MAN FOR ALL SEASONS
Mauritius Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam is one of those few world leaders who have the power to move people with his words. Indeed, he is most qualified for the task. Like you rightly said he was never part of Mauritius’ underclass, but Ramgoolam never lost sight of the inhuman history of Mauritius’ colonial past. That is what perhaps gives him that edge, of being able to move people with his words wherever he goes, and that is what makes him stand taller than the rest on the leadership podium. Leaders like Ramgoolam are what make a better planet.
Jaslok Singh
Nova Scotia
Mauritius high commissioner in New Delhi, Mookhesswur Choonee says Ramgoolam is understood by all, and he’s made his mark everywhere. Choonee has hit the bull’s eye. Ramgoolam is highly passionate about the abominable practice of slavery from which his country took generations to recover. His own grandfather, indentured Bihari immigrant Moheeth Ramgoolam, worked the cane fields in Mauritius. Though Ramgoolam himself grew up as the son of a Prime Minister, he has been near the stench of slavery. Sadly, there are parts of India where people still work as slaves.
Aruna Shankari
San Francisco
Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam’s story is indeed steeped in irony. While his grandfather was taken from Bihar to Mauritius as an indentured labourer, he himself is a head of state today. However, millions of people in Bihar, the land of his ancestors, live as virtual serfs. While officially slavery may not exist in India any more, the fact is that the poor in Bihar are no better than slaves. They can’t enter the homes of the rich, they can’t draw water from the wells of the upper caste and they can’t escape the debt trap and the poverty trap. Many are in servitude to unscrupulous money lenders who exploit illiterate labourers. Often, labourers who had borrowed just a few rupees see their debt multiply defying all laws of mathematics. These are the people who also need to be lifted up and who must participate in India’s success story.
Monica Kapoor
Toronto
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VASTNESS OF VAASTU
I agree with T. Selva that the 5,000-year-old science of Vaastu Shastra is the formula for global peace because in order for the world to be in harmony, every dweller should be in peace first. I like the fact that Vaastu is not part of any religion though it was the ancient Hindu seers and architects who invented it. It does not work on a belief system and Vaastu Shastra is not a question of faith but a fact of life. It is not magic, superstition or a religion. In today’s world of uncertainties, if Vaastu offers the hope of some stability, there’s no harm in accepting it and applying it for benefits.
R.K. Ram Kumar
Berlin
EMPIRE-ICAL THOUGHT
INDIA EMPIRE has a style that’s unique—your articles and stories are amazing and are true success stories. I get a kick out of reading about Indians who left the country with a few rupees in their pocket and now are billionaires. Only INDIA EMPIRE does these profiles. In fact, I have subsequently chanced upon these stories in other media! Which is why I feel that you people must be doing something right. Keep up the good work.
Savita
New Delhi
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