(More Pictures of my Facebook set)

It was a fine Thursday 2 May 2013 Morning. The D-Day! We had been preparing for more than 2 months in order to be able to perform in the Finals of the National Drama Festival (Hindi Language) 2013! We set out for our destination in the early morning. With all artists and Mr. Tommy having found a perfect place in the Van, we set out for Serge Constantin Theatre, Vacoas at around 9.30am.

At around 11.am the audience was seated, as well as the MBC crew ready for the live recording of the 3 best plays:

The Jury ready to perform their job….The Adjudicators were: Mr. Dhaniprasad Dhunnpat, Dr. Alka Dunputh, Mrs. Anju Ghurburrun

MBC Cameramen! The MBC team were present in the stage rehearsals in order to understand the entry/exit of artists in the play. (We are still waiting for recording to be broadcasted on MBC)..

A wonderful audience from: Triolet, Plaine des Roches and MGSS Flacq, as well other participants/award winners in this edition of the festival

At around 11.00am the makeup of all the artists was done; We were polishing the last details of our stage setting. The stage managers and the technical team was busy at work! The carpentry/decors technical staff of Serge Constantin Theatre were also giving a helping hand in the backstage, up to their capacity.

Around 11:10, after the official welcome and announcement by the Arts officer in charge of the Ministry, Time for a pooja in order to wish good luck to all the members of the team and then we gained full concentration for the play which will be starting in a few minutes…

Personally, I was stressed at that time! Because of the technical implications of Sound and Lighting which needs to be synchronised perfectly with the on-stage actor. Following my instinct, I went into the technical room to give a helping hand, but bref, I turned out to be panicking my technician. Anyways…. :S

Fortunately, everything went well after the opening scene! And we were happy to be playing with such a receptive audience, who were being entertained throughout all the scenes!

Mr. Tommy on stage! Great awe in the audience…

Then came the famous part on – ‘Ek Chutki Sindoor’ scene, which I had directed at the last minute! And it was a SUCCESS!

It was a great pleasure on stage to hear the loud appreciation from the audience with this scene..HIT, it was a great HIT from our Best Actor – Rajiv R.

Then came the different scenes, which followed smoothly. There was a great synergy amongst the actors; there was a perfect timing of entry and exit. All the cues were being followed as instructed in rehearsals…We were all focused, the actors changing their costume/makeup in order to be able to play the next role. The makeup in charge of the Ministry of Arts and Culture in stand by mode in order to assist the artists. The technical team , each doing their best to put the proper light and sound in the required scene. All running smoothly to have a great play…..also the scenes were perfectly played by the actors, for eg. the Famous Politician scene:

and then the Death Scene, where according to the remarks/suggestions of the Adjucating Panel in a Director’s meeting, we did not put the corpse right in front of the Bus Stop, but besides…This improvement was taken note by the jury members..

Concerning the Abortion Scene, personally I appreciated the last-minute direction which we did on the eve of the Finals! It was nicely done, hats off to the artists….As a director, I had high expectations from this scene particularly..

The lighting and sound were great. just a small glitch on the Thunder.mp3 sound, which was played softly..

And then my last scene with the Dhollpuri wala, I am happy it went fine. Normally he used to run away quickly, but this time, Akash managed to improvise and ‘play’ creatively on stage! highly appreciated it.

And after 45 minutes on stage, finally we did it! The Bus Stop voice over was a sucess together with the ‘glow effect’ in the bus! The dim lights (on and off) was greatly controlled by our light technician.

And finally, came the presentation of the artists/technical team in the end:

There was a great feeling of Joy melted with Satisfaction and Pride. We did it! The results of 2+ months of hard work was present and had mesmerisez the audience and the Jury members.

After the play, we hurried to dismantle our setting, in order to give place to the next performing group.

We were being congratulated for this laudable performance and then we got ready to watch the other plays and await the results at the Award Ceremony.

