<B>By Alain JEANNOT</B>

Man has always had a great fascination for stars. In distant times, though, these heavenly bodies occupied an unavoidable space in his life. They were believed to control his destiny from the universe. So great was their influence that we are still living to the rhythm of stars. Were Mondays, Saturdays and Sundays not once dedicated to the Moon, Saturn and the Sun respectively?

We now know that our life is what we make of it. Prosperity in society does not depend on celestial bodies but on our capacity to satisfy our basic needs and the ability to conjugate our lives to the tune of such values as solidarity, equity, love, friendship and generosity.

Yet, we are still numerous to follow our horoscope in the hope that the positioning of our stars in space will bring us luck. This, in my humble opinion is an injury to the liberty we have won over many a celestial body. Just imagine how disastrous life would be if it were to depend on the whims of heavenly bodies?

Why then do so many of us still nurture this unfounded belief in astrology, going as far as taking advice about significant aspects of our lives. Strengthened by such trust, some astrologers allow themselves to influence people?s lives upon the mere basis of their date and time of birth during high audience radio programmes! People?s irrationality does not limit itself to astrology; it is present in other realms of life. For instance, growing individualism misleads us into considering ourselves as self-sufficient stars in the galaxy of humanity.

We are so used to bad news that we have become immune to the plight of our fellow human beings. It seems that, unless some of us feature in the real-life horror films they come across in the media everyday, they might fail to realise that there are some major problems threatening our social fabric. These issues need to be addressed by all of us should we not want a big bang sort of disaster to hit our society. Only short-minded individuals would forget the regrettable unrest of 1999.

Likewise, it would be hazardous to consider the tragedy of that young teenager who is suspected to have knifed her new-born to death before dumping her in a bag as just another shocking piece of news. This tragedy might well be among others, indicative of a lack of sexual education be it in families, at school, in the media or in society!

Violence seems to be having the upper hand in society. It takes as little as an argument about a bed for a son to stab his father and a jilted ex-boyfriend considers that slitting her beloved?s throat will mend his broken heart! Drug addiction and prostitution are suspected to be spreading deadly aids even in schools while by-products such as robbery and crime deeply affect a growing number of unfortunate victims everyday.

What shall we then do in front of the dangers threatening the star and key of the Indian Ocean? First, we must accept that we have problems in our society and that, even if those problems are not affecting us today, we might well draw the wrong lottery number tomorrow. We must then do our best to promote good values and behaviour in society. Besides, it is our duty as responsible citizens to inform authorities about problems and propose constructive solutions, which need of course be considered for actions deemed necessary by equally responsible institutions.

Life in society is not a question of destiny guided by stars but more one of shared responsibility. Let?s take it before adversity overwhelms our star (as suggested by dis-astrum, the Latin etymology for disaster).