Nail In The Coffin by Chetan Ramchurn (Le Mauricien/ 29.09.09)

1969-2009-MMM

NAIL IN THE COFFIN

Time to annihilate this archaic version of the MMM… let the vitriol from my Parker Sonnet flow…

My faith in the Purple Heart has not wavered since I chose to be part of it. Has not faltered, despite the hateful salvos of the arrogance-inebriated propagandists so keen on reducing the party to néant and has not vacillated in the face of accusations of our supposed surgically-precise partitioning of different communities. But the fact that we are stuck in that damning navel gazing mode where we celebrate our past glories and overlook the many inglorious episodes that have led us to be branded as obsolete have made the last few months the nadir of my young political days.

Succinctly, before our eyes, plagued by an abysmal absence of vision, the party mires into fibrillation with an intellectual side that has stopped pumping for far too long. What we should ask ourselves at this defining moment of the party’s existence is how we never managed to shake off that infamous “Le Parti des Minorités” tag that others slapped on us or how when in power we failed to bring much needed changes with electoral reforms or more transparency in the public and private sectors and as importantly in political financing, or as from 1983 onwards how everything that we stood for became confined to the realm of ideas and was never translated into action (bar the reform of the education sector), how corruption that lynchpin of so many other societal wrongs was seen to be tolerated by us…or that the self-professed Noble Party witnessed backroom shenanigans where worthless candidates were promoted in favour of more able ones for positions of power to suit the whims and wishes of some of the party heads.

Trapped in culpable inaction, the Militans, guardians of the moral sacredness of the MMM need to understand that if they follow this treacherous path, no return to the genesis of the party can be achieved. No longer can they let themselves be frogmarched into accepting the unacceptable; the promotion of insipid figures chosen because of their past affiliations, the loss of ideological foundations to our lutte. Or the relinquishing of that ingredient that was at the origin of this whole journey; the fight against all forms of racial divisions and the celebration of Mauritianism (Ene sel lepep, ene sel nation). Indeed, has the party that advocated class warfare stooped so low that our winning formula for the next elections resides in the return of that crucial missing piece that led to our defeat in the 2005 elections? (“Aujourd’hui la désillusion de l’électorat musulman face à l’Alliance Sociale est totale et il revient en masse vers le MMM.” Bérenger/ Week-End 20/09/09).

But maybe I am veering away from what I should be doing as the archetypal ‘militan’, going beyond merely being a beni-oui-oui and engaging in something that is so rare within the MMM ranks these days; thinking. My interest in and subsequent decision to be a contributor to Mauritian politics was strongly motivated by the Kaya Riots and l’Affaire Amicale, both incidents showing the sinister side of Paradise Island. The first one reminding us of the frailty of our society and the second one demonstrating the intolerance the human kind was capable of. In 2008, I joined the MMM. Convinced that if there was one party that could prevent our motherland from falling prey to intestinal divisions, it would be one that combined the teachings of former Labour greats with that of Marx and which had an unrivalled history in its formative years of fighting for the proletariat.

Listening to the self-professed opinion leaders pullulating on our radio waves, the conclusion would be that Bérenger is the root cause of all woes within the MMM. With his place alongside the likes of such illustrious Mauritians like Anquetil, Curé ,Rozemont, Bissoondoyal and SSR now firmly enshrined, the leader of the MMM might have slipped into solipsism choosing to heed only to himself and has failed (until recently, with le retour aux sources) to give the needed strategic thrust to the party. And in the meantime, philanderers of the MMM temple abounded, all indulging in some form of ideological molesting with a party conceptualised by utopians.

The time has come for us to change the way we do politics. We should refrain from mechanical mudslinging and abstain from what Navin did back in 2005, rely on demagogic “Le Grand Soir” style discourses and foster ideas that are adapted to modern realities. Let us genuinely strive to alter how party members view their role and ensure that the now famous line “Dans la lutte pena recompense” is an ode to meritocracy and not simply used to thwart those petits copains that the party fails to serve. Let us stop playing the ostrich game and question ourselves and start from scratch with militans that genuinely care about the future of this nation.

