Pondicherry - A Slice of Paradise

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this post being a continuation of the previous two posts of my trip to Pondicherry

Part 1      Part 2

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Day 2 - The good and the best

We had three objectives lined up before us this day: the Auroville Township, the Aurobindo Ashram, and a beach. For transportation, you can get bikes on hire in Pondicherry for commutation around the city. Another option is to hire an auto rickshaw to take you around for the whole day for a pre-decided price. Normally, the guest house owners will have a few rickshaw wallas on their payroll who will take you around the city and outside and wait for you while you go around. A general lack of ability to maneuver a two-wheeler meant that we had to rely on the latter option.

A Prototype of the Auroville Township

Solar Food Oven

Auroville is supposed to be an 'experimental' township which aims at bringing people from different countries, religions, and cultures together to live in harmony. The basic requirements for a person to be an Aurovilian are that they have to renounce all religion and be ready to explore oneself (quite lofty I know). There are some more requirements which they have stated on their site. According to our guest house owner, it's a place that most foreigners with shady past seek after their own country becomes too hot for them to stay put. Whatever the truth may be, the place surely is a very good sanctuary for anyone trying to lead a peaceful life; provided you agree to follow their ideals. While I did not quite agree with what they had to offer in terms of philosophical enrichment, I certainly liked what they had done with the natural resources available to them. From water harvesting to waste management, Auroville has made effective use all the limited means available to them, something that we can follow instead of cribbing about global warming and the exhaustion of natural resources through wastefulness.

The Matrimandir

A Prototype of the
Inner Chamber of Matrimandir

The pride of Auroville is the Matrimandir, a standing about a 100 feet tall, Matrimandir, a Sanskrit word for Temple of the Mother, is a testament to human creativity and imagination. It is surrounded by 12 pedestals, made in such a way that the entire structure is supposed to resemble a lotus. The entire structure is surrounded by greenery and has a huge auditorium on one side. The Aurovilians like to call the Matrimandir as the center of the entire township, though the actual geographical centre is this behemoth and ancient Banyan tree.

The Banyan Tree

The Matrimandir itself is covered by golden disks which reflect the sunlight falling on them thus appearing quite radiant. There are four main pillars supporting the Matrimandir, each facing the four main directions of the compass, each pillar depicting the four aspects of the mother according to Sri Aurobindo Ghosh. The gigantic dome itself contains a meditation room, also known as the Inner Chamber, having 12 sides. This meditation room contains the largest optically perfect crystal globe. The solar rays are reflected by a mirror mechanism placed on the top of the dome onto this globe. With plans going on to build 12 gardens around the dome, separated by artificially constructed water bodies, Matrimandir sure will be a sight to behold once it reaches its final structure. The inner details of the dome are what I heard on a short video that is shown to visitors at the entrance of Auroville. Visitors are barred from entering the Matrimandir. The reason given that it is a place where you attain maximum concentration and that entry to visitors would only serve to disturb the overall atmosphere of the chamber. The rest of Auroville is replete with natural beauty and is a great sanctuary for anyone wishing to get away from 'it' all. As nerdy as it may sound, I must say that a few sections of the road leading to the Matrimandir were largely reminiscent of Lothlorien and Rivendell. Any LOTR fans out there might know of what I am talking about; as for the rest, I am sorry but this is the only context I could find to describe the beauty of the forest surrounding us.

After having taken in the sights of Auroville to our hearts' content, we commenced our homeward journey for we had one more very important, nay, the most important location to visit. John F. Kennedy once said, "We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch - we are going back from whence we came." I don't know whether we came from the sea or because God said 'Let there be light', but one thing I know for sure is that there are very few sights in the world which parallel the blue ocean stretching out beyond the horizon, swallowing the sun as it begins its downwards journey to signal the end of yet another day in our puny, insignificant lives. The serenity and the beauty that it offers is unparalleled in anywhere. If Auroville offered a great sanctuary from the daily tortures in our lives, a clean, blue-watered beach offers the ultimate retirement home, a place to bury all you troubles beneath the sand and letting them be washed away by the pure blue waters. I must confess that I have no idea about the name of the beach that we visited. Our aim was to visit the Paradise beach, one of the best, and most popular, beaches in Pondicherry. However, our rickshaw driver suggested this beach to us. It's situated near a small town which gives the beach its name (or is it the other way around?). Having parked our rickshaw, we made our way on the banks of a river joining the sea and is used by the local fishermen for fishing. Past some sand dunes lay the ocean (the Bay of Bengal we were told) in its full majestic glory. Now I have been to a lot of beaches in India, but the only place where I have seen clearer water than this beach is the Port Blair. The water actually had a shade of blue; only getting polluted when it reached the shallows and disturbed the sand. It is futile of me trying to describe the scenery in this already long post. A quick dip and a short walk later we were on our way home. The extra time spent at the beach meant that we were not able to make it to the Aurobindo ashram or any other tourist spots in Pondicherry; a fact which seemed to bother me the least after having accomplished what I came to Pondicherry for. Another long walk along the Promenade was followed by dinner and another fantastic evening spent on 'The Roof'.

