Anwar Buchoo (Blog)

Strange

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:26:00 -0800

Indian song gone viral

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 21:08:00 -0800

This song has gone completely viral on the net.

With over 30M views (that's very very rare for an indian composition) and is currently the 37th of Top 100 music videos of Youtube.

The song is written and sung by the son-in-law of Rajinikanth, héhé and was recorded at A. R. Rahman's AM Studios in Chennai.

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Upside down reality

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 08:30:00 -0700

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BBQ Rougaïzza @ Pizza Hut

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 00:46:00 -0700

Pizza Hut Mauritius has been giving out free pizzas quite often, lately. For instance, last week itself, they launched 4 "challenges" on their facebook page and gave away many free pizzas to the winners.

Friday afternoon, I came across their 4th challenge which was as follows :

Suppose you have to create a real mauritian pizza. What would be the name and the main ingredients ?

Since, I love cooking at home, I thought why not give it a try and let my imagination do the rest. I posted this :

Name : "BBQ Rougaïzza" (as in Rougaille)

Toppings : Lychee/litchi (bring in some sweetness in a unique way), stringy white mozzarella, tomato sauce for flavour (a bit of lycopene in :)), crushed garlic, mushrooms, green bell pepper (or roasted), slight amount of corn, caramelised onion (done in olive oil), grilled chicken breast (pre-marinated in a BBQ sauce), baked cashew nuts (cashews on pizza are just great)

Top finishing layer : 3-4 tomato (or sun-dried) slices, a couple of jalapeño slices, 2 slices of eggplant on the top finishing layer, sprinkle some shredded parsley and dried oregano on top.

Shape : Circular (the classical one) or square pizza like the ones they serve in Rome or even Heart-shaped pizza.

Pizza base : Current Pizza Hut base (thin or thick crust)

Serve with some good hot Tabasco® sauce :)

For those who adventurous in culinary, you can even replace the chicken by some local salted fish of ours :)

Ten most creative ones (winners) were announced this Monday morning. More than 30 recipes were posted and mine was among the best 10. To my surprise, "BBQ Rougaïzza" was selected by the Pizza Hut team as the best among the 10 best.

I just got my voucher/code for the free large pizza, perfect ! Pizza night tonight, I guess.

However, the best pizzas are definitely served in Italia. The big square pizzas they sell in Rome are just too good and different (those I tasted there). A bit fatty but the best in the world, for sure :-)

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Opening program you use often with administrative rights - Windows 7

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 01:11:21 -0700

Do you have Windows 7 OS and find it a hassle to open programs you use regularly with administrative rights (as shown below) ?

Here’s a solution : create a scheduled task shortcut of your program with administrative rights. Follow the steps below.

QC Explorer is used as an example.

You can do it for Visual Studio requiring debugging privileges, too.

Step 1 : Open Task Scheduler

Step 2 : Create a task

Step 3 : Fill General details

Step 4 : Create a new Action for the task

Step 5 : Choose the program to launch

Step 6 : Define the conditions for the task

Step 7 : Define the Settings for the task. Click OK to create the task. You can also define if you want to run another instance when you launch the app again.

Step 8 : Verify task has been created and ready.

Step 9 : Create desktop shortcut for your application

Step 10 : Modify the shortcut properties to run the task you just created. Use the name you entered in step 3 (don’t forget to enclose in double quotes if it contains space). You can modify the icon to show the original icon of the program you are creating the shortcut for.

(Target : C:\Windows\System32\schtasks.exe /run /tn “QC Explorer”)

That’s it! Just double click on the shortcut on your desktop to run the program as administrator! J

(courtesy Jeffrey Ah-Chong)

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Est-ce l'homme ou le requin le plus dangereux ?

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 21:33:00 -0700

C'est incroyable ! Unbelievable.

Les hommes ont des pieds pour rester sur terre mais quelques uns (insoucients, imprudents) préfèrent aller surfer en mer là où c'est plus dangereux. Résultat, ils se font tués par des requins. Le Préfet / Sous-Préfet de la Réunion a décidé, malheureusement, à mener des opérations pour justement tuer ces requins, jugés dangereux pour les hommes. Le requin tue l'homme et l'homme tue le requin en retour.