In the mean time, there was a nice performance by the Kathak girs of RTSS:

So, on Friday after work hours, had to get ready for the Long drive, from home till Mahebourg Also there was the problem of  CNT Bus Accident at Soreze.

Upon arrival at the Youth Centre, we are warmly welcomed by the officers and congratulated for our performance of ‘Natak Nahin’, which won several awards.

There was the allocation of rooms whereby I was able to meet new friends and accustom with the new atmosphere. It was exciting for me to see so many people from different communities/age group have come in order to learn acting!

Then after dinner, everybody was summoned in the Conference Room where the Workshop was opened and grouping was done. Since I had came late, I was allocated randomly to a group, and it was a great group!!! We were also allocated 2 arts officers who would be in charge of giving us the appropriate acting classes and directing/coordinating our drama.

Then each group comprising of 10-12 actors were dispersed in the yard of Point Jerome in order to get introduced and start the first class. We performed Theatre Games and the lessons learnt from the first class were very helpful to me personally. What I could retain from the first session can be briefly outlined as follows:

1. Casting (Allocation of Roles before starting a drama)

Make a good estimate of an actor’s capacity to fit in a role, whether he/she will be able to play for 5 minutes or 20 minutes or even entire drama. Never put a burden on an artist.

2. Never say ‘No’

Under a director’s instructions, always accept to carry out these instructions on stage. Accept to do things in Theatre. Argumenting is not good.

3. Team Work

Embarking in the drama troup is similar to doing constructive team work. All members should form part of the solution. And the director shall implement the final solution.

4. Communication.

Good communication is essential in a group.

5. Full concentration in a Role.

An actor must focus fully whilst playing a role. ‘Focus on a point till you don’t see/hear anything else’.

Then the next day, on a fine Saturday morning, as early as 6.00am we started with Warming Up and some very interesting Theatre Games. After breakfast an introduction to acting and improvisation was done whereby we were given to tell a story and then to improvise dialogues and narrate the story in drama form. At around 10.00am, we were honoured by the presence of Mr. Per, a professional actor/director from Sweden. He delivered a 2 hours lecture on ‘Characterisation’. And Honestly, it was amongst the best lecture that I ever had attended. There are many important points that I could retain from this session. Also I had the opportunity to act under his instructions.

After lunch, we continued our group work session, whereby we had to stage the improvised story for a cultural programme which will be presented at 20.00. I was chosen as the director amongst the group of 11 artists. We had great fun working together and doing a great 15-minutes drama in the evening!

On the final workshop day, we started in the morning with theatre games and we worked on our Voice. Then very interestingly for breakfast, nobody was allowed to talk and make noise. We all had to Mime. Then around 9.00am we started our next drama production which was on a folk story of Akbar/Birbal – All is for Good . This time i seized to opportunity to hand over the direction to Prema so that I could focus on acting. I had the role of ‘Tribal Einka’!! It was great fun

And finally, after lunch, there was the presentation of all the group’s drama. Ours was done in ‘Open Air’, with a beautiful view on the sea/beside hotel Preskil. I was impressed by the quality of the play and the talent of the beginner artists.

Then finally there was the closing ceremony whereby MBC TV came did a small recording/interview of participants. There was some speeches by the Chief/Principal Arts officers and also Chairpersons of the Hindi/Urdu National Drama Committee.

It was a great Residential Workshop where I would like to thank the all the Staff/caterers etc. for making it successful. Special thanks for our 2 teachers Mr. Vikram M and Soobiraj G. for all these precious guidance. It was great also to make new friends and to perform with artists coming from different drama clubs.

All the best!

Below is a screenshot:

As I already said in my Interview with MBC (in Kreole and Hindi; The interview will be broadcasted tomorrow – Friday, 3 May 2013 on Journal Kreole + MBC Samachar),

I would like to dedicate the awards to my team who have been very supportive for the past 2 months. They have been present in the rehearsals everyday and staying till as late night as 23:30!!

