Pondicherry Bay of Bengal Blues: Friday, October 30th!

He who has provoked the lash of wit, cannot complain that he smarts from it. -James Boswell, biographer and lawyer (29 Oct 1740-1795)

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Nadienka Wyss‎ to Patrick James Dunn Dearest Host Vati and Mutti (Corinne Durston) in the whole wide world… I'm coming back to visit you guys in Canada!  

You just say that, Dearest, Cruel Host Daughter as you are afraid that Nicolina and Mario have replaced you in our affections! (Lovely visit with them even if very brief!) Wonderful news, in fact, as we'd love to see you! When? Just started our six week trip to India, this past Tuesday. Yesterday was really the first day of sightseeing and our introduction to Tamil Nadu state was to visit the  Mamallapurum monuments. We are travelling with good friends, Lynne and Peter, with a van and driver, meeting local guides at the various sites we will visit over the course of our stay, three weeks in the south, same in the north. Let us know your dates as you need to plan your trip to include a stay in Penticton, where the real action is! Fondestos and Cheers, your Difficult, Exacting Host Vati!

Chloe Alexis Dunn Swiss!!! When will you visit??

On towards Pondicherry this morning so really looking forward to seeing this city and environs. We will be staying in the Tamil quarter so hope to wander the streets this evening.

Day 2, Field Report!

Up at 6:30 am to make myself a mug of my beloved Nescafé and then worked away on the GDD until it was time for a shower and dress for breakfast. We were already seated when Lynne and Peter arrived. Another great selection of food and everyone was pleased with their choices. I kept with the theme of Indian cuisine with a slight foray into an English breakfast, heaping baked beans on top of my helping of one of the fairly dry, bland, yet extremely tasty, porridge –like dishes. After finishing the meal with a goodly helping of fresh fruit, mango, pineapple and watermelon, a second cup of java, back to the room to finish packing. Check-out was quick and easy and once Hanif had stored our bags we waved goodbye to the Ideal Beach resort and hit the highway, making for Pondicherry.

Road took us along the coast and the vegetation was rather reminiscent of what we seen in Playa del Carmen, extremely lush, almost blindingly green at times. About an hour later, after dodging and weaving through the requisite cows and goats and dogs, not to mention the traffic, whether of the two, three or four wheeled, or more, kind, we stopped at the Tamil Nadu/Pondicherry boarder. The latter is a separate state and Hanif had to pay a road tax for our vehicle. Didn’t take long and we were on our way, stopping at one of the many AirTel shops one sees, to buy SIM cards for Cora Lee’s mini-iPad and Jugos Dom Pedro’s grande. Couldn’t have done it as easily and as quickly without Hanif.

Before checking in to our hotel, Hanif took us to Auroville, the utopian community founded by The Mother, Sri Aurobindo’s spiritual companion. I knew a little about this movement, having studied it in a course on comparative religions, but it was fascinating to see the actual idea put into practice. The grounds were lovely and we learned had been completely reclaimed, rehabilitated from more or les destitute land. At the centre of the community is an impressive golden dome with a huge, low circular amphitheatre, nearbye. We spent about an hour touring the small museaum there, walking the grounds and having our pictures taken, by invitation, with a number of Indian tourists, one party of Sikhs, and another a Hindu family, the daughter visiting from London where she works in IT.

After we returned to the van Hanif to us back into Pondicherry itself and ten minutes or so later, we arrived at Maison Peruma Hotel to be welcomed, once again, with garlands of jasmine flowers and a refreshing drink, this time a delicious lime concoction. What a place, built in the French Colonial style, a three story building, with wonderful wooden stairways, surrounding a central courtyard, open to the sky. Our room, listed as a “Standard Room”, was wonderfully elegant and most tastefully furnished so Cora Lee, in particular, was thrilled. I wasn’t at all unhappy, myself, although there wasn’t a bar fridge or the facilities/supplies to make tea or coffee. However, as we were to learn, the service was so friendly and bar so comfortable, that we spent much of our free time there and in the adjoining lounge area.

Just a quick stop to unpack a few things and then back to the van where we met Boniface, our guide. He was to show us the city. Our first stop was at a paper-making factory, owned by the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, a significant economic entity in the city, owning huge amounts of real estate and many other business enterprises which funnel money back into Auroville. According to Boniface, the Ashram is well-liked as it performs and provides many important social services to the community at large. The paper is made from recycled materials, (cuttings from T-shirt manufacting, used hemp bags, etc.), and is a pretty simple, if labour-intensive, operation. Not any worker safety procedures in place. Most of the people were barefoot and much heavy, awkward lifting of wet screens of pulped, wet semi-paper. As well, marbled paper is another product and the chap responsible for putting the enamel paint into the water was working without any mask or respirator. We were in the room for but a few minutes and the fumes were almost overpowering. Shudder to think what the long-term implications would be. Still, the people we saw seemed happy, (The operation had been much, much larger but due to union protests, [perhaps for better working conditions], the plant had been shut down for a year or so.), in all likelihood, just to have jobs.

At any rate, we took a peak into the gift shop and found a wonderful array of colourful, inventive paper products, limiting ourselves to cards and gift bags, for ease of packing. Next stop was the French Quarter where we left the van at the Promenade, about two km concourse along the beach. Boniface gave us a brief, yet highly informative overview of the history of Pondicherry and we then set off on a short walking tour. He took us into a number of original historic buildings, built by the French, for one administrative purpose or another, all of them in the wonderful, most attractive colonial style, with gorgeous grounds. He also explained that the colour of the buildings here, imperial yellow for the French colonial edifices, dull white with medium blue/grey trim for those belonging to the Ashram. Knowing this we soon realized how much real estate the latter owned as almost all the buildings in this quarter, in the streets back from the Promenade, were white/grey.

After leaving our shoes across the street at a Shoe Depository, (aka “Clock “ Room, according to a sign on the wall, so Peter said we had to leave our wristwatches!), we next visited the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, the final resting place of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother. Place was filled with devotees, a number seemingly in swoon, over the edge of the beautifully flowered sarcophagus. Cora Lee surmised that these were seriously ill people come to seek healing salvation. Whether this is true or not, we were not able to confirm. Once back on the street, we realized just how significant a place it was to many others as there was a line-up that curled around the corner of the block, the disgorges of a number of buses.

Reclaiming our “clocks” we walked a few more streets to a temple dedicated to Ganesh with a live elephant who would bless you, tap its trunk on your head, for a small donation placed in the crook near the end of its trunk. Shoes off, jut outside the temple entrance to go inside and have Boniface explain many of the images and rites. The entire temple is repainted every 12 years, (Has to do with signs of the Zodiac, etc.), so the images were absolutely vibrant, the repainting having been recently completed.