Life in Mauritius: Picture Update

[aadil]

What?
The gallery for the Life in Mauritius project has been updated.
What update?
There was a Lion Dance last Saturday for the new building housing my workplace. The Dance is for warding off evil. I took pictures and hence the update.
Err, ok. But where is it?
http://hektik.org/g2/v/projects/aadil/liondance/
What if I got questions?
Please use the comments section below. Feedback is always welcomed!
Anything else?
Do check out also the Mourning in Muhurram album if you haven't done so too.
Mourning of..?
It is available here: http://hektik.org/g2/v/projects/aadi...g_of_Muharram/
These are colorful and exotic pictures you take! Some gross too!
Yes. Mauritius is indeed a colorful and exotic island with lots of different cultures blending in.

Cheers,
Aadil.

[Qawee]

I enjoy your photos!
so are these people Buddhist?
Thanks for the update

[aadil]

Thanks mate!
Buddhists? Perhaps. I am not sure.
In fact they are Wushu practitioners forming part of a Lion Dance association.
Almost all of the people who perform Lion/Dragon Dance in Mauritius belong to one Wushu club or another.

There are buddhists in Mauritius though but the vast majority of the Chinese descendants in the island have been converted to Catholicism. This is due to riots which erupted in Mauritius between Maoism and reformist students. This may have happened in the 70s. If memory serves correctly that is (pun alert: I was born in the 80s).
Anyway, there was a Dutch Catholic priest who suggested that they should all be converted so as to calm down the situation.

That's why you can find many Sino-Mauritians to be of Catholic faith.

Voila.

I do hope I got the history part right.

[Teep]

Indeed, there is nothing like a lion dance to ward off evil. There is also nothing like a string of high-powered firecrackers being lighted just outside the door to ward of pesky salesmen and tax collectors and develop pneumoconiosis on the side.

One question, though: is this belief so embedded in Mauritian culture that it goes without saying that the new office should be ritually cleansed? Or is it a slightly playful idea of your boss?

Anyway, all puns aside, it's good to see some real life examples of Mauritian culture

[cold]

Aadil, I'm glad to see you post some more pictures of Mauritius. If it wasn't so damn expensive, I'd come over to chill with ya and meet some Mauritian women

Do you still use an IM? I don't see you on anymore

[aadil]

Teep, well only the Sino-Mauritians perform this ancestral purification custom. The fact is that the Lion Dance association came to bless the Chinese restaurant and the doctor's office located below my office. And since they are all located in a single building complex they used this opportunity to bless the whole building, well upto the first floor i.e.

Cold, save some moneh and get here asap! I will arrange for the rest. The air ticket may be expensive but the cost of living is rather cheap. I do use IM but my office policy has had Yahoo messenger blocked. Fortunately, you can reach me using Jabber via aadil@jabber.org. Hope to catch you soon!

Cheers and thanks, mates!

[Teep]

so if you work on the 2nd floor you're basically doomed? because all the evil spirits of the first and ground floor have simply moved on up? :P

[aadil]

Technically speaking, this may be true. But since I was in the entrance hallway when the lion was passing by me - cleansing the place - this means that I bath in thee mythical creature's greatness! Hence, I am free from the evil eye.

Speaking about the evil eye, here is a particularly interesting article I stumbled upon recently: http://curiousexpeditions.org/?p=211

[Gil]

Amazing!

[aadil]

There's a religious celebration coming up next month. I will try to get some pictures. It is called Maha Shrivratee.

Cheers mates! (^^)b