Even before I completed my question as to the purpose of my visit, Yon Veeren said, “Enn metie ki pe al perdi.” He had pre-empted my intention. Yon occupies a workshop inside a corridor like several others along the main road in Central Flacq, opposite the District Court. The corridor, not on the same scale though, would remind one of a souk with sundry items on sale including dholl puris and raw fruits.

Yon is a technician. After his primary schooling, he learnt his trade from Mr. Raj Soyjodha, his teacher, trainer and tutor who left him to paddle his own canoe at some time of his career. He has been serving the people of Flacq and around for the past 40 years. They have a variety of household items that have given them trouble after a satisfactory period of usage. Still because these items, namely irons, rice cookers and transistors, can be given a ‘certificate of fitness’ until spare parts are no more available or the owners decide to go modern and sophisticated. Yon is a doctor in the figurative sense of the word, standing as a family advisor guiding the client in terms of durability, worthiness and intelligent spending, which is in fact an investment for well-being.

I have seen Yon at work. Around his table and on shelves are small radio sets, radio-cassettes of the 70s, inside back cover of TV sets laid bare. The green wires or brown ones connecting dots have to be replaced and the layman would be confused on the ‘itinerary’ of one wire from its point of origin to its destined point of fixture. Seeing my confusion, Yon reassures me, shyly, that he would recognize the wires anywhere having learnt from scrap not in books but difil dan lame, meaning practically. He applies his magnifying glass to discover the culprit and applies his tweezers in a mood of accuracy never faltered. Otherwise, he would be blamed and the trust on him would evaporate.

Yon says regretfully that his metie will be history in some years as he hasn’t found a youngster of both genders showing interest in the job he does. Also, more and more people show preference to new appliances and gadgets. Yet, you can give life to a host of items from recycling and reusing resources at hand. Advocacy along this latter principle appears to be ephemeral or never heard in some places, Yon observes.

In the workshop without a name, which it does not need because it’s the one and only of its kind, there is a cathedral-like silence. The shop closes on Wednesdays and Saturdays, which are dedicated to a conscious spiritual journey. In the meantime, the sound of silence inside the workshop is still not polluted by mixed volumes of horns from the main road.

Sadly, enn metie ki pe al perdi.