I would like to congratulate the Technical Team, who gave an immense support in the:

• Lighting
• Sound
• Settings

We won the Best Setting!!!

Personally, I am very proud to be winning Best Play, Best Director, Most Promising Young Actor, Special Souvenir Shield 40 years of Drama!!

Today was a great day. The audience was wonderful!!! The staff of the Serge Constantin Theatre was helpful, The Technical staff of the Ministry of Arts and Culture (Drama Unit) were professional in their work. The MBC did a great recording. My Co-actors were great in their performance, they did their best!

National Hindi Drama 2013, Results:

1. Best Play – Natak Nahin (Sangeet Natak Academy, Triolet)
2. Second Best Play – Chitrakaar – MGSS Flacq
3. Third Best Play – Aansoowon mein Mouskanon ki Talash – Navnit Arts, Plaine des Roches

• Best Actor: Rajiv Ramjeeawon (Sangeet Natak Academy, Triolet)
• Best Actress: Arti Gungadeen (London ka Baboo – Universal College)

• Second Best Actor: Chetan Anand Huzooree (Pro. Basdeo Bissoondoyal College Drama Club, C. Flacq)
• Second Best Actress: Sunita Seeam (Ansoowon mein mouskanon ki Talash, Navnit Arts)

• Best Director: Ashesh Ramjeeawon (Sangeet Natak Academy, Triolet)
• Second Best Director: L. Jhumun (Chitrakaar)

Best Local Writer: Amawootee Ganowree (Navnit Arts, Plaine des Roches)

• Special Prize for the most promising Young Actor: Ashesh Ramjeeawon (Sangeet Natak Academy, Triolet)
• Special Prize for the most promising Young Actress: Yogeeta Roopnah (Chitrakaar – MGSS Flacq)

Special Prize for the Actor under 15 Years: Shreyansh Rai (Paji Ban Gaya Kaji – Royal College, Curepipe)

Special Prize for Beginner Group: Mauritius College – Rehearsal

Best Set Designer: Yogesh Ramjeeawon (Sangeet Natak Academy, Triolet)

Special Prize to the Best Play staged on the theme ‘ Enn Pei, Enn Nasion, Enn Destin‘: Hum Aissa Kyon Karte Hein – Triolet Rang Tarang Group

Special Jury Awards:

1. Dewanand Joymungol – Triolet Rang Tarang Group

2. Bhama Rughoobar -

3. Bella Ramdhary – Mouft ka Naukar – Vacaos Rang Bhoomi Kala Mandir

4. Shiv Gredharry – London Ka Baboo, Unversal College

40 Years of Hindi Drama Festival – Chutturdutt Heeramun Souvenir Shield – Ashesh Ramjeeawon ( Sangeet Natak Academy, Triolet)

Mauritiusiya Hindi Sahitya Shatabdi Samaroh Award by World Hindi Secretariat – Natak Nahin (Sangeet Natak Academy, Triolet)

1st Prize by Hindi Speaking Union – Natak Nahin, Sangeet Natak Academy, Triolet

Last but not the least, even Mr. Tommy Performed for the first time on stage today

it is with much pleasure to invite you to the final drama rehearsal of hindi play ‘Natak Nahin’ on Wednesday 10 April 2013 at Sarvodaye Ashram, Shivala Road Terminus Triolet.

Well after nearly 3 weeks of hard work, everyday rehearsals till late night as 23:00, we finally feel that we are ready for the National Hindi Drama Festival 2013. Our slot for the Preliminaries is on Friday 12 April at Serge Constantin Theatre, Vacoas, at around 13:00. You are most welcome to attend and watch our final drama live ON STAGE!

Our Stage Rehearsal was held Wednesday last – 3 April and we are quite happy with our work that day.

We managed to make the setting for a Bus Stop with the materials that were present at Trafalgar. And with great luck the Sound system present there could play our MP3 files!!! I was greatly tensed because of that, as had little time to convert around 7 files to audio.

