This week, I bid farewell to my primary school teacher, the late Mrs. Kiran Ratacharen. I had the good fortune to have her as a teacher at Villiers Rene Govt School in Port Louis. Attending the last rites for her, I was inspired to reflect upon the notions of karma and dharma for our own journeys...

Where to start? Suffice it to say that Mrs. Ratacharen was one of the persons who have had the most profound influence on my life trajectory. What is truly remarkable is that she went well over and above the call of duty. One anecdote instantly jumps to mind: one morning, after a cyclone’s passage in 1978, while I was sitting on steps outside my parents’ home, quietly savouring a ripe “maison rouge” mango, out of the blue, Mrs. Ratacharen appeared outside the gate. She looked quite agitated. Why? Because at LCPL where the Alliance Francaise exams were being held, I was nowhere to be found… So she somehow got a classmate who knew where I lived, found a taxi somewhere, and came to fetch me. I did well enough on that exam to earn a full scholarship to Lycee Labourdonnais but did not go there; instead I considered CSE but ended up at RCPL - but that’s another story...

Why was she even at LCPL while students were taking exams? Then why did she bother to spend her own efforts, time and money to come and look for me? A higher sense of duty perhaps? As we say here, “Professer res professer, zelev vin lorea…” but if we think about it, without good teachers, the best raw talent could be wasted. So I am eternally grateful for that little push; from her and from the universe. One little nudge can be magical enough to ease someone into a virtuous circle; this took me to new adventures at Yale, then Wharton; thereby opening the pioneering door and paving the way to countless generations of Mauritian students who have benefitted from needs-blind admission and/or financial aid at Harvard, Princeton and all of the Ivies, Berkeley, Stanford, MIT, Caltech, etc. Maybe this constitutes Mrs. Ratacharen’s most endearing legacy.

We need more good teachers here in Mauritius - all around the world in fact - maybe even more in the age of AI. Ok teachers show us how to read and write, count maybe; good teachers know how to inculcate discipline, grit and resilience, hopefully curiosity. If we are lucky, great teachers not only shape our hearts, mindsets and outlooks, but also inspire us to be kind and nice; and - if possible - to be of service to the community. Here, please allow me to share a life lesson from those formative years: “Mieux vaut avoir un torticolis à force de viser haut et de finir bossu à force de viser bas.”

This quest for excellence is one of the few things that I still remember clearly from childhood and has in fact become a leitmotif my whole life. I guarantee lots of neck strains but really could it be any other way? What else did Mrs. Ratacharen do? Simply - and probably the most important - aspect that we often tend to miss: she made us kids, felt seen, appreciated, and loved. Our class may have been competitive but we also cared for each other - until today I believe! - and this is simply priceless. Seen from this perspective, teachers are essential to inspire us citizens to flourish as a society. Therefore we need to do our best to highlight their accomplishments everyday.

Around 10 years ago, while I was building a startup app called GoodRipple in Silicon Valley with my friend Rama, one of the challenges that we came up with was: “Write a hand-written note to your favourite teacher.” This lingered in my mind as some kind of unfinished business… So much so that when I came back to Mauritius, I did my best to look for Mrs. Ratacharen. And find her? I did, after 40 long years! Sipping a coffee at Bagatelle, she seemed so happy to reconnect. Same warmth, same voice; maybe less energy but same enthusiasm!

I must admit that maybe her recollection of memories seemed a tad bit less reliable but her eyes still sparkled when I shared with her some of my academic experiences, as well as my lifelong obsession with education as a vector of social mobility. In turn, she related the achievements of her children, of whom she was so proud. Finally, I was just happy I could thank her in person for a little miracle: coming out first in Mauritius in “La Petite Bourse” from the Standard VI class: a feat that apparently had never been accomplished before, probably because Junior Scholarship students were up to two years older. If somehow I had not been able to convey sufficient gratitude when I was just ten years old, at least as an adult, I hope I could express myself better: it was fantastic and we did it!

In the end, all we leave behind us are stories. So we owe it to ourselves to craft moments of beauty. At the funeral, I met her nieces and nephew - whom I had known for around 35 years - but I would never have guessed that they were related or even close family. Also, I must have driven along Ollier Road hundreds of times in both directions without knowing she lived right on it. So we never had coffee again even after she had invited me. The most important lesson here though is to thank those who deserve it before it is too late. Please take a moment now and write a letter to your favourite teachers, or maybe just call or message… Thank you again Mrs. Ratacharen for everything and keep an eye on us from up there. Thank you also Mrs. Kistnasamy and Miss. Mary, whom I fondly remember from earlier classes.

My condolences to the whole family!

Wilson LI

email: [email protected]

(Std VI pupil at Villiers Rene Class of 1978)