The puzzling rub of the rupee

In 2007 an anti-corruption group in India developed a rather creative way to help people ‘just say no’ to corruption.
The ‘5th Pillar’ as the group is known printed some 25,000 rupee notes that had the official Mahatma Gandhi and design on the face of the note and a mission statement about anti-corruption on the other side.
The [...]

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Pick a Language

Last week it seemed as if I almost killed a guy in my, what is now, weekly yoga class.  It was hardly my fault due to the fact that I think the major problem was the fact that he couldn’t understand me.
There seem to be many people here on the island that can’t speak English [...]

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Swami Pilgrim in the Land of Piment

Today, I became a yoga instructor in a country where 60-70% of the population is Indian or of Indian descent. 
It was only yesterday that I was asked to teach a class at the local gym and so I spent the day preparing my lesson and practicing my asanas.  It’s been a very long time since I [...]

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Indentured Laborers and Golf

Yesterday, the 2nd of November, was the 175th anniversary of the Arrival of Indentured Laborers in Mauritius.  The day is a national public holiday here and shops and businesses are generally closed for the day.
It’s been raining like absolute mad this past week which is odd for this time of year, but Monday seemed to [...]

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Moneytrees and the art of development

How does a developing country get a leg up and what’s been big news on my tiny home away from home?
At the very end of January and very beginning of February 2009, the Chinese sent a delegation over to the island of Mauritius to see if there were any potential investment/development opportunities here. 
I remember this [...]

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