Just Unfortunately, the Lighting was not available to do rehearsal, as they were all unplugged due to the heavy flooding which occurred on Sat. 30 April 2013.

Personally, I felt great to be back on stage and participating in the competition after nearly 8 years!! During my childhood, teen years, for quite a good numbers of consecutive years i used to participate in Hindi, Urdu, Bhojpuri and English plays, along with other Full-Length plays by the Academy of Performing Arts.

The full casting is as follows:

On the Technical side we have:

A great team of technicians also as on Saturday last – 6 April 2013, we spent the whole day crafting the settings! appreciate the hard work and committement! hats off to you guys!

OK Time to go and collect the artists now for a final rehearsal for tomorrow’s show!

Good Evening, c ya

Last Participation in Bhojpuri Full Length Play Seet Basant in 2010 [Gala Show]

After nearly 9 years of absence in the competition, time to try participating again. I am aware of the competition between groups in the same village of Triolet, but nevertheless it is a matter of pride also that there are entries from this village of language and culture (and politics).

Currently, I am recruiting artists and happy to see a mix of both experienced artists and new beginners one. We are bringing fresh blood in the field of Dramatic Arts. The casting needs to be finalised by this week and currently we are doing ‘Script Reading’.

Last performance in Full Length Play – Manilal Doctor in Mauritius on 22 March 2011

I admit there is a tight schedule, as other competing groups, I am sure have had already started their rehearsals in as early as February.

But nevertheless, we have taken this challenge and we are all determined to do our best, under the guidance of experts from Academy of Performing Arts.

Stay tuned for more updates friends..

Next week, on Monday 25 March there is the Directors Meeting, where we will know on which date our play is scheduled for the Preliminaries at Serge Constantin Theater, Vacoas.

Till then we are busy with rehearsals.

There was an official sendoff meeting by the High Commissioner of India on the eve of our flight, 8 Feb.2013, where we were briefed on visiting Delhi. Press Release of the event: 

The delegation took our flight to Delhi and on the early morning of 9 Feb. 2013, we touched the sacred soil of Bharat.

Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi

After checked-in in our respective hotels, we set off for breakfast and then later for Sight Seeing in Delhi:
Gandhi Smriti

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gandhi_Smriti

I was particularly very happy to visit this place being an ex student of the Mahatma Gandhi Institute for 10 years, i used to see the ‘Hey Ram’ besides the Statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the garden. Having lived the values for MG, I was very touched to visit the place where he lived, see his last steps and the museum where all his belongings are preciously kept.
After that we visited the Swaminarayan Akshardham Temple, a beautiful show case of Indian art, set up in a vast 100-acre site. Then we did a spectacular boat ride through 10,000 years of Indian Culture. We got the opportunity to learn about the discoveries and inventions of India’s ancient rishi-scientists, oldest Vedic village, bazaar, takshashila and many other glorious heritage of India. In the evening, we watched the musical fountain show which is in a traditional yagna kund, which is the largest in India. The Colourful musical fountain show that echoes the Vedic sentiments was magical!

On Monday 11 Feb. 2013, was the official Inauguration of the Training Programme followed by a Visit of Amar Jyoti Centre.

As you can see in the above photo, all the teachers coming from different background (Occupational Therapists, MD, Teachers, Lecturer etc.) obtained their official pass and training folder after registration from the programme on Day 1. The lectures started immediately in the conference room. The latter were delivered by key persons in the field and it was very informative sessions that we had. Very Interestingly one participant in the Group, Dr. Chunnoo, made drawings of the speakers and offered them as gift at the end of the session. He is very talented!

On the following days, I had lots of meetings/ Skype call with different key persons – Webmasters, IT Managers etc.

Had the opportunity to visit NIOS who have their website catered for disabled users http://www.nios.ac.in/. Also visited Amity Campus Noida, a very vast one, i was pleasantly surprised to see the security watchguards holding big trained Dogs in the campus!

