Endearing Ebène… city yet to be cyber!

Recently, our office moved to Ebène; for a Northerner who ferociously resisted the move from the capital city, I surprised myself adoring our new abode. There was every single reason to move to the cyber city but it was plain resistance to change. The drive from the North along the Verdun route is so smooth that I could doze off at 110 km per hour. I also learnt to manoeuvre the sinuous and oft dangerous road diversions with dexterity unbeknownst to me… but awake though. Even the traffic out of Ebène after business hours did not s쳮d in tampering my enthusiasm; every single day, I cruise through the chaos whilst finding creative ways to get home early resulting in boosting my list of very interesting vulgar words in curious sign languages from fellow drivers on the road.

Anyhow, the point I am trying to make is that even if hardly anything works at one go and from the beginning in our beloved island, it is a deeply endearing place where one cannot but help feeling attached to our many flaws and tribulations. And interestingly, that allows us to adapt to tricky situations and find solutions.

Let’s delve deeper into the cyber city. Mauritians are always proud and gloat about the high-rise, modern buildings that have decorated the skyline of our once sugarcane laden island. From the queer egg-shaped MCB quarters to the impressive skyscrapers, one can only admire the architectural prowess and the ingenuity of those who believed that this country had to find other means of subsistence and not rely solely on tourism and cane. All said and done, whoever designed it forgot parking! Have you ever tried finding parking space at any time of the day in Ebène? Whoever did, must possess the gift of the gab as one needs to have great convincing powers with security officers of the few legal and jam packed parking spaces. They are probably the most powerful people in town and they know it. My smile does not suffice anymore. So, I resorted parking on the many double yellow lines which ornate the roads of Ebène and which curiously has not got me any parking tickets so far.

Also if you manage not to kill anyone during lunchtime, I bow very low to you as food hawkers are a serious danger to any sensible person trying to drive sensibly and stay alive. I found myself being copiously insulted by the driver in a van selling food to hordes of people. It was on double parking on a double yellow line. All this because I dared to hoot as I was stuck behind him and was waiting for 5 long minutes to get back to work after lunch. And to my point that he was infringing the law, he told me that he did not reap Rs 19 M like some and that he is trying to make a decent li-ving here… He had a point but hey I need to get to work or else I could lose all chances to make any living.

And the infamous ‘autopont’ is something I would love to comprehend. The police have devised a way to decongest the traffic in the mor-
ning. I realized how dangerous it was if you did not figure out the frantic hand movements of policemen as they stop the traffic to Port Louis on the motorway to allow cars from the opposite side to pass! And didn’t anyone make a simple mathematical calculation to see that the number of people that would work in this city would require a dual carriageway instead of a single one to get out of the mess in the afternoon and in the morning? Clearly no one thought of it…

Going back to the buildings, some did not realize the full need for rapid lifts. In some of these high-rise buildings, the people take to the stairs not because they have an urge for healthy living but rather because there are not enough lifts for them. I can’t help but wonder how productivity is affected by such long queues. In one particular building, there are two lifts reserved for a call centre. So the rest of the common men wait for the only lift available. The brave-hearted take the stairs; those with heels like me, start off earlier or end up late in meetings.

Having said all this, some things are sheer pleasure and are thoroughly enjoyed. High speed Internet is one of them and is a luxury whichEbène can pride itself of. When clients compliment us of our response time, we have to be honest; it’s fibre optic basically. Our superheroes at work always responded on time… The emails just took more time from Port Louis to reach them. Hopefully gone are the days when we had to ask colleagues to work from home as Internet was often more rapid there. Additionally, there is a vibe in Ebène which makes the place hip and trendy. Besides hawkers’ food, there are good places to eat and hang around. From sushi to fine cuisine passing through signature baguettes, the Ebène chefs will tease your taste buds. And if the stress gets way too heavy, the gyms with their personal coaches and spas will help you vent out. Lucky are those who sweat it out in those muscle-building factories whilst others rattle their brains at work. Or even cooler are those who can take a breather and indulge in massages during business hours. And on Fridays, the party owls come out and suddenly a vibrant generation of trendy, young things come alive. This endearing city has a lot to offer and many have wild hopes and dreams that one day it will turn cyber.