I am not worried about what lies ahead. The MMM will rise again from its present ideological and intellectual blackout. Having read with optimism the paper “Qu’est-ce qu’être militan en 2009” and having spoken to some of my peers, I know that there are other inhabitants of Planet MMM that share my views. Yet, more than ever now, there is the need to discard those ideas and people that have made us so hollow over the years. The ambition of the party at its creation was to eradicate the trenches between the different communities and was based on socialist principles such as the establishment of a more egalitarian society… ideals that like the MMM simply will never die.

Here is my cri de coeur, “Thinking militans, unite”

Chetan Ramchurn

A Young Member of the MMM

OF MASS CONSUMPTION, CULTURE AND US/ Le Mauricien 10/09/09

OF MASS CONSUMPTION, CULTURE AND US

Far from the madding crowd

Port Louis can be distressing… had Descartes been through its hectic streets on a normal day, no further proof would be required for him to proclaim that mind had effectively lost against matter. A cauldron humming with very important people with very important files on their very important laptops, accents so fabricated you would swear there must be some kind of oral deficiency with those using them, discussions so very important you would think the future of the world must be depending on their outcomes, characters so shallow and pavlovian in their fabric that you would bet they were plucked from Huxley’s influential work. Come Friday, the noise slowly dies… the sanctuary of consumption leaves behind desolate and desert streets.

When the HRDC haughtily announced its idea to have this concrete Mecca buzzing for 24 hours ; where there would be no noticeable difference between night and day, I shuddered. Port Louis can be excruciatingly boring during daytime, why bother replicating ennui to night time. Some say the 24/7 was all good, it showed the resilience of the Mauritian economy to the crisis, it demonstrated that Mauritians are still avid consumers and no longer fettered by the ambient economic morosity. Consumption is well and truly our soma, a blissful, self-gratifying activity that entangles us in a world where we are reduced to what we consume.

A New Mauritius cannot be built on those consumerist ideals ; certainly there must be other ways of uplifting Mauritian souls than by having them engaged in buyer-seller relationships. Would our government not be more inspired to organise a 24/7 of culture next time as opposed to last time’s 24/7 of consumption ? This would give the ideal platform to creators and thinkers to show the richness of our society.

Ateliers would be on hand for aspiring entertainers, reading sessions of masters of prose like Cabon, Poe, Joyce and Balzac would allow whole generations to discover the power of words, historians would tell of the unique destinies of our land and its people, live musicians would confirm the greatness of our diversity, street theatre performers would demonstrate the mettle of our artists, local filmmakers would get to show us creations inspired by Mauritian life, contemporary sages would interact with various audiences offering a rich blend of ideas… ultimately creating an atmosphere that would make us grow as human beings.

Let us set our minds free…

Chetan Ramchurn

Rethinking Mauritius (L’Express 07/07/09), Le Mauricien 10.07.09

C’est l’histoire d’un homme qui tombe d’un immeuble de cinquante étages.

Le mec, au fur et à mesure de sa chute se répète sans cesse pour se rassurer : jusqu’ici tout va bien, jusqu’ici tout va bien, jusqu’ici tout va bien.
Mais l’important ce n’est pas la chute, c’est l’atterrissage.
(“La Haine” de Mathieu Kassovitz)

Rethinking Mauritius

Like most of you reading this column, it pains us to see our nation trapped in a tortuous downward spiral with no one bothering to send even so much as a lifesaver to it. We should all be worried, lest there should not be any sand left in the hourglass to salvage the destiny our motherland from what awaits it.

No need to be a modern day Pythia to see what lies ahead; the greater divide between the wealthy and the needy, the complete loss of trust in our political leaders (government and opposition alike, even more now when distinguishing them would require a combination of Sherlock Holmes’s and Miss Marple’s sharp minds), the burying of meritocracy, the absence of thinkers in the future (A country without thinkers is one that is bereft of a moral compass, it sails aimlessly towards an illusory destination) and the death of Mauritianism.

Those enjoying the benefits of this flawed system (the political nominees, the hardened capitalists and the conformists) will choose to believe that the views of the ones penning this article are grossly exaggerated and offer an Orwellian portrayal of our society. Yet the advocates of progressionism will recognize that if we fail to act now, we run the risk of reaching a point de non retour…For this is not only about us; this has to do with what we bequeath to the upcoming generations. Either we leave them with a society in a state of advanced moral decomposition or we choose to act now.

Here are two young idealists’ take on issues that warrant our urgent attention.

