Indian students can hardly be distinguished from Mauritian ones. It must be a sign that the former have adapted quite well to their new lifestyle since they have made the decision to follow their tertiary education in Mauritius. Yesterday, the 500 or so students of SSR Medical College in Belle-Rive left their books and white blouses to celebrate the eight annual day of their school. More than half of them are not Mauritians but they obviously enjoy life here until they go back to their homeland for their internship after five years of studies in Belle-Rive.

Since it opened its doors in 1999, SSR Medical College has wanted to be a place where both local and foreign students ? mainly from India but also from South Africa, Malaysia and other countries ? could study to become medical practitioners. Under the chairmanship of Rudra Pratap Narain Singh, the school has already trained 94 Mauritians and about 100 foreign doctors. During the official part of the ceremony, the high commissioner of India, Shri B. Jaishankar, pointed at the importance of the partnership between India and Mauritius.

<B>Seats limited to a thousand</B>

The main reason for such a high number of Indian students on the Mauritian premises is the high level of competition in their country for training as doctors. Seats are limited to around a thousand for the 10 million that apply for the courses. Mirza Shohiab-Ur-Riyaz is among those who suffered from the competition in India. ?I did not get any college there two years ago when I wanted to start my studies and I had this opportunity to get admission in Mauritius. I couldn?t afford to lose one or two more years so I went for it.?

Esha Jamal is among those who ?got admitted in an Indian college but it was not such a good one. So I heard about SSR Medical College in Mauritius, which was said to be very good with an excellent staff so I came here.? Obviously, the college has a good reputation in India, as Mirza Shohiab-Ur-Riyaz also pointed at this ?well-managed college providing good studies?.

One of the reasons that brought Karthik Bhandaru in Belle-Rive is also its chairman who is a ?well-known figure in India?. But it also has to do with the ?good standard of education and the way of educating, which is the same as in India. We knew we would not have any difficulty to practise in our home country after our studies.?

The latest results of all those who went for the compulsory screening test in India before being able to practise there only confirmed their first impression. Rudra Pratap Narain Singh is obviously very proud of the ?100% success rate former pupils of SSR Medical College have obtained for this test?.

However, the academic side was not the sole factor that led them to come to Mauritius to pursue their studies. Although it is true that it costs much less than if they had decided to go to Europe or the United States, Karthik Bhandaru explains: ?The costs did not account for that much when they took their decision.? In fact, he thought, like many of his friends, that ?Mauritius would be more convenient for us because there are a lot of Indians here. We do not feel at a loss because it is not so different here. Even if we don?t speak Creole, a lot of people speak English or even Hindi so we do not have much difficulty.?

<B>Learn a lot from each other</B>

Esha now ?feels like home?. Even though she admits it was hard to adapt to her new life at the very beginning, the ?warmth of people and the beauty of the country have helped me a lot feel well?. All of them now have many Mauritian friends. As the two local students, Munir Ahmed and Lonishka Ujoodha, pointed out, ?we mingle a lot with one another and learn much from each other?.

During the official ceremony, the minister of Health, Satish Faugoo, insisted: ?SSR Medical College will remain a historical milestone in paving the way in this direction. After nine years of its existence, the SSR Medical College has proved to be a successful medical training institution in producing medical graduates for both Mauritius and overseas, something which could not even be thought of in a not too distant past.?