Entering the realm of local politics, considered as the prerogative of a few in the 1920s, could not have appeared even in the wildest of dreams of young Seewoosagur Ramgoolam. At the most, he could aspire for a white collar job in the Civil service, the mark of respectability in society. That was not easy as well. With his Cambridge ?Senior- Full certificates? obtained on 25 March 1920, which was indeed no mean achievement for a young man of Indian origin living in the far-flung tiny village of Belle Rive, Ramgoolam applied for a job in the government service. In a letter dated 7 April 1920 addressed to the Colonial Secretary, he requested the latter ?to be kind enough to register my name as a candidate for admission in the Civil service?. That letter was promptly acknowledged, in the true British tradition, for the Colonial Secretary?s office wrote to ?Mr Ramgoolam? on 12 April 1920 informing him that ?your name has been noted and will be considered with those of other candidates on the occurrence of a suitable vacancy.? Tired of waiting for too long, Ramgoolam wrote on 1 February 1921 from Belle-Rive to the Colonial Secretary, this time, ?to have the kindness to return back my testimonials which I sent last year with my application for employment in the Civil service because I will be in need of them next week.? What happened in 1921 was that Ramgoolam found out that he had a far better chance of securing a medical seat at University College in London than being offered a job in Mauritius, the country, decades later he would lead to independence and become its first PM. It was London, not Mauritius that would open the window of opportunities for Ramgoolam?s self development and shape up his thinking. His political ?apprenticeship? in a way began there.

Ramgoolam?s years in England not only enabled him to complete his medical studies despite the unexpected odds, but also served as his formative period when he got his first brush with politics by his involvement in the activities of the London branch of the Indian National Congress which was making the independence of India the index of its militancy. As well as his interest in politics, the literary side also impressed him a lot. T.S Eliot, H G Wells, Arnold Bennett and other literary figures were to leave a lasting mark on him and nurtured his desire for writing so much so that at one point, as Dr K Hazareesing pointed out, he was about to abandon his medical studies and take up a writing career.

But it was British politics or rather the new socialist agenda much in vogue in the 1920s that held Ramgoolam?s attention most. Gone were those days when in Mauritius, Ramgoolam discussed politics with contemporary school friends. That was the time when the oligarch, Sir Henri Leclézio, strode the local political firmament like a colossus. Ramgoolam?s interest in politics was stimulated by Rattan, the barber who harboured a great passion for politics. Rattan ran a ?hair-dressing saloon? not far from Curepipe Railway station. It was at Rattan?s ?saloon? that discussions with elite customers on political and social issues (like the retrocession campaign) used to take place. Ramgoolam who usually paid visits to Rattan enjoyed listening to the barber?s talks and it is said that it was in this barber?s shop that he picked up the rudiments of politics.

Things were, however, poles apart in London. There, a new breed of intellectuals like Harold Laski, John Wheatley, James Maxton and George Lansbury were advocating a new template for socialism (?Socialism in Our Time?). These people had the sense of being in tune with time and the inroads made by the Labour party at the general election of 1922 in which the Liberals came out badly bruised at the expense of Labour reflected the appeal surrounding the new concept of socialism.

If Renganaden Seeneevassen known for his socialist penchant came under the spell of another socialist guru and thinker, Harold Laski, during his student days at the London School of Economics, Ramgoolam who, it is said, was rubbing shoulders with members of the Fabian society found in Jimmy Maxton and George Lansbury two of his political champions who were in a sort his role models. As the New Commonwealth magazine revealed in an article way back in December 1961, ?Ramgoolam took a keen interest in politics and under the influence of George Lansbury and Jimmy Maxton, developed a fervour for British socialism which was to become a dominant creed of his life.?

Who were Maxton and Lansbury? In a way, there were revolutionaries in their own right, trying to set a new definition of British socialism which they argued was to be peppered with a Leninist flavour. Maxton?s proposed brand of socialism was quite distinct from what was then being preached. He took socialism as Gordon Brown puts it ?to the point of social intransigence.? He made issues of unemployment, poverty, slums and education of the poor his battle cry for reform. His radical views and tough stands at times put him at loggerheads with many of his colleagues in the Labour party, including Ramsay MacDonald, his leader who found himself quite often at the receiving end of his bitter criticism. Maxton walked away from the Labour party and chose the Independent Labour party as a new platform to pursue his activities. When in 1922, the Conservative government decided to stop giving free milk to schoolchildren ?in order to save some money?, Maxton rose up against that measure in Parliament, going to the extent of taxing Churchill as a ?murderer.? When the Speaker asked him to withdraw the word ?murderer?, Maxton refused, requesting the Speaker instead to ?supply me with a word that described his (Churchill?s) action, other than that of murder?.

Known as a pacifist for his virulent campaign against World War 1, for which he courted imprisonment, Maxton achieved prominence as an outstanding speaker and as Gordon Brown points out, he was sure after a fire lashing speech to attract a number of converts to his cause. His sharp criticism of Churchill in no way prevented Churchill from conceding that ?Maxton was the greatest Parliamentarian of his day?.

Two of Maxton?s admirers were to become Prime Ministers of their respective countries. One was Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam for Mauritius and the other, the current Prime Minister of Britain, Gordon Brown who has written that ?Maxton fascinated me since I was a teenager.? That fascination was so immense that Gordon Brown could not but write a three hundred page biography of Maxton in 1986. This biography gives an insight into the evolution of British political history of the first quarter of the last century.

George Lansbury too was another champion of socialism in the Maxton?s style and regarded as one of the most popular leaders of British politics. He fought for women?s suffrage and like Maxton opposed the War. His opposition to the War led him to meet Hitler and Mussolini. Lansbury mounted an aggressive campaign against the imposition of taxes on the poor and unemployed and in the process was jailed at Brixton prison in London. He became Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour party in 1926 and Leader of the Labour party in 1932. With Labour torn between two factions on foreign affairs, Lansbury thought it better to step down from the party?s leadership in 1935 in favour of his deputy, Clement Atlee. Dr K Hazareesing would write that ?Lansbury took a personal liking to young Ramgoolam and introduced him to prominent figures in the field of art, letters and politics.? Ramgoolam was inspired by Lansbury when he founded the newspaper Advance in 1940 to ventilate his political views and that of the Mauritius Labour party later, for Lansbury himself was in 1912 the co-founder and editor of the Daily Herald which was to become the official organ of the British Labour party.

So Ramgoolam?s long years spent in London were not time wasted. The stay there was a fruitful learning period and an education by itself. Hobnobbing great socialist leaders enabled him to acquire a good grounding in politics. Ramgoolam came back home in 1935 qualified as a medical doctor. When he set foot in Port Louis harbour, it seemed, he was already steeped in the Marxian wisdom. In his baggage, he brought a copy of the much shunned Das Kapital, a prophetic sign that sooner or later, a new star would emerge on the stage of Mauritian politics.

<B>By Anand MOHEEPUTH</B>