·

For a transparent political finance regime: The creation of a truly balanced mixed economy with a government that can act as the champion of the oppressed can only materialise if and when our decision makers are no longer mere puppets of financial juggernauts. In the same vein, the democratization of the economy, a must go through path to create a better society, will be translated into reality when power is effectively placed in the hands of the people and where their representatives in the Legislative Assembly are truly concerned about the lives of the masses instead of the bank accounts of their financial benefactors. The need for a truly independent political finance regulator is a must for a more prosperous nation.

·

Where education would no longer be about, what Einstein has dubbed, “the crippling of individuals”: No longer can children be mere robots trained to puke what they’ve memorised. Now is the time for young souls to finally experience the joys of learning; where one’s desire would be fueled by curiosity and where imagination and creativity would no longer be banned from classrooms. Education, if limited to the mere amassing of paper credentials, defeats its purpose. It is only when moral and ethical values gain prominence in schools and universities that we shall have a nation of responsible citizens. Another negative trait of the present Mauritian society lies in the way those that fail to achieve academically are treated. A truly humane society thrives on giving those outcasts other paths than academia where they would feel valued and respected. The makings of an ‘intelligent’ society would require that we do away with an archaic method and embrace an educational system that would reap thinking individuals.

·         The creation of a real rainbow nation:.. Where strength to love shall be possessed by one and all where we would learn to understand and tolerate the differences that exist between us and celebrate the common traits that bind us. Of equal importance is the understanding that until we ostracize religious leaders that have at heart only their personal gratification and create a laical society where socio-cultural organizations would not dictate the future of a country, we will remain divided.

·

Ode to meritocracy: With clear examples of those at the end of the ladder having to foot the bill for the poor decisions of unmeritorious people grabbing headlines on a daily basis, our country can no longer afford to let those who have failed be entrusted with new positions of power. No more can the private and public sectors be allowed to operate opaquely. Herein lies our doom…

To those that share our hellish view of the present situation, now is the time for them to come forward and start making a telling difference. Yes a Sisyphean task awaits us, but there is still hope. Together, we definitely can.

Chetan Ramchurn & Arnaud

From the heart… (Le Mauricien, 21.04.09)

From the heart…

“Quand le sage désigne la lune, l’idiot regarde le doigt “

Chinese Proverb

Dear MMM,

Your ears must be hurting by now with all the foul things that have been said about you over the last few weeks. Fuelled by media propagandists that are bent on putting you in that most insufferable political coffin, the anti-MMM movement has seemingly gathered enough ammunition to threaten your 40-year old journey. Leading this pack is the personal friend of world leaders, the God-anointed Saviour of the people, Navin. The Chosen One in yet another of his hubristic fits even predicted that he will be the one with the shovel gleefully digging your grave and who will reduce you to political abyss.

But are all those that have made themselves heard filled with destructive venom? No, a few who genuinely care about your wellbeing have been prescribing medication that will help keep the ‘zom magouyeurs’ and similar diseases away. G.Ahnee pertinently raised the need for clarification on the values and the vision you stand for and posed to your followers a question that has been addling the minds of most of us; ‘Quel est le sens de votre combat?’

Let me add my voice to his, for this perceived dearth of ideas and absence of farsightedness has been plaguing you since 2005. There is the need to come forward with credible solutions to the following strategic issues; how do we reduce the gap between the haves and have-nots, do we keep an archaic education system that thrives on parrot learning or do we finally set the bases for a thinking society, how do we put reins on the capitalism beast and help create a greener society. My beloved MMM, what you need more than anything at this defining moment of your existence is lifeblood in the form of strong ideas, and they, unlike some of your members, will not waver with time…

Let me also request that you do not forget the reasons that have lead some of your children to leave your bosom. Some of your disillusioned disciples felt (and I believe that their case was not totally unfounded) that the last promotion exercise was one that did not give much consideration to meritocracy and was merely a public relations exercise that had been amateurly executed.

Let us all hope that other meritorious candidates who have been denied that much-sought ticket for a ride on the power wagon will choose patience over haste and will remain steadfast in their commitment. Let us also pray that the internal wars finally cease and that your members stop tearing you apart. It is not too late to get yourself rid of the haughty young and old incompetents that pretend to love you only for their personal gains. Not when you have able people that are sincere in their dedication but who are overlooked.

