Experiencing the Cherry land!

A bright morning dawned upon the sleepy little town along the eastern coast of India. Rolling waves crashed upon the rocky beach as we sat gazing into the horizon, the sun nearly blinding us as it slowly climbed onto the sky. Pondicherry, was already bustling with life!

A small town, situated 162 kms from Chennai, Pondicherry houses a quaint mix of Indian as well as French culture, cuisine and people. A French colony since 1699, Pondy went through a series of changes before becoming a part of independent India in 1954.

The French influence, though strongly lives on and is reflected in the architecture, lifestyle and language.

Pondicherry is a really small place, no matter where you go, it takes ten minutes to get there. Cycles are the best means of transport and easily available on a daily rental basis. Pondy as it’s popularly called, has a good number of options in terms of places to stay. On arriving there, armed with a local guide book, we headed straight to the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, where it said we’d get “comfortable, reasonable accommodation.” The Asharam, founded in 1926 by Sri Aurobindo, the sage, poet and revolutionary, is a place for spiritual, religious and educational development. Sri Aurobindo and The mother’s (disciple of Sri Aurobindo) Samadhi in the heart of the Ashram is the cynosure, where devotees kneel in silent prayer and peaceful meditation. We found two guesthouses, both quite reasonable. The park guest house is simple with clean rooms serving vegetarian food, costing around Rs.200 a day. The international guest house, a much cheaper option for the budget traveler, costs Rs.70 to Rs. 350, depending on the facilities each room offers. The sea is a short walk from the ashram and so is the market, hence getting accommodation is a little difficult, as everyone wants to stay here.

Some of the other places to stay, include Anandha Inn (tel: 0413 30711), Hotel Pondicherry Ashok, a government run hotel you can try staying at if cleanliness is not a priority and saving money is. (tel :605 160) Hotel Surguru, a pleasant place to stay, mostly frequented by business people (tel: 39022). Alternately you could check in to the first place that grabs your attention, kick off your shoes and head straight to the beach!

Food, in Pondy is cheap and extremely tasty. Try eating at some of the local joints that line the streets. That’s where the real taste lies! South Indian food, like Dosas, Vada-Sambar, Rice meals and the like are very satisfying and are served real fast. The ice cream Parlour, ‘Richie Rich’ on J.N Street (Jawaharlal Nehru Street) serves unbelievably delicious ice creams, the kind we had never tasted before! If in mood for some yummy Chinese cuisine, ‘Blue Dragon’ on Dumas street is a good option.

Pondy is basically made up of three main streets that intersect each other and divide the town into squarish columns. M.G road, J.N. Street and Mission Street are the hub of activity, a stroll down these roads on a Sunday evening will give you a good dose of Pondy’s local flavour and style. The Sunday market is a must see, it’s full of street vendors selling clothes, that are not only good but also branded! This market spells paradise for women, especially the Tibetian shop at the end of mission street, right opposite a large Bata showroom, selling clothes, lingerie, shoes and accessories for prices as low as Rs. 50 ! Bargain hard and you’ll come out victorious with your hands full!

One of the main attractions around Pondy, is ‘Auroville,’ that lies about 10 kms away. Auroville is a universal township where people from around the world live together in spiritual harmony. At the centre of this place stands the ‘Matrimandir’ a giant sphere that has a lotus shaped urn containing sands from Indian states and 175 countries around the world. The Matrimandir is a place for meditation; we were stunned at the silence that surrounds the entire structure and the room in the middle that holds the urn. It’s entirely white and the walls, roof and floor are indistinguishable from one another. An indescribable sensation gripped us as we entered that room, almost like a head rush but not quite that. All of us shared it, but still can’t express the feeling. Unfortunately, Matrimandir is no longer open to the public due to security reasons.

We spent most of our time in Pondy riding rented bikes gleefully along the east coast road (ECR), stopping by for a quick dip every time the heat got to us. It’s a great life, but could get dangerous in the evenings as many funny characters hang around the beach.

Some of the other places of interest that we briefly visited were The Romain Rolland Library near the town beach that has a collection of over 60,000 books including some very rare French volumes. The Pondicherry Museum, a Botanical garden and the Church of Sacred Heart of Jesus located on South Boulevard. The free eye camp near the town beach (ask the ashram people for directions) is an amazing place. The doctors there, can heal the most complicated of sight disorders with a few simple exercises, which if followed regularly can work miracles!

We were told that the Chunnambar resort is a great place for water sports and virgin beaches but didn’t manage to get there due to time constraints.

Pondy was an experience that taught us to just let go and follow our instincts. It’s a town so full of culture and spirituality that it keeps drawing us back. It’s a small place with so much to do, every street holds intrigue and every face has a story to tell.

Go ahead and explore the place, walk with the shadows, taste the sea and chase those clouds in the tropical sky. You’ll find, Pondy is a treasure enclave!

General info: (Today, nearly 20 000 Pondicherry people live in France and nearly 10 000 french citizens live in the Territory of Pondicherry.)