Demain n’est jamais certain : Que sera sera…

Thoughts & Reflections

By Dr R Neerunjun Gopee

All of us belonging to my generation have fond memories of humming that beautiful melodious song ‘Quand j’etais tout petit maman me disait…’ and which ends with the soulful lines ‘Demain n’est jamais certain: Que sera sera…’ It still rings inside us, especially at times of turning points such as the change from the passing year to an incoming new year.

Equally haunting are the concluding lines from the iconic poem by Robert Frost (which he recited at the inauguration of John Kennedy as the 35th US President in January 1961), ‘Stopping by Woods on a snowy Evening’:

 The woods are lovely, dark and deep

But I have promises to keep

And miles to go before I sleep

And miles to go before I sleep

This is a philosophical poem, wherein ‘sleep’ refers to death. The implied message is that before death one has to complete one’s duties and responsibilities. Given that Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, one wonders in retrospect whether these lines of Robert Frost were prescient…

One could recast them it as:

Our future, bright with hope, beckons

We have pledges to fulfil

And new pages to write

And miles to go before the next round…

As Robert Frost’s poem was recited in a political context, I thought that the paraphrased version I have penned is an apt one for the leaders of our country who have taken over from the previous regime, especially for the older ones among them who have been around for very long. As we emerge from the turmoil of the past ten years, we certainly wish that they are around to complete the current mandate with promises kept and delivered. Five years is not a long time in the history of a country, but there is never any certainty about the outcome of an election, for it’s equally true that demain n’est jamais certain – and we have seen that haven’t we, in previous electoral bouts.

As 2024 comes to its end and 2025 rolls in, it is customary to take a look back at the year gone by and wish or hope for a better and brighter future. This exercise, which I think most people – whatever their status – do in one way or another, invites the individual to select or highlight those things that impacted him (her also: him will be used for the sake of convenience) the most, depending upon personal situation as well as upon occupation and interests. I recall a cartoon on this theme in a US paper showing a couple looking at two boards resting on two separate stands. On one is written ‘← year X’ and on the other is ‘Year Y →’. The caption read ‘I don’t know which I should be more apprehensive of.’

Indeed, with the traumatic events that have marked 2024, both locally and globally, the concern that this caption expressed is not surprising. For my part, I thought I’d have a go at some issues of interest, starting with my town Curepipe.

Curepipe: ‘Ville de lumiere’ anew?

For many years I have been saddened and rather ashamed to face the hard fact that Curepipe is no longer the ‘Ville de Lumiere’, that was its claim to fame in the not-too-distant past. And with justification too. But given that municipal elections are in the air, this is both a cry and an appeal to those who will be called upon to govern it, come soon, to make it shine once again and regain its rightful place in the Mauritian landscape.

I remember that quite some years ago there had been a beginning of improvement after a new team had been voted in. Several railings along the Royal Road and Chasteauneuf street had been painted in a combination of blue, yellow and white, extending to Jan Palach, along the Sivananda road down to the Curepipe Road junction, and a little further up along Leclezio Street, Lees Street near the Manhattan complex, and some other sites too. The paint has long since been the victim of weathering!

To be fair, the infrastructure works connected with the so-called metro, as well as the metro itself – whatever its merits or otherwise – have no doubt upgraded that part of the Curepipian region, from Jan Palach to Curepipe Road, and so much the better.

Before the November elections, street markings in the main business areas of the town were freshly painted – but these need to be extended to some other parts too. Will it happen?

As with other towns, a major problem is increasingly constrained parking space, and with more cars on the roads this is bound to get worse, notably on weekends. So, I look forward to some practical solution being worked out soon enough, especially to help senior citizens like me. Along with other matters, such as the many taxis which monopolise space at numerous sites, the state of the roads, etc., I hope that as the year goes by the initiatives already taken will trigger further visible and tangible improvements in a continuing bid to ‘re-look’ Curepipe.

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Cry – or Cry not, my beloved country?

At country level too, much before the explosive revelations of the ‘Missie Moustass’ leaks, the media had been awash with the brutalities being perpetrated, such as the assaults on sundry personalities, with well publicized arbitrary arrests by the notorious Special Striking Team and interrogations of several politicians amongst others.

Numerous were the reported cases of alleged corruption at high levels, fraud and financial manipulations with siphoning of billions of taxpayers’ money, the MIC saga at the Bank of Mauritius and emptying of its coffers. Compounding all these were institutional dysfunctions and a shameful conduct of affairs in Parliament. These not only generated a climate of fear that hung as a perpetual sword of Damocles over the country, but they seemed to have all the characteristics of state capture by a selected coterie, oblivious of the sufferings of the citizens not to speak of indifference to the image of the country internationally.

Besides, the damage done to public morale is incalculable. There is great expectation and hope that henceforth the direction the country should take should, prima facie, safeguard the national interest rather than individual, narrow or vested interests: a common call across the world in all mature democracies. If we are one, as we claim to be, then… let’s hope we will be swimming in clearer and more still waters as 2025 unfolds.

People are definitely enjoying a new air of freedom and gaiety in this festive season. The party will not last forever, but let us pray for the fresh breeze to last the mandate at least – and beyond too why not…

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Let there be peace

As we look forward to a better world, we may like to reflect on a short write-up on anthropologist Doug Fry’s important book ‘War, Peace and Human Nature’, in which he summarizes the findings of ‘decades of research on peaceful societies around the world and argues that assumptions about the war-like nature of humans and the inevitability of war are both erroneous (according to sound archaeological and anthropological data) and deeply ingrained in our culture — and thus need to be countered with a clear alternative vision of a peaceful society’. He writes, ‘The importance of developing an alternative vision is often overlooked. A common assumption is that a dramatic social transformation away from war is not possible. Such an attitude easily becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.’

Happy people are peaceful people. Let us therefore pray to be happy and peaceful in 2025 and the years to come… Happy New Year to all.

Mauritius Times ePaper Friday 27 December 2024