The MMM cannot afford to fail. Not now. Now when the country’s future looks bleak and you are its sole ray of hope… Your loving son,

Chetan Ramchurn

18.04.09

P.S: May I remind all of your adherents of their pledge when they joined the party « Tout membre du MMM doit se plier a la discipline du Parti, militer activement au sein du Parti, étudier l’histoire du MMM, s’imprégner de ses valeurs, s’efforcer de se doter d’une solide formation politique, se mêler au peuple et y rester proche et au besoin l’aider, pratiquer l’ entraide avec les camarades du Parti, pratiquer l’autocritique quand nécessaire, n’avoir aucune activité ou conduite qui puisse nuire a l’image du Parti … »

The Navin Show by Chetan Ramchurn (L’Express 06.02.09/ Le Mauricien 07.02.09)

THE NAVIN SHOW

And thus spake the Great One…

Citizens of Mauritius, feel blessed to have been addressed by the Chosen One. Our hardworking Prime Minister, in his great benevolence, took some of the precious time he usually spends discussing with the likes of Chirac and Sarkozy to deal with the trivial Mauritian issues.

Revealing his misery and loneliness, the compassionate Navin also disclosed that he will be gracing President Obama with that great intelligence of his and we certainly believe that he will seize this opportunity to teach him a trick or two about how bold decisions are taken in tough times. Our leader talked at length about the fruits of his intelligent decisions using references spanning from the Bible to Kissinger and admitted that the No.8 elections were of little interest to him for he is now more than ever focused on the economy.

When our beloved P.M highlighted the hassles of holding his much coveted title, all of us sympathised with him. How can we let this often betrayed great ruler stay in such conditions with hardly any friends and suspicions on the few that he has? No, we cannot and should not let Ramgoolam Junior suffer more than he has already endured for our sake. We should relieve him of his great distress and it is now our moral duty to offer him salvation in the coming general elections.

Hubris

Last Thursday’s marathon speech which was nothing more than an unsavoury potpourri of quotes, examples from other failed hedging experiments and incoherent ramblings clearly smacked of hubris. So much arrogance from a man who has so lamentably failed time and time again should have irked most of us. But, nothing of that sort happened as a sizeable proportion of the “peuple admirable” chose to put style over substance and saw in SSR’s heir’s insufferable mumbo jumbo some kind of verbal prowess that the rest of us must have missed.

Ramgoolam’s power ride has been a bumpy one and the grotesque masquerade that this public relations exercise was proved once again that his all talk and no action attitude is likely to continue…until we finally decide to punish him… Yeshwant Ramchurn

Who shot our phaeton rubicola by Chetan Ramchurn Le mauricien 27.01.09

Air Mauritius

Who shot our Phaeton Rubicola?

Dubbed the “Soul of Mauritius”, the much hyped ambassador of Mauritius, our premier company, our very own national airline is in deep mire. Amidst rumours of takeovers, leaked secret conversations and XLD’s almost too little too late attempts to turn back the tide, lies a venerable institution in tatters.

Welcome to Navinland

While some have sniffed blood and are now on the prowl for further damning evidence against the architects of Air Mauritius’s doom, we watch once again with awe the appalling absence of leadership at the head of the state. While the first rats have begun to leave the sinking ship, the much hoped sanctions against those who have failed have yet to come. In truth, in Navinland, the axe never seems to fall on those who are guilty of sacrilegious wrongs…

This latest saga will be remembered as yet another Ramgoolam botched moment, yet another missed opportunity to rise to the occasion and soothe a scandal-weary population. In times of chaos, we turn to those who wield power to show us the way forward; or as Faye Wattleton says “The only safe ship in a storm is leadership.” Alone we stand in these troubled times…

Arrogant fools

Accessorius sequitur comes to mind when deciding on who should be punished. The blame should first and foremost be attributed to those that were at the gambling table with our money. The absence of any exit clause attached to a hedging contract of that magnitude is a gaffe that deserves no clemency. And what do we have instead of unequivocal professions of guilt? Interviews of arrogant fools that abound in our newspapers where all claim to have made the right decisions regardless of evidence to the contrary. What terrifies us is the sight of those who have previously given glaring demonstrations of their incompetence who are rewarded with hefty paychecks and renewed positions of power. No doubt Cunningham had to leave…

In these times of economic and financial havoc, what we need more that anything is a guiding figure in whom we trust. These are defining times for our country… times where real leaders emerge and fake ones crumble… Chets Ramchurn

In Bruges Ebert Movie Review

In Bruges (R)

Ebert: Chetan:

Two Irish hitmen (Brendan Gleeson, left, and Colin Farrell) hole up in Belgium after a contract killing goes bad; one loves the sights, the other just wants out in In Bruges.”

