As we arrived early morning on Saturday, I was shocked by
how different Pondicherry was from everything else I had seen in India. When we
left, we were in the center of Bangalore filled with dirty streets, heavy
traffic, loud sounds, strong smells, and all the other things we had come to
associate with India. As we exited the bus, however, we walked out onto paved
cobblestone roads, free of trash and traffic. The only sounds were the ocean
waves crashing against the nearby rocky beachfront. As we wandered about
exploring before we left for our hotels, I felt transported to a small French
city. Every street was named rue, cafes were on every corner, many signs were
French, a canal ran through the center of town, there was a still running
French consulate, and cathedrals were scattered across the city. The entire
area was colored in pastel colors and designed with French architecture. The only
reminders that I was in India was the overwhelming heat along the beach and the
tuk tuks that weaved through the French quarter. As we walked along the
beachfront, stopping along the way for a quick breakfast, we checked into our
hotels. While some of the travelers wanted to stay around the pool for the day
and relax, I decided to go out and explore Pondicherry. Wandering through town
with some others, we discovered the Indian quarter in Pondicherry. Having
explored the French quarters earlier, this part of town was a significant
contrast, with market streets, crowds, loud sounds, temples, animals, and all
the other things that we saw daily in Bangalore. It was fascinating to see how
distinctly separated these areas were, with the canal running through the
center of town demarcating these two areas and splitting the town in half.
Buildings located just a few meters from each other were so completely polar
opposites just because of what sector of town they were located in. One of the most fascinating places in town was the Sri Aurobindo
Ashram. Located in the French quarter of town, the ashram was a religious center
within the town. As I entered, the entire place was in complete silence. In the
main courtyard was a tall tree and a large crowd of people all surrounding it
and meditating. While we only stayed briefly, locals were sitting in deep
meditation completely removed from their surroundings. Much like the rest of Pondicherry, the ashram was an extremely peaceful and serene place, almost completely separated from the world around it. Saturday evening, after
having fully explored Pondicherry, we decided to go to a local food festival
that was occurring that weekend. With many local restaurants having booths
along the waterfront, I stopped by to grab crab curry, appam (a doughy bread
pancakes), and fish fry. Having tried some of the local food, I returned back to my hotel.
On Sunday, we decided to take the opportunity to visit
a beach while we were on the coast. Taking a small ferry out to an island, we
spent a couple hours enjoying the waves on the beach and swimming in the Bay of
Bengal. While small, one of the most fun things about being on the beach was
just sitting there and grabbing a Fanta from one of the small stalls along the
beach. While Fanta in the US is okay, in India and in most places in Southeast
Asia, it is sold bottled and sweetened with actual sugar instead of high
fructose corn syrup. While experiencing some of the local food and drink is
extremely fun, it has been to see how the Western food in India differs in
subtle ways. Having spent some time on the beach, we grabbed our bags from the
hotel and returned back to Bangalore
No comments:
Post a Comment