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Published: July 16th 2006
Dakshin Chitra - A remnant of our great heritage...
An ancient 'rath' which was used by the royalty in South India many years ago...I guess I am getting
addicted to travelling. Somebody save me, eh! Ofcourse I am kidding! When a place like Pondicherry is being talked about, who the hell wants to be saved!
Pondicherry - also known as
'Puduchery' in the official Tamil language, is a Union Territory of India & an ertswhile colony of France. It consists of 4 small unconnected districts -
Pondicherry, Karaikal & Yanam on the Bay of Bengal and
Mahe on the Arabian Sea. The
'district' of Pondicherry is located on the east coast & is surrounded by the state of Tamil Nadu on all sides except towards the Bay.
An Account of the Adventure:-
Like always, it was Rochana who
masterminded the plan. Her friend Ann, a professional photographer, apart from being an environmentalist & a keen traveller, wanted to visit Pondicherry. I was game for the trip the moment I heard about it. I roped in Pallavi and she too didn't need much of convincing. Ratnesh aka
'Pandeyjee', my
respectable flat-mate had some
wierd tooth-trouble. It took me some effort to rope him in. Inspite of having visited Pondicherry a week back, he couldn't resist our
elite company, eh! After all, pain
Dakshin Chitra - Magnificent piece of art...
Ancient 'Gods' on a Peacock...worshipped by the South Indians... is just a state of mind!
Our last mate - Bharath - is based out of Chennai. So, on the eve of 7th July, 5 of us boarded a KSRTC bus for Chennai from the
Majestic bus station in Bangaluru precisely @ 2226 hrs to catch up with him.
Pandeyjee soon fell asleep...Rest of us chatted for a while before the
khatmal onslaught began! Our newly-made
friends took our happiness & sleep away until we reached the Chennai Bus station @ 0530 Hrs. We were rather disappointed as they didn't carry on with us till Pondy, eh!
At 0600 hrs, Bharath appeared in his maroon-coloured Tata Sumo. He straight away took us to a lodge where we freshened-up. Then we headed to a small restaurant for breakfast. There, we had a typical south-indian meal -
idli & vada - which was very delicious indeed.
After satisfying our
tummies...we started our drive to Pondicherry on the famous and beautiful highway -
ECR (East Coast Road) - which runs parallel to the Sea Coast. Bharath played some great music on the way which added to the ambience. Since many of us met each other for the first time,
Croc - The Junior, eh!
It did take me a lot of courage to hold junior...just check out his sharp teeth! the drive was mostly spent in getting acquainted with each other.
On the way, we stopped at a place called
Dakshin Chitra, which is a South Indian heritage centre. It showcases the way of life in the four South-Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. At this place, one can find the traditional South Indian houses aesthetically recreated from their original parts. Many talented and skilled workmen work here with all their heart & dedication. A gift shop houses all kinds of traditional souvenirs and artifacts. There are a lot of
cultural events that take place throughout the day like - puppet shows, enchantment, glass-moulding, etc. If you are a historian, an architect or simply a person who is curious about the South Indian culture and heritage - then this is definitely
THE place to visit. Take a look at the snaps. Ofcourse, they were taken by our
pro photographer - Ann - eh!
The visit to
Dakshin Chitra was very
valuable & educational. We resumed our drive on the ECR and after travelling for a while, we stopped at the
Crocodile Park. We all had
Nariyal Paani before we went inside the
Kingdom of The Crocodile Park
Hundreds of them lie together - one over the other - very still...be very cautious while peeping in! Reptiles. Take my word for it - Do not dare to go near the
sleeping beasts! There are hundreds of them, kept in different ponds according to their species. Ofcourse, you can bug the
junior a bit, eh! Check out the snap...well, what can I say...I have always been a brave boy! Also, apart from the crocs, there are some rare species of snakes, lizards, turtles and tortoises.
Bidding
goodbye to our
reptilian friends, we got into the car. It took us 2 hrs to reach our destination - Pondy.