Day 3 - Farewell to Paradise

And then it was time to go. But not before I had taken another walk on the docks and taken in the early morning sea air sitting on the rock lined on the Promenade. A short bus journey took us to Chennai from where a long bus journey brought us back to Bangalore. An invigorating weekend normally means that you end up going to work with a new zeal and enthusiasm. On the flip side though, if you don't have too much of work, then you actually end up thinking about the weekend and moroseness takes place of cheerfulness.

One last thing before signing off. The weekend we were in Pondicherry marked the beginning of Ganesh Chaturthi. Walking along the Promenade on the last day, I saw a few people immersing the statues of Lord Ganesha into the sea, as is the traditions. Now following traditions is a good thing, but when those traditions don't result into anything good, or rather if they result in some damage only, then its better not to follow them. I don't see the point of immersing the colored idols in the sea. If someone were to try and drown me in water, I would be upset with that person rather than blessing him for doing so. But to each his own, we live in a world where people are ready to slit each other's throats over something as trivial as religion, so I guess our water bodies filling up with idols painted with toxic wastes are the least of our problems.

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Pondicherry - A Slice of Paradise

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this post being a continuation of the account of my trip to Pondicherry


Part 1

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Day 1 - Exploring the streets

The day began in a rather sleepy manner for us. Having arrived from a tiring overnight bus journey, most of us dropped off for a short nap the moment we got possession of our rooms. A hot shower and a delicious breakfast later we were on our way to explore the city. First stop was the Promenade beach. For those coming from Mumbai, a first glance of this beach might remind them of the Marine Drive. The Promenade beach is named so because of the 1.5 Km long esplanade that hugs the beach. An esplanade, as any dictionary will tell you, is a long, open, level area - mostly besides a water body - constructed for walking; or promenading. The other side of the esplanade joins the road. The refreshing thing about the Promenade is that the opposite side of the road isn't populated with tall commercial hotels and restaurants that seem to pop up at every sea face like weeds in a beautiful garden. There are a couple of guest houses present, but then they don't make a sore sight. Most of the stretch of the road consists of old derelict buildings (which somehow add to the charm of the Promenade rather than making it creepy), some government offices, and a memorial to Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar (and no, there are no reservations as to who can enter it). The Promenade itself is graced by the statues of Joseph François Dupleix, a Governor General of the French establishment in India, Mahatma Gandhi, and a War memorial. And as I write this log, I realize that it's quite ironic that one of the greatest apostles of peace is surrounded by two memorials depicting the very ideas which he opposed. As you can see in the photo of the esplanade, the esplanade is divided into 2 levels. The one hugging the road is made of concrete and the one hugging the sea and the rocks is made using sand. This walkway continues past the concrete esplanade to a dock and a light house. The dock is not used too frequently except by local fishermen.

Moving away from the Promenade, we walked further into the city. The remarkable thing about the city is that despite being such a popular tourist destination, it has managed to maintain the balance between modernization and old world charm. The outskirts of Pondicherry - the areas nearer to the beaches - still have all the old houses standing up. Like I mentioned before, some of them have even been renovated and converted into guest houses. There are still areas where you will find the cobbled streets surrounded by old Victorian type houses; the likes of which most of us read only in the classic English novels. Despite the strong presence of an era gone by, you can still find a Pizza Hut creeping in here and a CCD there, a lounge appearing almost inconspicuously besides a petrol pump and posh restaurant popping up like a wrinkle on a perfect face. I guess these eye sores are like old age, you just cannot avoid them forever. Again, the traces of the French impact are visible everywhere on the streets. Most streets are named in French, as are a lot of educational and artistic institutions, the Rue's and the Le's visible at almost every corner of the streets. We even managed to mistake a school for a jail. Now I am a terrible guide and have a notorious memory when it comes to remembering roads. But for some reason, I managed to remember almost all the roads and the paths that we traversed. The streets are well connected and easy to remember. Besides, our guest house owner had most graciously provided us with a map of the areas surrounding the guest house. Moving further into the city, we came upon 'The Church of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception' (called in French as 'The Eglise de Notre Dame de la Conception Immaculee'). Now I have already posted my fascination with churches in one of my earlier posts. This church that we saw was a beautifully built church in a spotless white and golden color. My friend tells me that this is the kind of architecture that is found in very old churches, and he being a better authority than me on churches, I choose to believe him. And, if that is true, then I guess all the churches that we saw in Pondicherry must belong to the old school of church architecture. I won't go into the details of the architecture, but will let the photos speak for themselves. The afternoon heat started getting to us after that, and we turned in for some delicious seafood lunch (in one of the eyesores that I mentioned earlier). Octobers in Pondicherry can be very hot. And the rains start around the same time. The best season to visit Pondicherry is between June to August. Having satiated our taste buds, we ended up going around for some more time. This little trip included a detour to a small but fantastic pastry shop. We left with our stomachs filled to capacity and our pockets considerably lighter.