Le requin, qui vit tranquillement dans son monde, est menacé de mort par les terriens. Ces requins ne sont même pas venus sur terre pour tuer ces hommes. C'est toujours le contraire qui est vrai.

L'homme continue à pratiquer la surpêche et parfois on se retrouve dans des cas où les prédateurs marins sont obligés de se rapprocher des côtes pour trouver de la nourriture. Des fois, il leur arrive de confondre un nageur avec l’une de ses proies habituelles.

Il ne faut pas oublier non plus que chaque année, de 30 à 70 millions de requins sont tués, principalement pour leurs ailerons (Shark Finning), très appréciés dans les soupes chinoises. Résultat : plus de vingt espèces de requins sont aujourd'hui sérieusement menacées d'extinction. Voir la vidéo d'un requin laissé-pour-compte, sans ailerons.

Je ne comprends jamais comment on peut tuer un animal (qui est dans son milieu naturel) pour le plaisir de l'homme (surf ou autre). L'attaque sur l'homme est devenu, pour certains, une échappatoire pour tuer les requins, prisés pour leurs ailerons. À noter, que chaque année, on a en moyenne 60 attaques mondialement et très rarement des morts.

Et dans tout ça, le requin n'a pas son mot à dire, mais moi je le fais et fais le toi aussi. J'espère que les requins vont se cacher et ne seront pas tués, inutilement, par ces humains, dans le jours qui viennent.

http://www.linfo.re/-Societe-/L-operation-de-prelevement-de-requins-se-poursuit

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Maya Maya, kya hain drama !

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 23:43:03 -0700

Maya Hanoomanjee fer Rajesh Jeetah gaga lor Radio Plus. Ou bizin écoute moi kozé avant do !
Rajesh Jeetah so programme : "Deeaaarrrr prrraaavinnnddd" ! :)

It's good to laugh once in a while with such local actors. Bollywood / Tollywood même fail la.

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So, do you like it on the edge of the table ?

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 08:03:00 -0700

I'm sure many of you must have come across some popular facebook status updates like :

Every person has 1000 wishes. A cancer patient only has one wish, to get better. I know that 97% of my friends won’t post this as their status, but my (true) friends will be the 3% that do. In honor of someone who died, or is fighting cancer – post this for at least one hour….

To start, I don't think someone has like 1000 wishes, very untrue. On the other hand, a cancer patient does not have only one wish but many.

Now, I consider this message very aggressive the way it's been written and is, to my humble consideration, far from being effective on people.

I do not understand at all how can such updates on facebook help cancer patients or the cancer cause. Instead, I find that work on the field, being close to the cancer patients, contributing to organisations fighting the cause, empowering patients/parent by your personal (real) investment, gathering resource, these are concrete actions that should be done.

I have lost dear ones with cancer within the last decade and I know what that suffering means to a whole family including the patient. It's better not to lecture me on that. But, it's not for that that I would post such aggressive messages on facebook.

There have been other status-update campaigns like :

I like it on the edge of the toilet seat or I like it on the edge of the table or bed .. etc

At some point, it was popular to make others aware of the color of your underwear each day (to fight cancer) on facebook. I mean that's really bullshit. How can crazy messages like these help the cause ?

My message to all people who want to really help the cause (and not just passing time posting status), you can help a patient in your local hospital or donate online to organisations like http://www.cbcf.org/en-US/home.aspx or http://supportus.cancerresearchuk.org/donate/

I'm sure 90% won't do it because it's more easier and cheaper to update a facebook status than to do actions on the field ! (no disrespect meant, whatsoever)

It's never sufficient to talk just for the sake of talking but you should walk your talk too ! Stop with such social hypocrisy.

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Halal, Haram food. Doubtful ?

Wed, 23 Mar 2011 07:45:00 -0700

Recently, having come across a statement (by the Jummah Mosque of Mauritius), made me willing to write an article about this topic.

