It’s 1976. Maggie is a young Irish girl, who’s moved out from home and is earning a living in London. She goes to a party and comes across this dashing man. They talk for about half an hour. And she loses her heart to him. “It really was incredible. Had he asked me then to marry him, I would have said yes.” reminiscences Maggie. But he didn’t. Instead, he got in touch 12 months later and asked her out. And they lived happily ever after…

The story is a beautiful one and reminds one of fairy tales... In any case, when her then boyfriend (who was a student at the time) told her he came from Mauritius, she did not have a clue what he was talking about. But she did go and look at her world map later. “All I saw was a dot!” That was 28 years ago. Today, of course, Maggie knows everything there is to know about this country her heart chose to call home. She is the Education and Creativity Manager at the British Council.

She first visited the island in 1978. “I will carry this image in my heart till the day I die,” says an emotional Maggie. It was the tiny old airport. She remembers getting off the plane, going through immigration as if in a dream. And then… “ The heat, the blue sky and a sea of people with colourful clothes.” That was the first encounter with the person who was to become Maggie’s best friend-her mother in law. A relationship which grew despite the language barrier. A relationship built on love, respect, affection and understanding.

Maggie strikes one as being intensely human. She is intensely passionate. She will hate me for saying this but I will anyway because it’s beautiful. Every time she talks about Mauritius, about her children, about her work, about people, she gets teary. “Because I just love people,” she smiles.

The Dowlut family has been living in Mauritius for 11 years now. They celebrate every festival that takes place in Mauritius, they speak English at home… and they are happy. Where’s home to Maggie? “Let’s put it this way; if I were to die tomorrow, I would like half of my ashes to be in Blue-Bay and the other half in Ireland.” Does she miss Ireland? “No, because I made a choice when I decided to uproot my family and I have never looked back,” says the woman who absolutely has to eat briani three times a week.

Maggie and her husband will be celebrating their silver wedding anniversary this year and they are as happy as ever. I think she caught the dreamy look in my eyes. “Oh, well, it’s not a perfect marriage, we’ve had our ups and downs. And I shout louder than he does sometimes and I slam doors… but I love him to death.” And who said fairy tales did not exist?