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Blogs from Pondicherry, India, Asia - page 9
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May 10th 2006
Hello Voici les news. Voila presque une semaine que je suis sur le sol indien, et j ai l' impression que cela fait une eternite. Je vais essayer de vous epargner tous les details de mes journees ca risquerait d' en assommer certains, ceci etant il ya forcement certaines anecdotes que je tiens a vous faire partager. Arrivee Madras, le 2 Mai a 5h00 du matin: En descendant de l'avion , ma premiere bouffee d'air, fut une mixture entre, humidite, odeur d'epices, encens et une senteur bien moins agreeable, il n'ya pas de doute je suis bien en inde. A l'aeroport de Madras, je rencontre une anglaise Susie, nous prenons un taxi ensemble jusqu' a Mamalapuram, petit village de pecheur que je connais bien pour y avoir sejourne au mois d octobre. Nous arrivons a l ... read more
May 5th 2006
Ok, so I’m still in search of a beach. My guidebook led me to believe that the ex-French colony of Pondicherry would be full of French hippies tanning themselves on a sandy beach whilst sipping coffee and munching on croissants. No surprise then that Pondi became a pressing call on my journey South. So I booked 3 nights in the superbly named Hotel Jayaram :o), packed my bikini and thanks to Brett, Mark and Jim a couple of good books for a little r & r. The C18th French influence is obvious - with old-style colonial buildings, wide boulevards and French street names. However that’s just the French quarter. Most of the rest of the town is as hectic as any other Indian market town. It’s a good 40 min walk through the usual craziness of ... read more
May 4th 2006
Many people warned me about the smell. It hits your senses before you even get of the plane. But it’s not a bad one. Quite the contary. A mixture of humidity and dust and spices and warmth. I’d booked a taxi to pick me up from the airpoirt. (Mainly cos I like seeing my name written on big placards). It wasn’t there. However I’d already found a Great Dane on the plane (who was taken for being one of the Back Street Boys at airport security ) and we agreed a good deal for a taxi straight to Mamallapuram, 60km or so away from Chennai. It was a good deal. It was 4am, it was hot and I was tired. At least it would have been a good deal had the ‘taxi’ not turned out to ... read more
May 2nd 2006
Pondicherry is a French colony at the eastcoast of India. It is a journey of 2 hours by "express"bus from Mahabalipuram...On my own I would never travel by night, but in compagny of two strong boys, I felt really save. We arrived in pondicherry around 9pm, negotiated with some Riksjadrivers for a "good price" to bring us to a hostel. In two riksjas ( me and Donna had even some very fancy loud music in our "car") in a race to the hostel we arrived safely. Joris and I checked the room ( and the price) and a couple of minutes later we were settled in in a fourbedroom with AC (!) and television... A nice dinner let us forget the hard busride and it didn't take that long to travel to dreamland... Pondicherry is not ... read more
March 20th 2006
There are many things during our trip which have been deemed 'blog-worthy' and this experience is most definately one of them! We have truely fallen in love with Pondicherry and as we have a few weeks to kills between now and our return to Chennai... that's right folks, we will be returning to the city of sewerage for one final bow, word spread like wildfire and we have secured 2 cash in hand communication skills workshops with the World Bank and some other equally posh software corporation... we have resided to put our feet up and chill out for a while. After visiting the Sri Aurobindo Ashram and its various departments, we have come to the conclusion that not only is it a conspiracy and a cult, but everyone we have encountered who is in anyway ... read more
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March 15th 2006
Trichy was the loaction of our first Arangatum - the first public performance of a Bharanatyan dancer after she has been deemed ready by her guru. We were dazzled by the skill and control in the dance, telling stories with her eyes and gestures. As always with these events in India there was a pause in the dance for speeches which last about an hour. Being in Tamil we understodd little of the content but competently laughed and clapped with the best of them. We left Trichy late and missed the bus to Bangalore, so spent six hours crammed in the backseat of the car with three adults and a squirming 6 year old chasing the bus. We tried with all our might to get some sleep but it alluded us - what with the squirming ... read more
February 20th 2006
Thanks for all of your thoughtful comments on my last entry! This entry is very different. Today is Monday, and I spent Saturday and Sunday -- after attending TKV Desikachar's lecture on Saturday morning -- in Pondicherry. TKV is the foudner of Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram (KYM) and he speaks every Saturday morning at 8:15 at the school. Last week he spoke on symbolism (he started the lecture by explaining the symbolism of the KYM logo) and about the student-teacher relationship this week. He is a very engaging speaker and I find the things he says are simple and profound. Plus, he has lovely, calm, happy energy and he uses colourful examples ot illustrate his points. So, not wanting to miss his lecture, about eight of my fellow students and I boarded a very comfortable A/C bus ... read more
February 16th 2006
Au revoir!! As Chennai doesn't have that much more to offer the tourist, we decided to take a bus trip down the coast to Pondicherry, a lovely town that was occupied by the French years back and still retains lots of French influence. We found a great hotel (Ram Guest House), which was more like a hotel you'd find in a modern european city. The streets are lined with beautiful trees that give a wonderful dappled shade from the seering heat and the majority of the houses are in a wonderful old french colonial style. We had pinch ourselves quite a few times to remind us that we were in India! (you even hear Indians speaking french). There isn't really a great deal to see in the town...it's more of a place to wander and take ... read more
February 13th 2006
The other day, Amri and I took a bus to Pondy to look at a pushbike that I want to get and drink a few beers while we were there. As usual, we talked so much on the bus, I think we really unnoyed a lot of people. When we got there, we found out it was one of those dry day. All the booze shops and the bars were closed for the day due to a very important festival for Tamils. We weren't too upset by it all, we had some ice-cream and had lunch at a restaurant that was right next to the ocean. We had a look at the bikes, they were really good. The one that I am interested in is about Rs.10ks. The one Amri is interested in was about Rs.23ks. ... read more
February 2nd 2006
Let me be clear on the matter of colonialism. It was and is a bad exercise in imperial domination; on the other hand, I have heard it said by fervent nationalists of my acquaintance, that, if one had no choice and was going to face that woeful state anyway; then, have it done by the French. Pondicherry is testimony to that dictum of my nationalist friends. Some 55 or so years after the French left these parts, voluntarily, I am told, there remains a pleasant and un-hurried, not so little community, with such comforting élan, whose people are completely at ease in their own skin. I started my day in a gym that opens at 06:00 hrs and serves tea and bottled water, big issue, with a dark Adonis to show the ropes to strays like ... read more
