He has spent the past few years working with the rich and famous. Tired of the shallow life, Bernard decided he wanted to get to the core of things and see how people lived. He has seen. And he doesn?t quite know how he feels about it?

Bernard Moor-Jankowski was happy working as an associate producer for MTV?s rival, Fuse TV, in New York City? until he got tired of listening to stars or wannabe stars whinging about their shallow lives or boasting about their ?great? lives. So, he decided he needed some time off to think about his future as a television producer. His sister was busy teaching English in some faraway place called Mauritius and the thought occurred to him that maybe he should go visit for a week or so. But he didn?t know anything about the place and so he wasn?t too sure about that project.

So off Bernard went to Poland to make a documentary on his father?s wartime experiences to help him trace his steps back through the war.(Bernard?s dad is Polish and his mum?s Swiss - he himself is a first-generation American.) After revisiting his father?s past with his camera as testimony, Bernard goes on to visit his mother?s family in Switzerland. There, he realises that the ?Mauritius? that his sister kept talking about was in fact what was always known to him as? Ile Maurice!

A tired Bernard still needed time to think about his career and ?I thought beaches and hotels? What better place to relax and take stock? I?m off!? And so, he packed his bags again and because his sister Sarah had asked him to bring his camera, he obliged, not thinking anything of it.

Little did our Bernard know! Sarah and her friends jumped on him the minute he set foot in Ile Maurice! ?Let?s make a movie!?? the rest is history? No, that?s not exactly what happened. Bernard?s friends were actually planning to write a book about Mauritius until they realised that the story would be better told in visuals. Bernard readily accepted.

Three months later, he has no regrets.?I?m glad I?ve seen the other side of the postcard.? What does he mean? Picture Bernard?s description. ?I went to the races on Sunday because my cousin was riding. I thought time had stopped and that I had gone back to post-colonialism development. In private boxes, there were all those wealthy people lazily sipping their champagne and, just below, you could see those regular people behind barbed wire, squashed against each other and staring at the people with the money. What was weird was that, whenever one of them would come out of the private box, the crowd made up of regular people would part and allow that person to pass. The people would stare but the wealthy person seemed totally oblivious to their presence.?

This is what has struck Bernard most about Mauritius. ?I spent a few days with this lady and her daughter, who lived in a tiny house in Bambous, and they didn?t have any money. On day, she had to go to the dump to look for food to feed her daughter. And, yet on the other side, you see money, money, money??

What would Bernard say to people who told him they wanted to go visit Mauritius? ?I?d tell them to make sure they see the whole picture??