The Tizistwar of when I met Nanda Pavaday

 Hello there my beautiful people!

Have you ever felt the thrill of meeting the person you’ve been following on social media for years? I did. So, today’s post is about the story of a fan girl meeting her favourite author for the very first time. 

The story began in 2016 when the fan girl, that is, me, randomly came across a funny Facebook status that made sense. An original status doused with witty humour or sometimes satirical humour, making more sense than anything else. That, my friends, is not something you come across daily, unless you follow or you are amongst the Facebook friends of the one and only Nanda Pavaday. I feel so privileged to be one of them since 2016.

Nanda Pavaday is one of the finest authors in Mauritius. Why do I say “finest”? You know, the relationship between a chef and food, a musician and his instrument, a painter and his brush and paint… there exists such a relationship between Nanda Pavaday and words. He knows his way around them; he knows how to connect his followers with his content. You are having a bad day, read one of his posts. You are angry at the current situation of the country, read one of his posts. You are bored, that’s right, read his Facebook posts. He knows how to utilise words to a creative end while still being respectful to his audience. There has not been a day when I do not scroll on my feed without seeing and reacting to his Facebook posts.

Last year in March, just a week or two before the confinement, I accompanied my dad to La City, Trianon where I saw Nanda Pavaday in the food court. His book Tizistwar Nou Pays was recently launched. He was signing a copy of his book for another Fan who was there with his family. My bad luck was that on that particular day, I had neither my purse nor my phone with me. I felt so bad and embarrassed, because 

1. I really wanted to go and greet him but not without buying the book I was so keen to get; and 

2. I did not want to ask my dad to buy me the book, not that he would have refused me, but I felt that I am a grown up girl who irresponsibly left her purse at home.

I remember coming back home and texting my best friend, Rina (who is also a big fan) about it. I was like this close to meeting my favourite author. Ugghhh…

Then in late November, I saw on his page Tizistwar Nou Pays that he would be at La City, Trianon during the Weekends and at Audi Laflor, Port Louis on Mondays and Tuesdays for his new book Konfizri, as well as Tizistwar Nou Pays. During that period, I was caught amidst my Engagement preparation and had taken a week of vacation from work. I thought, I was going to miss that opportunity as well. But as soon as I resumed work, I told myself that I’d go to meet Nanda Pavaday at any cost. On Monday 7^th of December, I happened to get so engrossed with work, given that none of my Superiors were present that day at work. The next day, Tuesday 8^th of December, the moment I reached work, I informed my then-Officer-in-Charge that after lunch, I am going to meet my favourite author and gave her a brief description of whom it was and why I wanted to go. And after lunch, this is what I did. I ran to Audi Laflor, which is not too far from my place of work. And there, he was, sitting at table, with  a few copies of his books displayed and all smiling. Of course, as an excited fan, I did not know much what to say when you meet your favourite author for the first time, apart from expressing the happiness of finally seeing him, meeting him, talking to him, getting a photo taken, and having my copies of both Tizistwar Nou Pays and Konfizri signed by him. I was so happy that day that I probably handled all the work with a huge smile and with my books displayed on the table for my Office-Friends to see.

Nanda Pavaday has to be one of the sweetest, soft-spoken, humble persons I have ever met. I think it will be hard for me to believe that this person can ever express anger. I truly appreciate him for the person that he is and for his work. A person who has the ability to master the skill of writing and publishing them online to make people smile, to educate and sensitise people is a powerful person, and that is who Nanda Pavaday is. Last year, after having a blogging slump of more than 11 months, I was thinking of letting go of this page, which was primarily created as part of a Course work but which I kept running although the course was over. And after meeting him, I was instantly inspired to drop the idea of letting go of this page even if it was to post once in a while. I am thankful to him for spreading his positive energy.

As I was reading the book Ti Zistwar Nou Pays, I realised that the childhood stories of my parents have been immortalised through this oeuvre and how precious this book is, for us Mauritian folks. If you have not yet procured your copy, then I strongly advise you to get yours. Trust me! It is no less than a beautiful heritage with valuable memories; very well-written and well-illustrated. I’d read the short stories at night and the next morning, I’d share them with my mom before I set out for work and she’d be reminiscing her own childhood and tell me about her own experiences. It is truly a magical book that brings back good memories and how life was before the technological era took over.

As a kid, my elder brother, Nishal introduced me to several short stories written in Creole by local Authors back then, and now I feel so proud that I’ll be able to introduce him and my family and friends to this gem. And if you go on the Facebook page of Ti Zistwar Nou Pays, you can read some of the stories and believe me, you’ll be able to relate to them. And until next post,