I kept detailed notes of my 1979 trip to Mauritius, but unfortunately, my notes for 10 and 11 August are lost to all time. My mother decided to throw away a heap of my juvenilia memorabilia, which inadvertently included some of my Mauritius diary pages, as I wrote up my 10 August notes…
…for the BBYO National magazine on my return. I stored those diary pages with my article notes rather than my diaries.
Anyway, by a process of elimination and a trawl through the photographs, I have concluded that the following day, 11 August 1979, must have been the postponed birthday party for Manjula Biltoo, the older of Garçon and Janee’s children. Perhaps her 5th birthday? The party was held at Garçon and Janee’s lovely Rose Hill villa – coincidentally fewer than two miles, no more than 30 minutes walk, from the Beau Bassin site where the extraordinary “Mauritian Shekel” story described in the link above had unfolded in the 1940s.
Manjula’s party was originally going to take place on 28 July, but was postponed due to a bereavement next door.
We spent more time with Garçon and Janee’s branch of the family than any other during our five weeks in Mauritius, as we holidayed with them in the South of the Island for a week – there are several good pictures of that branch of the family in this report – click here or below…
…as well as enjoying their Rose Hill home as our base for much of our other time in Mauritius.
As there is no reference to Manjula’s birthday party anywhere else in the diary…but there is a clear batch of photos from towards the end of my stay (but not right at the end), I’m pretty sure that 11 August must have been the day of that party…
…thus I have pulled together a photo wall from that party.
I have had a go at labelling up the names, but am hoping for some help from the Biltoo community (e.g. Vanisha, Manjula’s younger sister) in filling gaps and improving spellings.
I have used several of these pictures to illustrate other write-ups from other days, but I can tell from the photo numbering that those above are from that super party.
I can also report from memory, although not from diary notes, that the party was a very jolly affair, with much of the extended family present and a good time had by children, young adults and more senior folk alike.