Day 3 -- South India Trip

January 21 -- Off to Pondicherry

This morning we hit the road to Pondicherry, a former French holding (colonizers left in 1954) that retains its French influence.

En route we enjoyed a lovely scenic drive, passing backwaters (water flowing back from the Bay of Bengal). People worked the rice fields on both sides of the road – harvesting, carrying bundles to machines for separation of rice from chaff. Lots of brightly attired women with bundles on their heads bent over plants, tending new crops – apparently they get 2 cuttings of rice a year.

Ramu said it’s not a high quality of rice and that people who work the fields in the area make little money, typically live in huts made from palm leaves and/or grass. (We saw many of these on our drive, often clustered together with markets nearby.)

As we passed backwaters we saw thousands of birds – mostly white – on the water – an abnormally large number in one are, according to our driver. Lovely as they circled and landed on water glistening in the morning sunlight.

Further on we saw salt-mining – people out in the muddy marsh doing something – trampling? And adding some chemical (?) -- (some things translate decently between driver and myself, some don’t). Anyway, it was all in the name of getting the salt out, I guess.

We stopped when we saw an uncovered bright white mound of salt (most were covered with thatch for protection). We tasted it – definitely salty! Big crystals with light salt flavor. Next time I cook (which will be soon, I guess, given we’ll kiss hotel life good-bye next month) I’ll picture that big hill of salt…and try not to remember the muck from which it was extracted!

As we wrapped up our photo opp a big group of salt workers came in to take their breakfast break; Ramu said they start work early in the day.

The drive was lovely and passed quickly – much greenery – am reminded how many shades of green there are in the world. Many lily pads, lotus flowers in the water along the roadsides, with villages here and there. People here speak Tamil (state of Tamil Nadu). Ramu, who grew up in a village in this state, said government schools (which are typically attended by students whose families cannot afford to pay for public and private education) do not offer languages beyond Tamil and English. (Apparently there is a difference between public and government education -- that difference is not yet clear to me.)

Ramu said he doubts the quality of the English language program at most of these schools. He also said the because Tamil is the only language taught (unlike in states where other Indian languages are taught) people tend not to move in hopes of finding better jobs in other states.

We made it to Pondicherry late in the morning and checked into our hotel, which faced the Bay of Bengal – its lovely shutters opened out to the Esplanade for a great view of the waves crashing against big black rocks, a big statue of Ghandi and all kinds of beach activity (people strolling, visiting, kids playing games…).

After a quick walk along the Bay we hit the hotel pool, then had our driver take us to the French district for lunch at a rooftop café (with roof, though, so I don’t quite get that). Great food with a French twist – this part of town has stone streets, sidewalks, orderly blue and gray buildings, big park with playground in the middle and streets laid out in an orderly fashion. Definitely a different feel than other cities we’ve seen here.

After lunch we wandered a bit, found some cool cafes and shops, then met up w/ our guide – the first female guide we’ve had on our trip. She was great – very good with the kids.

Our first stop was Aurobindo Ashram, an important meditation center. (Aruobindo Ghose was a firebrand Bengali poet-philosopher who took refuge in Pondicherry, where he studied, wrote about and popularized the principles of yoga. His disciple, Mirra Alfassa, known later as “The Mother” was a Parisian mystic, painter and musician who came to Pondicherry with her husband during WWI. Sri Aurobindo’s philosophy inspired her to stay on and she was later instrumental in establishing Aurobindo Ashram in 1926.)

The center, naturally a very quiet, peaceful place, was packed with pink, yellow, orange, purple, white flowers and tons of plants – smelled fabulous – a path led to the tomb of Sri Aurobindo and meditation area. People prayed and meditated over and around the white marble tomb as we made our exit through the bookstore and onto the rest of Pondicherry.