There are so many halal committees nowadays that each committee tends to claim superiority over the other. Now there’s this new one, named “Jummah masjid halal council (JMHC)”.
When you ask them about the status of Pizza Hut, KFC, Nando’s, McDonald, Debonair’s, Steers, FAIL, other restaurants, their simple answer is DOUBTFUL !
Now what’s that supposed to mean ? I wanted an answer halal or haram, and I get "doubtful".

For sometime in the past, their main problem was with KFC. All they wanted to have was the recipe of KFC before issuing the certificate and I wonder why :)
Come on, that’s its business secret. How do you expect them to share it with you ?
I’ve recently visited some Arab countries and there was KFC, McDonald’s, Hardee’s, Pizza Hut everywhere with the official halal status. Do you think KFC shared its recipe with them ? :)

There’s much hypocrisy on this subject and maybe some hidden agenda too.

When I eat at these places in MRU, I ask if it’s halal. They say yes, with the certificates. So, I eat freely without being DOUBTFUL. Some people don’t eat at these places because the JMHC or the Halal Research Committee (HRC) of Mauritius has not issued them a halal certificate.
My question : are the JMHC or HRC the only authentic halal committees on this planet ?

People tend to complicate simple things; that’s what we do best. Anyway, I think to be 100% sure that your meat is halal, you should raise the cattle yourself, slaughter it with your own hands or watch another person do it and lastly, cook it yourself.
Despite the JMHC/HRC issuing halal certificates to slaughter houses in Mauritius, how can they be sure that on any particular day the slaughtering is being done as required ? Are they present 24/7 there ?

As you see, we should do our own research too because with so much halal committees cropping, we can never be sure ! Moreover, there exist corrupt certifiers too, due to the financial gain in this sector. I was, myself, duped in Europe, by a muslim restaurant-owner, affirming that it's halal (he had certificates) and later I learnt it wasn't.

This debate will never end among some muslims; meanwhile, I’ll continue eating Pizza Hut, Debonair’s, Steers, Pizza Hut, KFC, McDo and at other halal restaurants.
God, alone, will judge me and no one else has the right to do so!

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The McDo "Sega" in Mauritius

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 05:44:00 -0700

After the recent opening of the McDonald outlet at Phoenix, I decided to pay them a visit a couple of days ago. Since last year, there have been quite some manifestations from the ISKCON/Kranti groups to oppose the opening of this beef-selling outlet. The reason is same as that of McDo in India, i.e. religious conviction of our Hindu citizens and this outlet being near a to-be temple.

I was there around 18h and the McDo parking was nearly full. At the entrance, there was a paper with a notice on it saying “We are not able to sell any Beef products temporary until further notice” (ed. ongoing case in court). When I entered, I was amazingly surprised to see all the communities of the society, sitting and eating. There were many Hindus, Christians, and Muslims.

While at the queue, there were two Hindu boys in front of me waiting their turn. Suddenly, one of them started talking, a bit loud, to the other saying

Guy 1 : “this place is not too ok to sit and eat, though ...” He continued “it’s got glass panes all over and people from outside can see us”.
To which the second guy added “yeah true, if my dad comes here and sees me.. gonna be in trouble. we can try sit in the corner (not that visible from outside)”.

But, finally, there they were, all burgers on a plate and walking to a table.

I, furthermore, noticed two police officers, on duty, in front of the McDo building. It’s the first time I saw this in Mauritius, where you got 2 police officers outside a restaurant for security purpose.

On a final note, today I heard that the Kranti group is calling for a boycott of Phoenix Commercial Centre, entirely. This made me smile while thinking that if people are not even boycotting the McDo outlet there, how can you get people to boycott the entire mall ? :-)
We just got to wait for the court's decision next week (previously 29/03) and hope that everyone gets satisfaction out of this. If McDo will be forced not to sell any Beef, fair enough I think, compared to a shut-down order.

For info, I ate my meal over there in a secure, hygienic and relaxing environment. The restaurant was nearly full, inside (raining outside). I guess all the recent “segas” about McDo did a great free publicity for this American QSR.

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Ena dimoun mank rol dans sa pei la !

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 23:59:00 -0800

Tout problème ki ena dans sa pei moris la, bizin ena ene zafer rélizion ki rent en jeu !