As we entered the town and passed the streets, we could see that it is very well-organized and maintained. It is very clean and the roads are nice and smooth. The people here surely believe in the saying -
'Cleanliness is next to Godliness', eh! We went straight to our hotel and checked-in. After having lunch with us in the hotel restaurant, Bharath left for Chennai. The remaining
platoon then headed towards the
Auro Beach. We hired a cab for 3 hours at a reasonable rate of Rs. 75 an hour plus the fuel charges. Check out the snap of the beach. It is splendid. The very
Wow! The Beach is marvellous...
A great snap of the Auro Beach - taken by Ann... sight of the ocean fills me with joy and wonder. It is amazing to view something as
limitless -
infinite. We had some real fun splashing around in the water and flirting with waves. Ann, meanwhile experimented with her photography.
The beach-fun was great and it energized and refreshed each one of us. We were in a festive mood and decided to have a party in the hotel room. We got some booze & food from outside and had a great time.
If only plans could be executed, eh! The previous night, we had decided to wake up early in the morning to watch the sun rise at the Auro Beach. But alas, that didn't happen! We finally managed to get out of the hotel @ 0900 hrs. Pandeyjee had to leave for Chennai that morning. So now, we were 4 of us - Myself, Ann, Rochana & Pallavi. We hired a couple of Kinetic Hondas and went straight to the famous
Aurobindo Ashram near the main Beach Road. After having breakfast, we visited the Ashram. It is a very nice and calm place. The devotees come here to pay homage to Shri Aurobindo and The Mother. I
also bought a book titled
'How to manifest Bliss'.
Now it was time to visit the famous
French Churches. Due to time constraints, we could only visit a couple of them.
St. John's Church in particular is very beautiful. As you can see from the snaps, it's architectural finesse and the glass paintings are phenomenal.
The
'city' shows traces of
french culture. Some of the street names are still in French and start with
'Rue De...'. There are a lot of foreigners in Pondy who come here and live in the Aurobindo Ashram. Some go back, but many continue to stay. Many have fallen in love with the place & have married tamilians. The localites here are very soft-spoken. It is a pleasure to interact with them. No wonder that the
firangs fall for their charm & simplicity.
After visiting the churches, and on Pallavi's recommendation, we went to a beach resort which was about 15 kms away from the main city. And guess what! To our disappointment, it was nothing more than a children's fun park with slides and swings, eh! But wait - as a saving grace, there was speed boating in the backwaters! Rochana
and Ann were too tired to move. So myself and Pallavi decide to go for it. And dude, wasn't it exciting ?!? Whew! Just for 80 bucks, we both had an awesome time on the waters. The boatman tried to scare us by swirling the boat left, right and centre. But we managed to keep our nerves cool and calm, eh!
Next, we stopped at a restaurant called
'Le Cafe' on the
Rocky Beach to have lunch. Now, that is a great place to have a meal - it opens itself to the sea - with cool breeze blowing all the time.
Post-lunch, we went back to the hotel, packed our stuff, freshened up and booked a cab back to Bangalore. Here is a
tip for folks planning to visit Pondy - get your bookings done well in advance. We had trouble getting return tickets. Although, getting a cab is not an issue at all, but if you prefer to travel by bus, better be proactive.
We decided to go to the
'Auro' beach once more, before we started our return journey to Bangalore. I had a ball of a time at the beach. And guess what ?!? This time, there were 3 beautiful women watching me splash around
topless in the water, eh!
And as all good things come to an end, we began our return journey @1700 hrs. Our cab driver was a very literate guy and he spoke good english too. He educated us about the various places of interest that we passed by, during our journey. We crossed the much talked about
city in the making -
Auroville on our way back. It lies on the outskirts of Pondy.
We finally reached Bangalore @ 2230 hrs -
tired &
refreshed at the same time!
So fellas, if you are looking for some great beach fun, along with a taste of varied cultures and heritages - then go ahead and visit
Pondy! But yeah, don't forget to plan your trip well in advance, eh!
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Saurabh M
non-member comment
hey kunaal, a great travelogue...I too had been to Pondy...keep visiting more places and posting ..wud recommens this book to u "Falling off the map"