Pondicherry for the 4th of July 2010

Alan had a great trip planned for us for right before he left Chennai. He wanted to introduce us to a beach town and see it one last time before he left. This town was originally a French colonial town called Pondicherry.

This was a large statue of Gandhi

The French architecture was still in place although most of the buildings could use a face lift or at least a new coat of paint. We stayed in a quaint little hotel called The Richmond. This hotel was beautiful and had air conditioning, which we were definitely thankful for. The ocean was only a few blocks away, and while it had a nice, cooler breeze, the days this past weekend were hot and would have been miserable without A/C. The ocean was unbelievable. The crashing waves were powerful and roared against the big black rocks that lined the shore. Recently a major construction project was completed where they put in sand to create a pathway along the beach before you hit the rocks so people could walk along the ocean. It is a very nice pathway we used every day and enjoyed the various vendors and street beggars/sellers that had bags and trinkets for sale for a few Rupees (Rs). This was a fresh fruit stand selling refreshing pinapple, mango, and watermelon pieces. We did buy from one woman who was selling long strands of colorful glass bead necklaces that I was excited about. We were a little nervous to give her money because often beggars or people selling goods to passerbyers have to report to some "boss" they working for and are basically his slaves. We wanted nothing to do with that. The kids were terribly hard to resist but we knew that with them they often have "masters" that do not usually treat the kids well, and we decided not to buy from children. They were beautiful though. They were beautiful children begging for us to buy their goods for Rs they claimed to have meal that day. Heartbreaking really.

On Sunday, we went to the nearby Auroville. Auroville is an "experimental" city founded by "Mother" in the late 60's. It's purpose to to "realise human unity". Basically it is a new age cult thing. Not generally something we are interested in, but it is also a major tourist attraction. They have a large forested area with paths to walk through. There is also this massive golden dome structure that you can view from the outside (going inside requires you being interested in "finding your consciousness"). The dome itself was pretty massive and impressive. There are people who actually live in villages in this tiny "city" that live by rules of no social "class" peace, love, and goodwill to all, living in "harmony" with one another. It was interesting but we found oursleves shaking our heads in saddness at how truly LOST these people really are.

Overall, we had a great weekend. We ate at some interesting little places and enjoyed walking down the beach (and having Malika on the beach with us). We will definitely return in the future because it was a very cute city and good for a relaxing weekend.