The day ended with a long walk along the Promenade, some sightseeing along the Promenade, and finally enjoying some nice sea breeze on the rooftop of our guest house. The Roof. That was indeed one of the highlights of the trip. Our French host, in some burst of inspiration, had constructed a roof top kitchen, put some benches and covered the roof with thatched leaves to make it rain proof. What's more, we had a clear view of the Promenade from the roof. Sitting late into the night, listening to the waves crashing on to the rocks and discussing ways to get a permanent job in Pondicherry (from a Government job to the bellboy for our guest house, everything was discussed); for some reason that was one of the biggest highlight of our stay in Pondicherry.


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Further account of this trip continued in the next post.


Click here for snaps.
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Pondicherry - A Slice of Paradise

One year. That's exactly the amount of time that it took me to get my lazy butt outside my house and finally explore the southern parts of India outside Bengaluru. A long weekend beckoned and the prospect of spending another weekend locked in a smelly, dank apartment loomed ominously. That was when a couple of my colleagues suggested a getaway to Pondicherry. I was eager to get out of the city and when you talk about Pondicherry, the first thought on your mind is that magic word: beaches. It took about 1 second for that word to pop into my mind, and one more for me to make up my mind. So Pondicherry it was! By the end of the day, all the preparations were done and all that remained to be done was to wait for the D-day.

Road to Pondicherry

Pondicherry - now known as Puducherry - is one of the seven union territories of India. Situated on the east coast of India, it one of the most scenic places in India with plenty natural as well as man-made marvels to see. Situated at a distance of around 350 Kms from Bengaluru, both these cities are well connected by road. And as any bike enthusiast will tell you, there is no better way to enjoy a scenic ride than on a bike. Feeling the wind brushing your face, the road disappearing underneath the tyres of your ride, and the nature welcoming you with open arms is a feeling that is paralleled by very few experiences in life. Unfortunately, yours truly does not own a bike; hence we had to rely on the humble, yet largely reliable, services of K.S.R.T.C. Now there are two ways to travel by bus to Pondicherry. One is directly between Bangalore to Pondicherry, and the other is by taking a bus to Chennai and then catching the Volvo buses that operate between Chennai and Pondicherry hourly. We took the former option while going to Pondicherry and the latter during the return journey. And as it turned out, it was the right decision to take, as the road between Pondicherry and Chennai is one of the most beautiful ones that I have seen; the only roads that are better being the ones present in Konkan.

Finding a Roof

A roof to hide our heads

As mentioned earlier, we took a direct bus from Bengaluru to Pondicherry. When travelling by bus, a night journey is recommended since travelling by day would mean that most of your day will be wasted (unless you are going for a long vacation). The only disadvantage of a night journey is that, you miss out on the road side exhibition of natural beauty that is on display. But the destination more than makes up for that. And so, having undertaken an overnight journey, we arrived in Pondicherry during the wee hours of the morning. Small, white arched gates welcomed us to the city. Getting down at the local bus stand, we had managed to find our lodgings easily, thanks partly to some over-enthusiastic Rickshawallas (some things never change no matter where you go). There are several options to stay in Pondicherry. The first one is the Auroville Township, situated about 10 Kms north of Pondicherry city. It's a peaceful and serene community founded by Mirra Alfassa. However, more on this subject later. Another option is to stay in regular hotels and resorts scattered over the city; some in the interior parts of the city and some facing the beaches. One more option is to go for the small guest houses run by some of the French settlers here. As you must probably know, Pondicherry was a French colony which was later usurped by the Britishers. As such, you can still find a lot of French and British population living here. Many of these people have converted their old, multi-storied houses into guest houses. Else, they buy old houses from the Indian people living here, renovate them, and then re-open them as guest houses. We went for the last option since the first two options would have burned a big hole in our pockets. Though if you have a fairly big budget, I would definitely recommend the Auroville Township.


