I have walked for years in the streets of Port-Louis and Mahebourg because I have always been interested in the history of Mauritius, studying as an autodidact from books of Auguste Toussaint, Benjamin Moutou, Sydney Selvon, Sookdeo Bissoondoyal, and from press articles of the 70s. I still walk on the paved streets imagining the laying of the stones by slaves. They have left their marks as much as the Incas of Perou, the architects of the pyramids, the mysterious constructors of Stonehenge and the artists of Kajurao. And many more.

Our history is not a mystery, but for many pages, a catalogue of misery. I read the builders of our paved streets were enslaved labourers from Mozambique, Madagascar and parts of West Africa, as well as skilled artisans and stone masons from India, namely from Pondicherry. They cleared the land, cut basal rocks with precision, and laid down the street foundations, manually. Today we are owners of a heritage invaluable and loaded with lessons. The streets were constructed from the sweat and blood of a dominated and exploited generation of our forefathers.

Today when I walked past a building under rehabilitation, the pages of history retained me at the sight of a 40-year-old mason cutting and grinding carefully stones to fit on the ground like a game of puzzles. This artist, he is an artist revealed by the holding of a stone in much the same way the pastry chef would carve out a heart on a cake. So, I felt gratified when Kinsley found time to have a short conversation with me. He hails from the coastal village of Trou-d’Eau-Douce. He was schooled at Sir Pierre Dalais Government Primar y School and had a one-year course in prevocational training in Rose-Belle.

Like in Rome doing like the Romans, Kinsley took to grilling meat on the beach to gain a living until the opportunity appeared for him to embrace the profession of a mason. A large army of workers were required to bring up from the ground quite a big number of hotels in the region. It is during that period that Kinsley moved fast from being a helper to being a full-fledged mason handling bricks, stones and shovels of mixed cement. Soon, Kinsley showed equal skills in laying bricks to accuracy and cutting stones to size for decorative walls, paving, statues, tombstones. There are times when he cuts a ros kari from the basalt with accompanying baba ros our mothers rolled to produce the best masala paste that home can offer.

Kinsley has no appointment card, he has no need; once he has completed a job, a masterpiece at the end, his reputation and aura would grow to a higher degree. He is humble though as he recognizes not being alone in this trade. After all, he has constituted a tandem with Guyano Daby sporting eight years of experience in the field. Their tools are simple: a hammer, a chisel, maybe more in the bag, a trowel and a marker which has replaced the nail or the pencil, and the equerre – a rightangled measuring tool that is essential to give the precise shape of a stone so it fits in the hollow surface.

I can find relief on their faces when one part of the puzzle is obtained easily. As if a heavy burden has been lifted. You see, with self-employed people, it is a race against time. Kinsley says the job is not easy knowing he doesn’t have to convince me. He will return to Grand-Baie, Rivière-Noire or Mahebourg when the demand will come. As an all-rounder in masonry, he will deliver to satisfaction so he can ensure the livelihood of his family.

He has seen rectangularshaped stones, square-shaped ones; and now his materials are multi-shaped often offering a mosaic Kinsley himself had not expected from the laying of the first stone. His job completed, thousands of people from Mauritius and from abroad will walk on the stone-paved road for centuries. For sure his name will be retained in the collective memory unlike for the anonymous builders of primitive times.