<B>A long way from Poona to the islands</B>

Born in the west of India and married to a Mauritian for the past 24 years, Rasika was first an IT teacher and has now moved on to teaching psychology.

Her smiles show her friendliness, the way she talks shows her interests and her eyes indicate a curious mind. Rasika Khadun is fond of nature walks and hiking. Her husband Ashok works as conservation manager for islands at the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation. Hence, Rasika makes the most of it as her husband?s work sometimes becomes a family outing and he takes his family to special places to identify rare plants or even find out more about conservation. Moreover, Rasika is a voracious reader who can read two books at the same time. Most of her reading is science-fiction and feminist books.

Rasika was born some 44 years ago in a town called Poona, in the west of India. Her father was an engineer in the army while her mother was a housewife. She had two brothers and one sister. She got married in 1985 and decided to accompany her husband as he had to come back. They spent just one year in Mauritius before flying to the Seychelles. This is where their two daughters ? Anushka, 20 years, and Ankita, 15 years ? were born. Rasika worked for 10 years with the ministry of Education there.

?When I first came to Mauritius I was not working. So I had time to look around a bit to know more about the island. Hence, I was able to see that it was not like India at all. When I first met my husband, he used to talk a lot about Mauritius and was telling me that India was like Mauritius. For me, it was only the way of dressing of people that was similar. But the way of life of people was completely different.?

In 1995, Rasika moved back to Mauritius and in the same year she started working as an IT teacher. From there, she has moved on to teach psychology as part of theTheory of Knowledge course in the International Baccalauréat. At the same time, she was the curriculum coordinator at Le Bocage International School. Now she is the International Baccalaureate coordinator. This involves registering the pupils for the exam and being in continuous communication with the International Baccalaureate organization, the teachers, the parents and the students. She enjoys this position and finds the job challenging.

Outside her work environment, Rasika has witnessed changes in Mauritius. She firmly believes that the country has improved in many aspects such as recreational activities, transport facilities and shopping centres.

?When I came back here, Mauritius had changed drastically. I realized that Mauritius was more culturally rich than the Seychelles. The social side was not the same any more and the physical side was getting more and more amazing. When I talk about the social side, I mean I got to know more people. Therefore my circle of friends was increasing. I even got the opportunity to know more about Mauritian food. This is when I really started appreciating Mauritian life??

Today Rasika still enjoys her life here. She sees the island as a paradise especially because of its beaches. However, she still does not know whether she will move to another country again or will stay here. Yet, she is sure about one thing: life is wonderful in Mauritius.