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Further account of this trip continued in the next post.


Click here for snaps.
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My first church service...

"Humility is like the string of a rosary, if you break the string then all the beads will fall. Similarly, if you lose your humility then all your other virtues come to naught."

For a supposedly agnostic person, I seem to be participating in a lot of religious events; even if that participation is supposed to be in the capacity of an audience. First it was Onam - where my participation was limited to enjoying the sumptuous fare served up by our gracious host. Next up was attending a church service. I have always found it more alluring to visit a church than a temple. Why? Because churches provide a peaceful and quiet atmosphere that very few places do. They provide a good reprieve from the daily hustle and bustle of a metropolitan city. And of course they are a very good place to read when you want to get out of the claustrophobic atmosphere of your own room. Of course there are other places that provide the same comfort; a park for instance, or a public library. I remember a small temple that was situated not far from a PG accommodation that I used to live in during the first few months of my stay in Bengaluru. It was a very small temple situated just outside an empty plot of land; the kind that they show in Bollywood movies when the hero goes to pray for the life of his mother, or of his girlfriend. It was a Ganesh temple and used to have very few visitors. So the bell got very little exercise which made it much easier to read. But still I would rather spend time in a church than any other place I know of; except for a quite deserted beach of course.

I was first introduced to churches by a friend of mine (a self confessed 'church lurker') when he took me to the St. Thomas Cathedral near Horniman Circle in Churchgate. Ever since then, there have been very few visits to Churchgate without a detour to that church. Likewise, my first few months in Bengaluru were marked with occasional visits to churches - even though I had to walk about 2 kms and take a bus to reach those churches. It wasn't just the excuse of reading that took me to the churches. Part of the reason why I used to visit churches was the exquisite architecture. The magnificent naves, the arched pillars, the stained glass, and the other architectural grandeur make your jaw drop. Even though I have never been too fascinated by architecture, it was difficult not to feel dwarfed by the sheer size and splendor that was on display in these churches. It certainly wasn't any religious or spiritual awakening that drew to towards the church. I believe I am quite hopeless in those particular areas. I must confess that I have never paid too much attention to the visitors who sought sanctuary in the church for spiritual or religious healing, or the choir practice going on, or indeed any other activities that were carried out. I was too busy enjoying a book, or just the solitude that the church afforded.

That's why I wasn't too enthusiastic when I accompanied my friend for mass to the Infant Jesus Church in Viveknagar, Bengaluru. I had visited the church earlier, though not for mass. That visit was purely out of curiosity. And I must say that the church was quite different from some other churches that I have seen. Most churches that I have visited have high arching ceilings as you make your way through the naves. The congregation area is normally flanked by pillars and the walls are either adorned by paintings or sculptures carved into the walls. Another feature that I have seen common among churches is that they are towering. This one was not. Of course, I haven't visited that many churches, hence, it's not fair that I pass a judgment on the architectural nuances of churches. But still what I am presenting is a simple observation of mine. As I said, this church had a lowered ceiling, with a small tower jutting out above the pulpit topped with the holy cross. The inside of a church resembles a semi-circular amphitheatre, with the pulpit in the centre raised on a platform and the benches for the congregation arranged all around it. The wall directly behind the pulpit is covered with a huge painting depicting the birth of Jesus Christ. The huge stained-glass windows show a pictorial depiction of the various stages in the life of Jesus Christ. Directly above the huge painting is a well placed lighting mechanism which lights up the painting bringing it into sharper focus. The rest of the ceiling is lined up with similar lighting as if to depict the rays of light being emitted by a halo. There is one main entrance to the church, which I have never seen open yet, and two small one at either side of the central entrance to let in the visitors. The seating for the congregation starts right near the doors of the church. Apparently, it has a seating capacity of more than 1200 people. 

And this Saturday was the most number of people that I have seen in a church. People were all around the altar, waiting for the service to begin. The choir band was getting warmed up at the head of the congregation. Once the Priest entered, everyone stood up in reverence. He started the service announcing the passages that were to be read that day. The theme was to be 'Humility'. Once the service started, the choir led the congregation into various hymns, all pertaining in some or other way to the central theme of the day. This was followed by the reading of passages by several members of the congregation and the Priest himself. Among the Priest's sermon were anecdotes and sayings pertaining to various famous Christian religious figures. Unfortunately, we had to leave the service mid-way due to time constraints. However, whatever I witnessed certainly piqued my curiosity. And attending a full church service is a new entry on my to-do list.