?I spent my last years (Standards IV to VI) in Notre Dame du Bon Secours primary school at Edith Cavell Street in Port-Louis. I remember very well it was in 1960, the year of the cyclone Carol. I had a teacher called Mr. Joseph. His pedagogy was quite rigid. He was strict and severe and would not hesitate to use his stick. We were rather respectful to wards him. Deep inside, we knew he was acting for our good. Therefore, we acknowledged the fact; there was no magic to avoid punishment and the only thing was to work consistently.

Then, I moved to Royal College of Port-Louis (known as La School in those days). I realize that I was very lucky to have brilliant teachers like Mr. Rosalie, Abu Kasenally, and Jean-Baptiste Mootoosamy. The latter was my French teacher. His passion for French language and literature could be felt, because he knew all the books so well. He had just finished his studies and was about 21 years old. Nevertheless, despite his youth, he was a very knowledgeable lad. As far as I remember, he was also writing interesting critical articles in ?l?express?.

I also had a great English literature teacher called Gaëtan Beaupré. He was so clever, and had been a laureate. He had just come back from higher studies in Oxford. He was impressive for various reasons, mainly because he was so kind that I easily developed a friendly relationship with him. I was full of admiration for him, so much so that after my studies I hesitated between a career in law or one in teaching. He was so good that he could easily show the meaning of a text with one single sentence. When we were studying the play

?A Merchant of Venice? by Shakespeare, he said: ?When Shakespeare wrote this book, anti-Semitism was in fashion?, illustrating the fact that at that time anti-Semitism was the order of the day.

I realize that Gaëtan Beaupré inculcated the love for English literature in me and I am grateful to him. He aroused a passion within me for poets (the Romantics) like: Wordsworth, Shelley, Blake and many others. Coming back to Wordsworth, I remember that once, we were studying ?The Prelude?. Gaëtan Beaupré talked about the French revolution and he was so illustrative in his explanations that he made us live the story. Thanks to him, for the first time, I came across republican ideals like justice, liberty and equality. I remember he quoted a line: ?Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive. But to be young was very heaven.? 40 years must have passed, but such sentences are still fresh in my mind. Coincidently, I could contextualize such ideas in the Mauritian framework as it was in 1969, just after independence. We were then hearing about the great theoreticians. Actually, my generation was full of new ideas. I was part of quite a rebel group with Jean-Claude Bibi, Noël Lee Chong Lem, just to name some. I also got to know Paul Bérenger through those two while I was still at Royal College. He was teaching in a school not very far from our college.

To conclude about Gaëtan Beaupré, I must say that he was surely my best teacher. He was very pleasant and loveable as, unlike other teachers, he would hardly be angry or punish a student. But I must pay tribute to all my former teachers as they have all contributed to helping me become the man I am. Besides this, I would like to pay tribute to my parents, who worked hard and made sacrifices to give me such a great educational experience, despite all their financial problems. More importantly, it is thanks to them that I came across the great teachers I had.?