THE air is thick with incense and humidity as a parade of young men march past cheeks, lips, stomachs and chests skewered with hooks and barbs. On their shoulders, they balance massive shrines decked with flowers and palm fronds, their faces masks of intense concentration. It is the spectacle of Thaipoosam Cavadee, an annual Tamil festival worshipping the Son of Shiva, on the island of Mauritius. At just 61km long and 46km wide, smaller than the ACT, this tiny land mass off the east coast of Africa is host to a blur of cultures. Its population of 1.2 million derive from European colonialists, African slaves, Chinese traders and a migratory wave from the sub-continent at the turn of the...
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