<B>Weena DESAI</B>

She wanted to do research in edible mushrooms, but could not find a job for that in Mauritius. Energetic and committed, Malaysian-born Weena Desai found her luck as manager of a printing company.

Artwork, layouts, design, paper quality or even school magazines: printing has no secrets for her. It is not surprising, for she never does things by halves. When one meets Malaysian-born Weena Desai, the manager of Cosmoprint Ltd in Beau-Bassin, one is welcomed by an energetic and meticulous lady, seeking to fulfill at her best her customers’ needs. “You have to be flexible to be trusted.”

And this is not just a commercial motto. If someone knows how to adapt to a given situation, it should really be Weena. Her sad experience of professionnal reconversion hopefully had a happy end. Her studies had originally drawn her closer to Berkeley, the great English botanist, than to Gutenberg, the inventor of printing. “At Ferguson College in India, I had the choice between botany, chemistry and zoology. Being a vegetarian, I was not very interested in animal dissection. And I always loved plants. The choice of botany was logical then.”

Weena was one of the first to graduate with a PhD at the University of Mauritius (UoM), where she came to study mycology (mushroom science) in 1982. “My thesis was about a new edible mushroom from Mauritius. Even today scholars refer to it.”

Yet Weena did not find any professionnal outlet at the UoM. It was a great disappointment. “I had no backing. I realized that research was not valued.” Weena is bitter when she recalls that. “ I prefer to think of my son, who is faring better with studies in astronomy at Berkeley University in California. Though I consider myself Mauritian, I feel I have not been given my due.”

But she did not give up. With her husband Bashker, whom she had met during her studies in India, she tried her luck with a printing company. It was in 1994. That choice proved successful. “When we started, we had to use our own home premises. Now our needs are still growing in terms of space.” Her scientific background helped. “ When I make pamphlets for health products, I can verify any problem of mispelling, which is crucial when we deal with medical directions.”

Weena had always had some hidden talents. Painting is a hobby she had practised since her childhood. Though English is her first language, she is also fluent in French, “a language I learnt at Pune’s Alliance française, near Mumbai”. Experiencing a multicultural society did not upset her, as her native country is also cosmopolitan.

Yet she was a little shocked when she arrived in 1982. “Mauritius looked like a small village in comparison with Malaysia, which was far more advanced. I saw this country grow.” But not as much as it could. Even if we consider that Malaysia has ressources, like oil or gold, Mauritius suffers from “lack of discipline and commitment.” The expression “tiger of the Indian ocean” about Mauritius makes her smile. “They spoke of a small Singapore, but only there you see a political leader jail a close relative after a scandal. Politicians should be honest.”