After around 11 years of visting India, I noticed many things had changed. No longer were the time where with 2 or 5 Indian Rupees, you could purchase many stuffs (Inflation). Secondly, I enjoyed a lot travelling by Metro! I went to Mandi House and Connaught Place by Metro. I travelled also in the Rickshaw, Auto-Rickshaw, Car (chauffeur-driven and bodyguard), Bus, Motor Cycle. This time, I did not get the opportunity to travel in bus coach (for long distances) which stop at local Dhaba or in the Local Trains/ Domestic Airlines/ Rajdhani Express.

Food was nice, though as expected most of them were spicy. The famous Gol Gappe, which is the favourite starter snack for Indians. I could eat it at one go (spicy)!

For shopping, my new best friend Pinky was with me and guided me to Palika Bazaar and the local Sharda Market. It was also a priviledge to be amidst an Indian Family to share life.

On flight way back, got also a nice Friend Anusha, who was very helpful in guiding me about the MRA customs and how to trick the one whiskey bottle per person.

Most importantly, was able to buy a best quality Tabla Instrument in Fibre Trolley. I had to pay excess given its weight, but  it was a nice experience to be able to sit and learn from a Guru who took the time to ensure the production of a good quality Tabla and to invite me to musical programmes and give me tuition.

Got the opportunity to meet Vipul after around 9 years! we had a nice time at Cafe Blues, Connaught place in my last day in India. Brought Mine Appollo for him! lol

I came back Home Sweet Home one week before the training ends but during this brief period, I accomplised most of my missions and met very important people, friends and well-wishers!

Here’s an excerpt:

4,329 films were submitted to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This blog had 27,000 views in 2012. If each view were a film, this blog would power 6 Film Festivals

Click here to see the complete report.

BCS Mauritius – IT Personality Award 2008,

BCS Graduation Ceremony 2009,

BCS Mauritius – IT Personality Award 2010,

BCS Young IT Specialist 2011 Winner

As usual, the Flagship programme of BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT (Mauritius section) was held at The Sofitel Imperial Hotel, Flic en Flac. This year the event was sponsored by Microsoft, the country Manager Mr. Paul Bunting was invited to attend the event last year. The chief guest was The President of the Republic of Mauritius, His Excellency Mr. Rajeshwar Puryag. For the first time, the CEO of British Computer Society, the Professional body for Information and Communication Technologies (ICT),  David Clarke was present in Mauritius.

From Left to Right: Mr. Newraj Burton, Mr. Sergio Arlapen – Chairperson BCS Mauritius, Mr. Paul Bunting, Country Manager – Microsoft, Hon. R. Puryag – President of the Republic of Mauritius, Mr. David Clarke – Chief Executive, BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT

Well around 19:00 the Cocktail started during which I had the opportunity to meet Dr. Teebye Moradhun, the IT Personality Award winner 2011.Well, we both were invited to the Award ceremony in order to congratulate our successors. Concerning the judging criteria, I realised that there is 40 points that judges use to determine the finalists and ultimately the winners. The panel of judges consider the portfolio of project undertaken by a candidate. The participant has to write a success statement. The CEO of BCS highlighted that it is very tough competition as BCS puts emphasis on entries of excellent quality.

To do a recap, the winners of BCS IT Personality Awards are:

2007: Hon. Etienne Sinatambou, former Minister for IT

2008: Mr. Ganesh Ramalingum, Director of DCL.

2009:  Mr. Raheemeea Sheik Mohammad Ally (BAI)

2010: Mr. Avinash Ramtohul, Manager East Africa, Oracle

2011: Dr. Teebaye Moradhun

2012: Mr. Vivek Mathur, VP Technology – Bhumishq Technologies 

The 2012  Medallists are:

Mr. Ramraj Bisessur, Micros Systems & Support Executive – MICROS-FIDELIO

Mr. Ricaud Auckbur, Director e-education & TVET, Ministry of Education & Human Resources

The winners of BCS Young IT Specialist Awards are:

