James de Montille interviewed the late lamented Fernand Mandarin on behalf of the authors of the recently published book, Chagos A History.
Watching the video, we are made very aware of all the cultural and social history that has been lost to us through his passing and that of other Chagossians recently. Thankfully, Fernand was very generous with his knowledge and experiences. At 30:40 on the youtube clip Fernand sings the ‘séga zavirons’ – lyrics below.
Blanc, blanc, blanc,
Mo dire toi Bernard ki’allé
Blanc, blanc, blanc
Mo dire toi Bernard ki’allé
[Other rowers sing in unison at this point]
Blanc, blanc, blanc,
Mo dire toi Bernard ki’allé calçon blanc
Mo dire toi Bernard ki’allé . . .
[White, white, white,
There goes Bernard,
White, white, white,
[Other rowers sing in unison at this point]
There goes Bernard with his white trousers
There goes Bernard . . .].