Her husband got the idea a few years ago when a friend left the worn out bus in their yard. As the bus could not be used for transport anymore and was abandoned in the couple’s yard, they decided to us it for another function in the small commerce. Mrs. Mala, by all her means, was planning to launch. She had just received a permit to sell food items to the public, so she furnished the bus and started selling in it.

She was fortunate to have a piece of wasteland facing the sea of Flic En Flac to park her little restaurant. A fresh smell of the sea helps customers to relax as they wait for their food, and while they eat, they can appreciate the turquoise seawater right across the road. Very relaxing indeed, the newness is enough to make the Mauritian feel like a tourist on his own land. As a matter of fact, many Mauritians on their road to and from Macondé like to stop by and enquire about the strange-looking bus, which at first looks like it has been changed into a house.

People who go to the sea stop by to eat bread or fried chilies (which the Mauritian Creole called it “gâteau piments”). That lady relates how she receives the visit of tourists and Mauritian passers-by that are curious about the famous bus. One of the thing Mala says she learned when she opened the snack is how to speak to the people to make them spend a pleasant time. She says that friends and relatives living in the area also come to have a chat. What strikes the tourists’ attention is the covering of the Holy pictures that decorate the bus. Jesus is the Lord of lords. “I am very religious, and to me all religions are the same. God is God, no matter what religion you belong to. I say my prayers when I am free. Even in my house there are holy pictures everywhere. I pray mostly to keep myself in good health”, Mala says.

She leaves her house to open the snack after she finishes her housework. What triggered her application for a permit to sell food was her willingness to find a small hobby that would give her a little pocket money. Mala dislikes sitting and doing nothing in the house, she prefers to come out and sell her snacks. Commenting on unemployment, she says that she herself unemployed and was able to make her own little snack, which is working well because it is first and foremost food that people are always looking for.

“Everyone should do something is his life. I am earning enough with this small business, and I am making small profits. It would be good if those who don’t have anything to do could start a small business of selling in a snack.” She says.

Worse than tsunami

During her maiden years, Mala used to live in Vacoas one of the only town in the midst of the Island of Mauritius, but if you gave her a chance to choose, the village of St Martin would be her favorite. Living by the seaside of Flic En Flac has changed her destiny. With the beautiful sea and people playing carom under the trees in the afternoons and during the weekend, life is much more relaxing and it feels like paradise on earth.

Mala grew up in Vacoas and she really prefers to live here at Flic En Flac because it is a more peaceful area. However, living near the coast causes a few anxieties sometimes. With threats of a tsunami or of tidal waves, she is scared that one day the sea may destroy her house.

After the tsunami last year, she has become much fearful that the water level would rise up. However, it was not so bad because she and her family were able to go and watch the big waves by the beach and they are used to the whims of the sea. The recent tidal waves have pushed corals across the road up to her bus. Fortunately her house is further away, but she is still afraid that it gets worse later because the sea looks unreliable. There was wave on Sunday, it had stopped on Monday and then it suddenly caught them by surprised on Tuesday.