2011: Ashesh Ramjeeawon, Technology Director – eTraks Technologies

2012: Yashnath Issur, Head of Data Centre & Information Security, Emtel

The 2012 Medallists are:

Mr. Ashwin Gungah, Team Leader – TNT Express

Mr. Assadullah Durbarry, Managing Director – ATech Group

From left to right: Mr. Yashnath Issur – Emtel, Mr. Ashwin Gungah – TNT Express, Mr. Assadullah Durbarry – ATech Group

The Speech of Mr. Bunting laid emphasis on the partnership of Microsoft with BCS, which has the motto ‘Enabling the information society’. He talked about the re-imagined products of Microsoft notably Windows 8 which recently hit the Mauritian market and worldwide, Windows Phone 8, Visual Studio 2012, Office 2013 (to be launched soon) and Microsoft Surface. He talked about Cloud Computing enabling businesses to operate more efficiently. Bill Gates had the vision of a Desktop PC at the reach of every persons, now we are living in a new revolutionary era of mobile computing and under the leadership of Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s new vision is:

Last but not the least, Mr. Paul had his speech prepared in a Tablet!

Personally, it was a bit nostalgic for me as I felt like reviving those moments in 2011. Most specially, the interview by MBC: http://asheshr.com/2011/10/22/my-bcs-young-it-specialist-2011-award-speech/. The organisation of the Gala Dinner (Indian style Buffet) was excellent and congratulation to the section members. Looking forward for the Professional Talk by David Clake on Tuesday 6 Nov. on: Will the IT profession be up to the challenge of the 5th wave of computing?

The Aapravasi Ghat Indian Indentured Immigrants Arrival Celebration Committee extended its invitation to attend the Annual Yaj Ceremony to pay tribute to the first Indentured Immigrants who arrived in Mauritius on 2 Nov. 1984. And today I did it duty to respond to the invitation by being present as early as 8.00am at Coolie Ghat, Port Louis.

During my studies in Dip. in Performing Arts at MGI (Centre for Mauritian Studies), I got the opportunity to study the module MST 1221 Mauritian Studies – Overview of History by Historian Mr. J Ng Foong Kwong. Lecture 5 was on Slavery and Abolition  followed by Lecture 6 – Indentured Labour Immigration. One of the assignments I worked in this module held the theme ‘Discuss whether the Practice of Slavery left no trace in the new labour system, Indian Indentureship (l’engagisme) was practiced in Mauritius between 1835 and 1912. An extract of the work that I submitted:

The introduction of Indian Contractual workers during the British Period started between 1820 and early 1830s. Arrival registers of the Indian Immigration Archives (www.mgifolkmuseum.mu) testify that labourers from the Indian Peninsula originated from Bihar, Pondicherry, Madras, Calcutta, Kerala etc. These experimental importations of local planters were an evident means of overcoming acute shortage of labour arising in the colony.

The Proclamation of the Abolition of Slavery was done in 1833. Mauritius was the first British colony to embark on the ‘Great Experiment’ by bringing around 453,000 labourers under the Indenture Agreement. Some main points how this was different from Slavery:

1. A labourer does not surrender his workforce for life. One is employed in return for a salary.

2. The labourer had human dignity, unlike slaves.

3. Recruitment of labourers was done by recruitment agents, unlike slaves who were force to come and work in Mauritius. Then there is the famous story of The british agents telling the Indians that they will discover Gold under the rocks found in Mauritius and they will become rich very soon!

4. Slaves had duties to accomplish to the master and did not had any property rights. Indentured labourers had the right to accumulate capital and send money to their relatives in India. They bought land and morcellement plants.

5. Disapora difference. There was no African diaspora because their human dignity have been deprived. Hence no posisbility of tracing the roots of Africans. For indentured labourers people of Indian Origian can trace the roots of their ancestors

6. African slaves did not have the opportunity to return to their homeland. This is the point of no return to life, facing no natural death. The indians knew their place of origian and oen third of them returned to India.

