Some places do not wait for your time to explore them for you to know how they are. The moment you step into the soil you just know it is going to leave a tint of madness on you forever. You will be a changed person when you leave this place.
So, the two of us went to Pondichurry at the beginning of March. It wasn't that hot yet and the springtime seemed the ideal time for us to be there. I had a friend to meet. She has been arriving in my life on and off since our childhood. To me she is one of those rare blossoms from the mountains that bloom in an interval of maybe ten years but when they do appear you just cannot miss out. She has been like this forever, always moving around from one country to another and coming back with a fresh breeze from those places. She was home this time and her home was Pondichurry.
As I and another friend dropped in, I was caught by the immense beauty of the place along with the peace that prevailed all over. I come from a small and very similar town. I was breathing out toxins from the city lives. The fresh air I needed for myself was finally found. Situated at the banks of the Bay of Bengal and adorned by the garlands of beautiful mountains of Tamil Nadu Pondichurry is a place that has given me a sense of harmony, melody and freshness. As I am writing about the experience after a year now I am seeing the whole time as if a film that requires reconstruction bit by bit. Some experiences take time to pickle up, and this was one of them. There are thousands of boats in the mind that float on the ocean from several river beds, each carrying separate aspects of life, angle and as they move, they heal.
Enough poetry, let's go back to March of 2023. That was the year when I decided to take on some individual trips and see the world. Pondichurry also took me out to south India. The culture, the vocabulary, the food and the warmth of the people were very much new to me. The thing that was not new to me was the ever welcoming vibrant and beautiful demography of the place. Pondichurry appeared to me as one of the most vibrant and accepting landscapes any place could be.
Me and my friend got the first hit from the city when we got caught by the homestay guy for smoking. I hailed from Bengal which is very open to public smoking. Not promoting the same it was still a habit among both of us, or a bad habit if I may say so. Initially, the lack of nicotine gave us some constipation issues but later discovering that it did only good to us we welcomed the transformation. Soon, the requirement to smoke vanished as we drenched ourselves in the vibrant vermillion of the sunset sky at Pondi Marina Beach.
People travel to the city from all over the world. There were cafes, bars and open chilling places filled with intellectuals from at least four to five countries and covering three generations. Pondi has been a French colony, hence the presence of France alongside the Dutch and Portuguese is mixed up with the ever-green Kannada culture. One sees a Bharatnatyam festival happening beside a French church, Dutch delicacies being served after traditional dosa idli and people of 'colour' arguing lovingly with white people over a samosa. The entire city is caressed by the green lustrous natural and planted vegetation. After finishing breakfast with dosa and a special Malabar coffee at one of the oldest restaurants in Pondi. We buckled up to get a scooter for rent.
To be continued in part two…