Francophonie day celebrated in Male’

The croissants looked appetizing, right next the classic Maldivian breakfast of disk roshi and mashuni.

A quatre quart cake was brought over by a French lady residing in Maldives, while in another corner were stacked hot crepes.

The mixture of French and Maldivian dishes left you spoiled for choice, and the venue – the garden of the Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism Studies (FHTS) – was the ideal location for a leisurely brunch held on the occasion of Francophonie (French speaking) day by the Alliance Française (AF).

Like the food, the conversation flowed in French, Dhivehi and English, among people of diverse nationalities.

The Tourism Minister and member of the AF committee Dr Ali Sawad was in attendance as well as people from all walks of life. Amid laughter new students tried out the few French words they knew, while secondary school French students livened up the place with their laughter and exuberance.

“This is a very nice atmosphere, and the activities planned are so good, this will enable us to improve our French also,” says Aiminath Nafaa, 14, a student of Aminiya School. She says she chose to study French as it’s a popular international language and she feels it will prove to be beneficial for her in the future.

Celebrating Francophonie

Half a billion French speakers around the world will celebrate International francophonie day on March 20th. In Maldives as the day falls on a holiday, celebrations were held last Saturday.

In 1998, the day was first declared as the day for the 49 members of the francophonie to celebrate their common bond, the language and also their diversity.

The newly inaugurated AF, which was opened in December last year, organized the event.

Over the years the French language has not played a major part in the Maldives aside from a few students who received scholarships to study in the prestigious Sorbonne University, one of the oldest in Europe in the early 70s.

France currently holds fourth position in terms of tourist arrivals to the Maldives, and with the start of the Franco-Maldivian Association the French language has found a firmer footing in the country.

The demand for the language is palpable in the tourism industry, and keeping this in mind, the education minister has introduced French as a third language in three secondary schools this year.

There are also future plans to train Maldivian teachers to teach the language, and introduce it to more atolls.

President of College Council, and herself a student of French language, Rashida Mohamed Didi says “teaching French language to Maldivian students will offer them numerous benefits; they can go for further studies to France, broaden their horizons by being exposed to French literature and francophone cultures, and since France is an important market for the tourism industry, also help them professionally.”

AF propagates the promotion of French language and culture, and also places great emphasis on celebrating the local culture. To this effect, a Franco-Maldivian poetry event was organized for the evening.

Sultan Park was the setting for the poetry event, which began with three young Maldivians reading and enacting out one of the oldest forms of Maldivian poetry, Raivaru.

To say it was captivating would be an understatement – a verbal duel between two men over a lady dressed fetchingly in a traditional Dhivehi libaas, ended with one of them giving his blessing to the man who captured the lady’s heart.

Jaadulla Jameel, a leading Maldivian poet and joint organiser of the event, says “we should hold more literary events like this, as there are too few such events now.”

He expressed happiness that participants seemed to enjoy the event and showed so much interest.

“Having French and Maldivian poems lets us see the different thinking of the cultures and it broadens the mind,” he said.

Later Jaadulla read out his poem, while a student read the French version.

Meanwhile poems by Maldivian poets like Fares Amir and Ali Shareef were read by their authors, while others were read alongside that of French poets like Baudelaire, Verlaine and Soupault.

Each Dhivehi poem had a French translation, and each French one a Dhivehi: Baudelaire’s ‘Albatross’ in Dhivehi captured the majesty of the bird and its subsequent capture, and the parallels to poets appealingly.

Moosa Ali’s poem ‘Mee magey ufanbimey’ brought across the pride in being born in such a beautiful land even in French. Like music poetry also knows no barriers.

Apart from French and Dhivehi poets, Rabindranath Tagore’s Gitanjali was read out, in French and English, aptly by an Indian French student Uma Mani.

A Senagalese poem by Senghor, the founder of Francophonie, about the beauty of African women added to the diverse voices and ideas.

The screening of the recent Film Coco Avant Chanel with the delectable Audrey Tautou capped off a perfect day of francophonie, a celebration of French language, culture and above all diversity.

To become a member of AF, email [email protected]. A lecture by Ramanujam Sooriamoorthy on the place of the French language in the age of globalisation will be held in FHTS on Thursday at 20h.