Fran tou, bane socioculturels sa pei la (tou rélizions, pa ziss ene !) mari mank rol. ena dimoun p mort san manzer/ou ek la drog (tou rélizions enkor ene foi !), mai aucain sa bane socio-sipaki-moloyo la pa pou fer naryen. zot program, invite PM dan fonction, gagne privilez pou zot ek zot ti clik, fer ene ta tapaz, gagne couvertir media ek apres ene poil na pena dan le concret !

Si ene touriss vine moris, li a croir morisien mari relizieu ek sa kantiter mouvement relizieuz ena dan sa zil la. mai pa pou autan ki crime ou delinquence p diminier. ena bane homme relizieu (couma zot apel zot !) fight pou bane zafer nonsense net ena coup, fer rier tou. vraimem bane socio-sipaki-moloyo ti bizin apel plito "communalo-politik" !

(Extrait de lexpress.mu d'aujourd'hui, ci-après)

Un front commun hindou pour protester contre le restaurant McDonald’s à Phoenix

L’ensemble des mouvements socioculturels hindous de l’île se réunit à Phoenix à 11h30 ce mardi 25 janvier. L’objectif s’organiser pour empêcher l’ouverture d’un restaurant McDonald’s à Jumbo Phoenix.

Hare Rama Hare Krishna passe à l’offensive. Elle réunit ce matin l’ensemble des associations hindoues de l’île pour dire publiquement son opposition à l’ouverture d’un restaurant McDonald’s face à son centre, à Phoenix.
Le recours à un front commun hindou était envisagé dès fin décembre. Mais la direction de la branche locale de l’International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon) voulait avant tout discuter avec le promoteur du projet afin qu’une solution soit trouvée.

Il est inconcevable pour les fidèles que le fumet de boeuf parvienne jusqu’à leur temple alors qu’ils sont végétaliens. De plus, les écritures saintes hindoues décrivent la vache comme un animal sacré.

Le mouvement dit s’être adressé à la filiale du groupe Rogers - propriétaire du centre commercial de Phoenix - qui gère le site, ForeSite, le promoteur du restaurant n’ayant pas, ajoutent-ils, répondu à leurs sollicitations pour des discussions..
Une rencontre était à l’agenda vendredi dernier mais ForeSite ne s’y est pas fait représenter. ForeSite dit étudier le dossier avec ses consultants pour avoir une idée sur «les implications» du projet.

«Nous avons suivi toutes les procédures pour avoir le permis de construire le bâtiment qu’on a ensuite loué à McDonald’s. On est même allé au-delà des requirements. Le centre commercial a publié des notices dans les journaux comme le stipule la loi et on avait même installé un panneau sur le site», a expliqué Sanjiv Mihdidin, le directeur de ForeSite à lexpress.mu.

«Je ne vois pas où est le mal. Légalement, il n’y a aucun souci. Un voisin nous a écrit, on est en train de discuter avec nos consultants pour décider quoi répondre», a-t-il ajouté. Le restaurant de 250 couverts devant ouvrir ses portes à la mi-février, Hare Rama Hare Krishna ne veut pas prendre le risque de se retrouver devant le fait accompli.

La prise de position publique devait se faire à la Hindu House mais le choix du siège d’Iskcon a été choisi après discussions. «C’est le mouvement qui proteste, donc la réaction doit se faire à Phoenix», explique Nuvin Unoop de Voice of Hindu (VOH).

Avec Kranti et Ram Senna, ils seront aux cotés de l’Arya Sabha, de la Hindu House, de la Mauritius Sanatan Dharma Temples Federation, de la Mauritius Andra Maha Sabha, de la Mauritius Marathi Mandali Federation, de la Gahlot Rajput Maha Sabha et de la Fédération hindoue de Port-Louis pour apporter leur soutien à Iskcon.

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If you printed internet

Tue, 18 Jan 2011 00:52:00 -0800

An old one, but a nice one !

See the full gallery on Posterous

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Unboxing WD HD TV Live

Sat, 23 Oct 2010 11:11:00 -0700

An HD WD media player I bought some time back.

Very good Full HD media player with streaming support over LAN/media servers and internet.

