<B>david Isaacs </B>

The managing director of Courts (Mauritius) has been a privileged witness of the changes in the country. His company,which recently celebrated its 20th birthday, has played a major role in the evolution of the Mauritian lifestyle. The man remains humble, thanking God and luck for his success, but his capacity for leadership is more than evident.

In 1984, a famous English company bought a plot of land at Brabant Street, in Bell-Village. Grown-ups remember the place as the car showroom known as the Hall Genève? At that time Port-Louis and its surroundings were far from being the urban landscape we know today. In those days Mauritians did not travel very much. For many, the only way to be in touch with the outside world was to watch the only existing TV channel.

A few months later, David Isaacs, a young Britisher aged 34, arrived at Plaisance airport. Though familiar with the Carribean, he had never crossed the oceans eastwards. And nobody knew him. In fact, the only contact he had was the name of an accountant, handwritten on a piece of paper !

However, this new environment did not upset him. He had lived in Jamaica and worked in Santa-Lucia. What mattered was the determination in the man, in whom Courts Ltd. placed their confidence. David Isaacs was to start something completely new in the island : ?Mammouth?!

This first homeware and furniture giant, and its unprecedented credit facilities opened the way for a new shopping style. But why ?Mammouth??. ?It was more appealing to the majority of Mauritians, accustomed to French and Creole.? So la langue de Molière had its role in the lifestyle revolution? But only until recently. The name became Courts (Mtius) at the turn of the millenium.

It?s hard to believe but David Isaacs does not live in a linguistic prison. He is more or less fluent in French. With thatslight accent that French speakers sometimes identify as wit, or elegance. He masters the foreign idiom better than many people he meets do our official English. Yet, Creole seems to be a challenge still, even if ?with the arrival of private radios we hear it much more.?

The 20 years, which saw his hard work open new branches over the island, witnessed a growth in staff from 42 to about 550. But he is not one to boast or to forget his employees:?We are a big family?. Devi, who has been his secretary since the beginning, can testify to that.

These two decades also gave him the opportunity to put down some roots: he met his future wife Françoise. ?By luck. It was at a birthday party?. Luck: this word means something to him.David Isaacs has a positive approach and does not try to teach lessons to others. Revealingly, his social life is very much centered on his wife and his two children.

He is a kind of pragmatic dreamer. But his vision seems more that of an architect than a poet. When one reminds him of Flic-en-Flac, where he spent one rare week of rest before taking hold of his business in 1985, he is more sensitive to the exponential development of the village, typical of the ?well-organized country?, than to the rustic charm that has nearly vanished. ?There is always nostalgia?, he concedes. But when a person chooses to believe in luck, he has to look forward?

<B>Jake Nicholson</B>