Distance makes the heart grow fonder. So is the case with Mrs Olivia Ramoutar, Deputy Mayor of St. Anne in the French Caribbean territory of Guadeloupe, who simply loves India. She was in New Delhi recently to attend a food processing fair and was accompanied to India’s capital city by Paris-based Mr Mehen Poinoosawmy, GIO President of Europe Region. Mrs Ramoutar is also the President of the Guadeloupe Chapter of the Global Indian Organisation (GIO) and the President of the Federation of Tourism in Guadeloupe.

It was in the late 19th century that Mrs Ramoutar’s great grandparents had chosen to chart out a new destiny in faraway lands and had emigrated from the ports of Puducherry and Calcutta with their elders to Guadeloupe. She’s told that her mother hailed from the French town of Chandannagar in the Hooghly district of West Bengal, a place that was much known for its embroidered items. Her son who takes keen interest in genealogy is working on tracing her roots in India, both on the paternal and maternal sides.

On her foray into politics, Mrs Ramoutar says that it is an area that PIOs have generally shied away from, the reason why representation of the East Indian community in public life has not been very significant. When she herself decided to take the plunge into politics, it did not amuse her mother very much. She, in fact, felt let down as it wasn’t a part of Indian tradition to be in politics. Ms Ramoutar, however, recognizes the importance of being in politics, she firmly believes that it is the only way that the community can be empowered.

On the tourism and business front, Ms Ramoutar manages seven villas in the island of Guadeloupe that has a PIO population of 57,000 according to the Ministry of External Affairs. Villas are an important source of bringing in tourism revenue to Guadeloupe, one of the mainstays of the island.