See the full gallery on Posterous

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Football Fever: Teams strategy revealed

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 22:33:00 -0700

I got this in an e-mail :o)

-> Updated with the South African Plan at the end !

See the full gallery on Posterous

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Courts advert ft. Leader of Parti Malin

Thu, 03 Jun 2010 22:47:00 -0700

Courts advert ft. Leader of Parti Malin (Aubeeluck Danrajsingh)

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Parti Malin Ringtone

Fri, 14 May 2010 06:53:00 -0700

I've selected bits of Parti Malin speech to make a ringtone (SMS too) which I've been using these days.
I thought of sharing it with you. You can use it (download link below) and make people around you laugh when your phone rings :-)

parti-malin-p-diiir_online.mp3 Listen on Posterous

1. Right click and save as : parti-malin-p-diiir.mp3

parti-malin-p-diiir-sms_online.mp3 Listen on Posterous

2. SMS Tone - Right click and save as : parti-malin-p-diiir-sms.mp3

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Post electoral satisfaction in Mauritius

Fri, 07 May 2010 07:29:00 -0700

Now that the election 2010 in Mauritius is over, I can express my full satisfaction of this felicitous outcome.

I'm very happy that Corruption, Communalism and Casteism prevailed anew. I call it the "3Cs Law". Be it from the Labour Party or MMM or MSM, they all applied this winning formula in a very satisfactory manner.

I am very glad for my country today that we still commend the "3Cs Law". You know, we make our ancestors really proud. When we were brought onto this beautiful island, we were intravenously administered a dose of Corruption, Communalism and Casteism with half-life of 500 years (into our blood). This makes me feel more positive about the future of our beloved country which is Mauritius. At least, we don't have to bother for the upcoming 20 generations; we cannot be safer than that.

Beloved country of ours, may God help thee.

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Mauritius Political Speech on MBC

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 04:36:00 -0700

I've shared extracts of these speeches (in fact my favorites) and these are the real winning teams of this upcoming election 2010 in Mauritius :-)
A nou vote blok (mais zot pa present dan tou circonscriptions ek zot symbol pa blok !)
Note that the short voice interruptions are not due to streaming. That's the speaker's style ! (see photo below)

8. Parti Malin and PPM (Parti Pli Malin) - 04/05/2010 (fav)

parti-malin-ppm-2010-05-04_online.mp3 Listen on Posterous

parti-malin-2010-05-04_online.asf Watch on Posterous

7. MDM Collection and Parti Malin - 03/05/2010

parti-malin-mdm-2010-05-03_online.mp3 Listen on Posterous

6. Parti Malin and PPM (Parti Pli Malin) - 02/05/2010

parti-malin-ppm-2010-05-02_online.mp3 Listen on Posterous

5. Parti Malin and PPM (Parti Pli Malin) - 01/05/2010 (fav)

parti-malin-ppm-2010-05-01_online.mp3 Listen on Posterous

4. Parti Malin and PPM (Parti Pli Malin) - 29/04/2010

parti-malin-ppm-2010-04-29_online.mp3 Listen on Posterous

3. Parti Malin and PPM (Parti Pli Malin) - 28/04/2010

parti-malin-ppm-2010-04-28_online.mp3 Listen on Posterous

2. Parti Malin - 27/04/2010

parti-malin-2010-04-27_online.mp3 Listen on Posterous

1. Parti Malin and PPM (Parti Pli Malin) - 26/04/2010

parti-malin-ppm-2010-04-26_online.mp3 Listen on Posterous

See the full gallery on Posterous

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Taking a loan for your wedding? Think twice!

Tue, 06 Apr 2010 08:02:00 -0700

Everybody wants to take loans these days, maybe because of their ready availability from financial institutions. Some take a loan for housing, investment, car, studies or wedding and so on. I will be writing mainly about the wedding loan.

Well, there’s this couple who contracted a MRU 200,000 loan for their wedding. They both started to work and wanted to get married soon. They were somewhat short of money to perform the wedding. What to do? They were whispered the idea of taking a loan to accomplish their dream wedding ceremony. The guy and the girl gave it a thought and convinced themselves to go ahead with the plan. In any case, what could be the problem with that?