Today 2 Nov. 2012, I had the opportunity to assist to the Yaj Ceremony performed different ‘Chef Religieux’.

Then there was speech by Mrs. Sarita Boodhoo, Chairman Bhojpuri Speaking Union…

and then an hommage to Mr. Bikramsingh Ramlallah who started the tradition of doing a Yaj each year at Coolie Ghat.

At the time when I was having a look at the 16 Steps,

I had the opportunity to converse with an elderly person who told me ‘My Dada was a Coolie. I was able to re-trace my roots.’

This is the place where the Labourers took a bath after landing on the unknown soil, very far away from their homeland and after a perilous travel from the boat departed in Calcutta.

Luckily for me, this year, I was able to attend the Official ‘Depot de Gerbes’ by the Head of States and the listen to the Speeches.

Then, there was the inauguration of the ‘Reconstruction of the Village in 1866′ done by the Ministry of Arts and Culture. The exhibition is opened for free to the Public for 2 months.

Firstly, you need to complete the Oral Test.  You must buy your ‘Code de la Route’ book in order to answer a set of questions with the following aims:

• Your ability to read and understand traffic signs
• Your knowledge of the rules of the road
• Your Knowledge of traffic signals by Drivers and Police.

Then, you will have the ‘Learner’.

You need to take an appointment for a Practical Driving Test for Motocycle at ‘Casernes’ Port Louis, appointment section. You need to pay Rs. 500 first, then take the payment receipt and queue up to the counter next to take an appointment. Typically, you get test session 3 months from the day you have applied. Finally, you take the receipt with the date inscribed on it and prepare yourself well for the test, which according to the Road Traffic Aim aims to assess your competency to drive your Motor vehicle on:

• Starting off
• Changing up and down of gears
• Turning Right and Left hand corners correctly
• Stopping at various speeds
• Giving of signals while driving
• Making a right hand turn and a left hand turn in reverse gear and back the vehicle into an indicated position
• Turning the vehicle round so as to proceed in the opposite direction
• Stopping, holding and starting the vehicle on a gradient.

The test is in two phase:

1. Serpentine Ride (

2. Road Test

Well, me personally, being a tech-savvy guy, I looked for youtube videos which could help me understand drive through the challenging ‘Serpentine test’:

Then you have to practice this with an experimented Moto Driver guiding you to drive slowly in between water bottles, simulating the real traffic cones:

Checklist:

1. Payment receipt for rendez-vous
2. Your current driving license with the Oral Test passed, of course
3. National ID Card
4. Insurance Cover
5. Motocycle in good condition. The licensing officer will check the different parts of you moto (flasher, brake/front lights, insurance vignette, declaration etc.)
6. ‘L’ – big ones attached one in front and other in back
7. Helmet, of course
8. Two Photo Passports

Tips

• Always put the lights on whilst driving. Failure to do so will result in offense
• Use flasher and hand signals as required during the road test
• Pay careful attention during the road test concerning the ‘famous’ No Entry Trap
• Practice a lot the ‘slow ride’ test

If you put your foot down in the Serpentine Test, you get one change to restart. However if you commit the same mistake, you fail and won’t do the Road test. In this case you have to take another appointment. This test is carried out in the ‘Basketball field’ at Casernes. The longest motocycle is taken first in order to get the distance in between the Traffic Cones.

In the road test, if you fall into the trap (no entry or not giving signals etc.), you fail to get you Motocycle driving license, despite you passed the Serpentine Test. In this case, you have to take another appointment.

IF YOU PASS, the Licensing officer will congratulate you and give you some nice advice about driving Motocycles in the Mauritian Roads:

• be very careful whilst driving on the road
• wear fluorescent jackets whilst driving at night
• If you do not pay declaration/l’assurance and get caught, your Driving license get suspended straight away

Then you will get a Driving Certificate Form whilst you will wait to get the new Driving license, which you will have to fetch at Casernes after around 2 weeks..

Bonne Route and all the best to New Drivers!