About 7,000 French nationals live in Pondicherry today, said our guide, and we saw several of them as we passed French schools in the colonial part of town. She said Pondicherry has a population of 700,000 – we drove through parts of the Indian area, markedly different from the Rues we’d been driving through. Less structure, lots of market activity here there and everywhere. The Muslim part of town had “squarish” houses with nameplates and gates in front.

We stopped at a paper-making factory, which was very cool – they use all recycled materials to make the paper – cotton, gunny sacks, rice, tea, etc. – all materials are shredded and put in boiling water, with or without dye. The resulting paste is then shot through pipes to a tank where the pulp is manually separated from the water. The water is drained off and the pulp is placed on a tray. The tray is then flipped over and stacked between cloths to drain more water from it. The stack is moved to a machine that presses yet more water out, then each pieace is hung to dry.

We moved to a different room to watch as a man made prints on the paper. He took sheets of bright blue paper and, after sprinkling oil paint and making designs with the brush in oil/water, he laid the paper on the water (both sides), then put them on a drying rack. He made the girls each a small sample.

In the store room we saw big machines that the dried paper is put through and pressed to acheve the final thickness/smoothness needed, then it is cut to size. Stacks of paper galore! Our last stop was the shop – I bought stationery, the kids each got small notepads.

Afterward we stopped at a very boldly colored red and white church – the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is a Gothic church and we were told a highly revered religious destination in Pondicherry. Built in the 1700’s, the church has large stained glass panels depicting incidents from the life of Jesus.

From there we perused the Pondicherry Museum, which features a mix of regional artifacts -- paintings, big statues from the 11th and 12th centuries, numerous smaller ones of Hindu gods, coins and minerals from the area, pottery from ancient civilizations, burial urns, 17th and 18th cent furniture and dishes.

Then we hit the temple – Manakula Vinayakar Temple (dedicated to Ganesha, it has a golden spire and walls portraying 40 different forms of the elephant god).


Like others we’ve seen it has the colorful paster figures at the top – we came at 4:00, when temples open after an afternoon break. Many people were lined up to enter, several from North India, according to our guide, who said she could tell by the style of their saris and because some wore head coverings (not done in Pondicherry, I guess). They also spoke Punjabi, she noted.

When the temple opened they rushed in and lined up at an altar; we walked around the peramater, then waited for the elephant -- Lak Shme. Apparently she’s at the temple daily. She lumbered up the pedestrian-only street, her face and trunk decorated with white and gold paint. The priest with her put silver anklets on her legs as she patiently lifted first one, then the other. Then she touched the people gathered around her with her trunk – they held coins out and she grabbed them with her trunk and gave them to the priest. Some people gave her food, too – she’s part of the temple experience here, and elephants play a role in numerous other temples in the area, we were told.

Ava wanted to touch Lak- Shme so she held out a coin and had her head blessed by the drooly trunk. Lots of tourists and Hindus gathered around – fun and festive atmosphere w/ lots of laughs as elephant bestowed her blessings.

After the Lak Shme experience we wandered into the market, where our guide led me to a shop she recommended for good quality silk – I bought two meters – cheaper than the shop we’d hit earlier in our trip.

We wandered the market a bit – kids were given several flowers as we walked down the “flower” corridor…and of course fruits and vegetables galore, tons of rice (so many varieties), ginger, garlic, onions – I saw tamarind in big gooey looking cakelike form – and a wide array of items I couldn’t identify. Ava scored a free tomato.

From the market we parted company with our guide, hit the pool and took a walk, along with everyone else from Pondicherry, on the Esplanade. The sunset was gorgeous, lots of small groups of people strolling, talking, sitting. One memorable sight was that of 7 or 8 little old ladies, all with lovely saris on, having a chat.

Before dinner we checked out a bazaar near the water. A bunch of stalls were set up for local artisans to show off their wares. Then we were off to dinner at the Lighthouse Café, a rooftop deck (the real thing – could see the stars, a great view of the lighthouse next door to the hotel, and the water). I tried a lovely local fish dish w/ dry spice rub recommended by the waiter. The spices here carry more heat, which I really like.