By Maiyan Karidi
We are living in a small Hindu village on the lesser known tropical island of Mauritius. Every morning, we awake to the familiar sound of the Muslim call to prayer from the adjacent village.
At night, we fall asleep to the chanting of the Hindu devotees at the Sai Baba Temple just behind our house.
Between the mosque and the temple, we are building our Sukkah (Tabernacle) for our festival of Sukkot.
This is Mauritius. Within a space of one kilometer one can find a Catholic church, a Peopleโs church, a Tamil temple, a Hindu temple, a mosque and a Buddhist temple. You may ask, โHow can this be?โ. Well, it is. It exists, and in harmony.
Our doctor and our carpenter are Muslim, we buy our groceries from the Chinese, vegetables from Hindu vendors at the Sunday village market and we play music with the Creole of African descent who practice a kind of Catholic voodoo. We are Jewish. I can see you laughing!
One afternoon, my twelve year old daughter was invited by her Hindu friend, Sakshi, to the Sai Baba temple.
โSure you can goโ I said, โgo and enjoyโ. I made sure she was dressed appropriately, and she happily pulled out her Hindu attire, which she loved to wear to the numerous Indian weddings in the village. I had taught her the importance of cultural sensitivity and respect and she was fully aware of its importance.
A few hours later she returned with a big smile and a twinkle in her eye. I was curious.
โSo, how was it?โ I asked.
โOh it was great, very interestingโ.
โSo, tell me, what was interesting?โ
โWell, they had a Xmas tree.โ
โA what? Where? In the temple?โ
โYes, with lights and all, quite beautiful and right in the middle of the temple.โ
โYou must be joking! And what did you do there?โ
โWell, they chanted, and I watched and enjoyed all the colors of the Saris and the Xmas lights. And then a crazy thing happened but you wonโt believe me.โ
โGo on, try me.โ
โAfter the chanting, everyone turned to look at the entrance and in walked Santa Claus!โ
โNo! Now you are having me on, tell me honestly.โ
โReally, I promise, ask Sakshi, except she doesnโt seem to think anything is strange, like itโs normal!โ
โBut, who played Santa Claus?โ
โOh, just one of the guys in the village, you know, from Mahatma Gandhi Road, dressed in the classic suit with a white beard and red hat and all. Wow, he must have been sweating under all that, itโs so hot!โ
โYouโre kidding me!โ
โHe even had a sack of presents to give out to all the kids.โ
I was astonished. It reminded me of our Sukkah, full of Indian ladies in their Saris enjoying our โstrangeโ shelter and chatting and laughing while they ate our traditional meal under the coconut palms. (A good substitute for date palms).
I wonder if there is any other place in the world where so much cultural fusion could take place in absolute peace, acceptance and curiosity about each otherโs traditions?
A few months later, Sakshi came to remind me that the following day all of Mauritius would be celebrating the Chinese new year. Another festive public holiday for all to enjoy!
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