about mixed marriages… when u fall in love wiz someone of different religions.. its really exciting (..o love..).. even if it doesnt end up in a marriage for any reason.. it is really enriching and it helps u grow..

Nice comment. I like: “I guess being Mauritian to me is having as much courtesy towards the scavenger as I have for the suit-wearing director.”

I have to agree. I would love that being courteous and helpful to others was taught a bit more at school.

the topic started off as ‘ What does it mean to be Mauritian’ and I could notice that gradually, the highlights shifted on religion… well, I then realised that religion IS an essential part of being Mauritian. Not necessarily adopting one and praying regularly (now, defining religion, especially in the Mauritian context is a looooong topic so I’ll skip that), but accepting the fact that a good portion of our population believe in their religion!

I’ll also not disclose my real name or religion so whoever reads this will do so with an open mind, and not come to conclusions that I’m favouring this or condemning that because I am a believer/supporter of my religion (or another!).

I’m in fact an atheist, but was born to Mauritian parents from the same religion.
I’d be a hypocrite if I said I was agnostic. We have the right to believe in what we really want to believe in. I tried saying I was agnostic before to avoid being controversial but realised just as much as I ‘care’ about what others think, they should ‘care’ too and let me voice my opinion! But then again, it was pointless for some to prove that the world was round when everybody were cocksure it was flat!

And the irony of all this is how can I be 100% sure the world is really a globe! Maybe NASA tricked the media who in turn unwillingly tricked us with some pictures to quench our thirst for the truth….lol… a theory, I know, but we’re actually never sure of anything, are we?

I guess death is what we all know will happen someday… but what comes after that? Heaven/hell, reincarnation, the white tunnel, just blank black… maybe even blank white….

Now back to being Mauritian – I won’t agree that mixed marriages is THE solution to ‘Mauritianism’ but possibly a cushion for the hard blows like the communal riots that happened in the past. And yeah, the main purposes for any marriage should be love, compatibility and trust, and not to make Mauritius a better place! I don’t criticize arranged marriages but to me, it’s like choosing a person from a pre-selection of my parents – it is like a limited choice.

All religions in Mauritius are quite diverse and have many things in common too. We just choose to blend in where we can and it works fine.

I agree in some parts with Raj, with Shaan, Reena and with you Avi…

But what I can sense from reading all these posts is that we’re all trying to convey our message from what WE have experienced so far; nothing wrong with that, but has anyone thought if their comments would have been different if they were the other gender? or from another religion?

I guess being Mauritian to me is having as much courtesy towards the scavenger as I have for the suit-wearing director. Fusing our hearts with people from other communities/class, be it in a party while dancing, on the seat of a bus while talking or when ‘rising in love’ (I don’t like to say falling)…

Being Mauritian is knowing our country, the laws, the history, the places of interest, the good things about it, its uniqueness and most of all, looking at the half-filled glass, not the other way round. It’s easy to point fingers and laugh but hard to educate. It’s easy to blame but hard to really understand. It’s easy to be a smart-ass but hard to be Mauritian. Mauritians are not stupid, they just have more culture in them compared to other countries. And the acceptance (which is very very complex to sustain) is what makes us Mauritians unique and in a way, superior to other nationalities. This acceptance is what becomes ‘mentalité morisien’ – often blamed for being narrow minded, which is partially true.

Just like I know, during my existence, there’s no way I can single-handedly ban all the things I despise like fanaticism, war, extremism, etc… the same way, no one can change the Mauritians. They’re like Marmite – u either love em or hate em, but u cannot ignore them. I spent years abroad and I know the sparkle I feel in my heart when I come across a Mauritian – even if in Mauritius I could have tagged that person a ‘gopia’ or whatever…

That’s when my Mauritianism awakened.

And you know the beauty of all this? After eliminating religion as an influence in our way of thinking, if we do the same for patriotism, we’re gonna become real humanists!

Just imagine if aliens invaded the earth – all humans would unite. Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about…. thinking outside the box!

That’s my utopian picture of being a Mauritian!

K

The point is that I see a massive difference between culture and religion. Religion is supposed to be private. And culture is supposed to be shared. Now, in Mauritius, we’ve been mixing both for years and, consequently, people of different religions tend not to know anything about the culture of others. And this is the source of all the tensions we have in our country.

I sincerely think that one solution is to have more mixed couples. The reason is simple. After one generation, you’ll have more kids who will know about (at least) two different cultures. Of course, the kids will have to decide what religion (if any) to follow when they grow up.

I happened to get on this post and got pretty much interested on the topic. I always felt great when I looked at my friends’ group where we all mingled very well no matter what community or religion. I believe younger generations pay less attention to these things but it’s more older ones that kind of try to influence their beliefs on us.

And concerning mixed marriage I really believe it could remedy to the problem of racism here – provided both families are willing to accept each others’ cultures. Anyway I’ve always found your marriage as an example and look forward for such success too