Mriganka Chakraborty, from the Advance Education Academy

?When I first arrived in Mauritius, I noticed that there were a lot of similarities between India and Mauritius. Indeed, as in India, people like to wear sarees, kurtas and so on. Then they like to listen to Indian music and watch Bollywood movies. In essence, I started thinking this would be applicable for the food as well.

One day, my mother-in law told me that she had brought Gulab Jamun for me. I was as happy as if I was in heaven, because Gulab Jamun is my favorite Indian sweet. When I ate it, I told her that this was not Gulab Jamun, but what we call rossogulla. It was good! But it was not what I expected. After some time I realized that what is called Gulab Jamun in Mauritius is not the same thing as in India at all!

I still remember my first time in Flic-en Flac. On that day, I saw a truck with Kebabs written on it. I was in seventh heaven, because Kebab is one of my favorite dishes. When I bought the so-called kebab, I saw the bread and started thinking ?Hey this is great to have Kebab in bread?. I was so excited, but after my first bite, I realized that there was no Kebab taste into my mouth. When I ate half of the bread, I realized that the so-called Kebab was nothing else than chicken with onion.

There are many other foods which are originally from India but which have a totally different taste in Mauritius. What is called Roti here is another example. Whenever people from India come here and they hear about a dish, they should consider the taste of the food and not take the name for granted. Otherwise they could get unpleasant surprises and be disappointed??