Masha Allah! So many people come to watch and listen to this stuttering old hukkawati rambling on. Shukran, shukran bezaf. May Allah give me the vigour and energy plus the wit to make my tale vibrate and resonate for such an enlightened audience as your good selves. Before I start…

(Or What’s wrong with democracy) No one denies that almost half of the people who voted in that election did choose Trump. That a great many millions of Pakistanis welcomed the resurgence of the kleptocratic Sharifs when Imran Khan was ousted. The outrageous Modi won the count hands down. The…

Some years ago, I met a BBC (Scotland) radio producer, and discussed a Proust project. She wanted to appropriate the fifteen-minute intervals available at live music concerts and use them for short dramatised excerpts from well-known classics, giving the audience a feel of what the work is all about. Proust…

The Pumpkin In those days the average price of pumpkin in the Port-Louis market cost between 20 and 30 cents a pound. It grew prolifically but had few takers. It was referred to as “manger fou”, allegedly because that was what the inmates of the lunatic asylum in Beau Bassin…

Thank you, thank you most heartily, good friends, and Allah’s blessings upon you and your loved ones on this Sainted Friday morning. Greetings and good wishes to you all. It gladdens my aged heart, week in and week out, when I see you turn up in such huge numbers under…

You’ve probably heard the story of Neil Armstrong and Mrs Gorsky. …

How to write flash fiction Esprit de l’escalier* I know today’s the day. I thought I’d have another two years, but the train has slowed down, a sure sign that the terminal station is at hand. …

A poem by Louise Ackermann Louise-Victorine Ackermann (née Choquet)was born in Paris in 1813. She was encouraged by her father to educate herself, and was an avid reader of the English and German poets, Shakespeare, Byron, Goethe, Schiller, on top of French favourites like Hugo, de Musset and Alfred de…

(In 2011, Anders Brevik, a fanatical far-right fanatic murdered dozens of peaceful young people camping on the island of Utøya.) Anders Breivik Was he a monster, an ogre or a psychotic Or was he just insane, very mentally sick Born with bad genes, receiving orders from the voice Kill, kill, kill, spill…