,
Allow me to send you my birthday wishes in advance.

My dear Billy,
The Indian cinema is celebrating its centenary this year, and to mark the event, a montage was screened at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Indian Culture recently on the occasion of World Hindi Day as a tribute to Hindi films and their contribution to the propagation of the language.