Nita has a passion for journalism. She became a journalist when she realized how misrepresented Africa was in the world, how it was only known for bad things and how everyday little miracles that happened on the black continent went unreported. This passion brought her to Mauritius and will take her in one year?s time to India on her next assignment.

Nita Bhalla is Reuters correspondent for the Indian Ocean Region and is based in Mauritius. Born in Scotland of Indian parents, Nita has a dream. Part of it has been realized. The rest is yet to come. And Nita can?t wait. That dream is to give a voice to those who don?t have one. To realize her dream, Nita is going to India, ?because there are so many unanswered questions about this country and also because, having known the Western culture and having lived in Africa for the past 10 years, it?s now time to go and find out about the Indian culture.?

Nita Bhalla has been living in Mauritius for the past year. The adventure began when as a BBC correspondent in Addis Ababa for the BBC World Service, she was contacted by Reuters after they had heard her on the radio, reporting a story. She was offered the possibility of covering Seychelles, the Comoros and Madagascar from Mauritius. She took it.

A happy decision? ? Totally ? I found love (she?s getting married to Mauritian-born Jayesh in August) but, from a professional perspective, it is simply not challenging enough.? In what sense? ?The difficulty of getting access to information is frustrating.? Nita adds that Reuters believes Mauritius is a country that the world wants to know about - for economic reasons mainly. ?But when Reuters and BBC want an interview of the new prime minister of Mauritius because the world wants to know about him and you?ve tried for a whole year to get hold of him in vain, you kind of feel maybe its time to go someplace else.?

One regret is not having been able to make many friends. Why? ?On the surface, the people I have met are nice and welcoming but they don?t have time to socialize. The ones who do, I guess, don?t really know what to make of me ? I look like a Mauritian but I act like a Brit!?

Language is also a problem. ?English, the supposedly official language, is barely used, newspapers and news reporting is almost exclusively in French and if you don?t speak it, you?d better learn it fast!?

The Mauritian adventure ends in March next year. The Indian one begins then. The globe trotter that Nita is, will travel the world, looking for stories, shining her torch of hope in a bid to do what she feels is her duty: keep the world informed.