In Bruges

/ / / February 7, 2008

Cast & Credits Ray: Colin Farrell Ken: Brendan Gleeson Harry: Ralph Fiennes Chloe: Clemence Poesy Jimmy: Jordan Prentice Focus Features presents a film written and directed by Martin McDonagh. Running time: 107 minutes. Rated R (for strong bloody violence, pervasive language, and some drug use). Opening today at AMC River East and Pipers Alley. Printer-friendly » E-mail this to a friend » var addthis_pub = ‘rebert_addthis’;

By Roger Ebert

You may know that Bruges, Belgium, is pronounced “broozh,” but I didn’t, and the heroes of “In Bruges” certainly don’t. They’re Dublin hit- men, sent there by their boss for two weeks after a hit goes very wrong. One is a young hothead who sees no reason to be anywhere but Dublin; the other, older, gentler, more curious, buys a guidebook and announces: “Bruges is the best-preserved medieval city in Belgium!”

So it certainly seems. If the movie accomplished nothing else, it inspired in me an urgent desire to visit Bruges. But it accomplished a lot more than that. This film debut by the theater writer and director Martin McDonagh is an endlessly surprising, very dark, human comedy, with a plot that cannot be foreseen but only relished. Every once in a while you find a film like this, that seems to happen as it goes along, driven by the peculiarities of the characters.

Brendan Gleeson, with that noble shambles of a face and the heft of a boxer gone to seed, has the key role as Ken, one of two killers for hire. His traveling companion and unwilling roommate is Ray (Colin Farrell), who successfully whacked a priest in a Dublin confessional but tragically killed a little boy in the process. Before shooting the priest, he confessed to the sin he was about to commit. After accidentally killing the boy, he reads the notes the lad made for his own confession. You don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Ken and Ray work for Harry, apparently a Dublin crime lord, who for the first two thirds of the movie we hear only over the phone, until he materializes in Bruges and turns out to be a worried-looking Ralph Fiennes. He had the men hiding out in London, but that wasn’t far enough away. Who would look for them in Bruges? Who would even look for Bruges? Killing the priest was business, but “blowing a kid’s head off just isn’t done.”

The movie does an interesting thing with Bruges. It shows us a breathtakingly beautiful city, without ever seeming to be a travelogue. It uses the city as a way to develop the characters. When Ken wants to climb an old tower “for the view,” Ray argues “why do I have to climb up there to see down here? I’m already down here.” He is likewise unimpressed by glorious paintings, macabre sculptures and picturesque canals, but is thrilled as a kid when he comes upon a film being shot.

There he meets two fascinating characters: First he sees the fetching young blond Chloe (Clemence Poesy, who was Fleur Delacour in “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire“). Then he sees Jimmy (Jordan Prentice), a dwarf who figures in a dream sequence. He gets off on a bad footing with both, but eventually they’re doing cocaine with a prostitute Jimmy picked up and have become friends, even though Ray keeps calling the dwarf a “midget” and having to be corrected.

Without dreaming of telling you what happens next, I will say it is not only ingenious but almost inevitable the way the screenplay brings all of these destinies together at one place and time. Along the way, there are times of great sadness and poignancy, times of abandon, times of goofiness, and that kind of humor that is really funny because it grows out of character and close observation. Farrell in particular hasn’t been this good in a few films, perhaps because this time he’s allowed to relax and be Irish. As for Gleeson, if you remember him in “The General,” you know that nobody can play a more sympathetic bad guy.

Martin McDonagh is greatly respected in Ireland and England for his plays; his first film, a short named “Six Shoooter” starring Gleeson, won a 2006 Oscar. In his feature debut, “In Bruges,” he has made a remarkable first film, as impressive in its own way as “House of Games,” the first film by David Mamet, who McDonagh is sometimes compared with.

Yes, it’s a “thriller,” but one where the ending seems determined by character and upbringing rather than plot requirements. Two of the final deaths are, in fact, ethical choices. And the irony inspiring the second one has an undeniable logic, showing that even professional murderers have their feelings.

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