So, there they go. The money was in their bank account after having contracted a 7-year unsecured personal loan, at a high interest rate. They got married within the following weeks. They paid for: reception, rent of venue, food, beverage, entertainment, rental items, decorations, wedding cake, bride's wedding dress, wedding gifts, cameraman, photographer. Fortunately, they did not spend all the money and had some money left to pay for their honeymoon suite at a five star hotel. After all, they wanted it to be perfect!

More or less everybody was happy (for some guests, the ceremony was not to their standard!). Now, the couple starts living in the real world. In that world, they live at their parent’s place, squatting a small room. They cannot contribute financially to help their parent run the kitchen either (remember they contracted a loan and they’ve got their own expenditure). So, they continue living in such conditions, for at least, the next 7 years.

Photo courtesy of 501cweb

The thing is, is it worth taking a loan for a wedding? Personally, I don’t think so. On balance, a wedding remains a 1-day (in some cases, a 3-days) ceremony in your life. Why take a loan to throw out big parties/dinner/lunch where in you invite people you barely meet every ten years? When you take a loan, the first thing to consider: what is the return on investment (ROI) after using the borrowed money? Yes, even when taking a loan, ROI counts. In the case of a wedding, the ROI is zero. All the money vanishes in one day to “please” your family and to follow traditions of throwing big ceremonial dinner/lunch!

If the couple had opted to take a loan for a house construction, then there would have been a return on this investment and they would’ve got a shelter. Remember, real estate appreciates unlike a car (and the like), which depreciates over time. When taking a loan, invest the money where you should really, don’t just blow it off in futile things. It’ll be all wasted!

Instead, take a loan which will ensure the stability and independence of your own future and that of your to-be-born kids. Indeed, failure may lie in pleasing everyone!

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How to bribe a police officer in Mauritius

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 21:27:00 -0700

Photo courtesy of vectordoctor

Did you know that you could easily bribe a police officer in Mauritius? No, you can’t. Categorically, that’s the answer ICAC would give you. I’m not ICAC.

I was once travelling with a friend in his car, which he was driving. On the highway, at some point, he exceeded the speed limit by 10%. At that time, there were no speed cameras in Mauritius but the old fashion radar detectors. A few minutes passing the “detection point” (an officer hiding in the bush with the detector in hand), a rider signaled my friend to pull over. As soon as we stopped, the officer asked to swtich off the engine.

He started with his discourse about speeding and why he stopped us. He told my friend that though he did not exceeded the limit by much, it’s still an excess. As a routine check, he asked my friend for his driving license. While looking at the license, he asked my friend why you were speeding. I was wondering why he’s asking this question. If we were speeding, we should simply be fined (no why, if, but thing). My friend replied that he did not realise at what speed the car was going. There was a minute (or so) of silence.

The police officer, finally, broke the ice. He asked: “What should we do now?” We were both thinking is this some kind of a joke? A police officer asking an offender what we should do. By the gesture of the officer, my friend realised that he wanted “a little something”. My friend told him: “Since it’s my first contravention, I don’t know how to proceed with it.”

The rider stepped back and repeated: “You don’t know how to do it?” Then, he returned the driving license to my friend and asked him to slip a note inside the license and give it back to him. My friend gave away a one-hundred note (Rs 100). After that, the officer let us go without issuing any ticket. The police officer was happy and so were we.

Ok, now, do you think that my friend should have refused to bribe the police officer? It’s good to know that if you happen (for example) to park on yellow lines, the fine can get really high. If the police officer does not issue a fixed penalty for the offense, you will get a court summons for the charge. In that case, it’s up to the District Magistrate to decide which amount of fine you should pay. Trust me, the fine can easily be Rs 3000 (plus a court fee) for parking on yellow lines and even if it’s your first offense ever. Then again, Rs 100 vs. Rs 3000, I suppose you can do the math.

Believe it or not, Mauritius is still a highly corrupted country. Why is this so? It’s dead simple, because at the end of the day, what everyone really needs is money! Besides, the example comes from our political leaders.

Disclaimer: Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

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