AN INTRODUCTION
?What is a life if not full of adventure? What is not there to be seen and heard and experienced and lived? I shall drink life to the end and see the most or perish in the noble cause? and I urge thy to do the same?let?s all vow to this fate and then see if we achieve heaven or hades?thou shall make attempts but not in vain??
Well, Shakespeare never said that. Nor did Tennyson. But so what? These words stemming from my own divine inner consciousness stirred me so much that I decided to embark on yet another journey to a yet another unknown destination- one which I knew nothing of, one that would lead me to discover a new facet of myself, that would purge me of all my sins (that I may have accidentally committed) and would contribute in my becoming a new, whole and complete soul, a place so far removed from the rest of the earth that it would seem like heaven itself?
Thus began my journey to Pondicherry.
MY BEGINNINGS
Well, those of you who?ve still shown the patience of being with me after reading all that crap, thank you. You?re some of the most jobless people on this earth. We shall now march forward with my story?
I desperately needed a break from work and college. So I kept pestering my parents to take me out for a vacation and we decided to land up in Pondicherry which is?well?not so far off from where I stay in Chennai (about 160 kms from the door of my house to the first signboard proclaiming Pondicherry to be precise).
After a very?ahem?back-breaking journey in the car (a Tata Indigo - make sure you don?t take this vehicle for long journeys) we managed to reach Pondicherry at 10:30 pm. We soon realised that 10:30 at night wasn?t exactly the best time to land up in Pondy. Most of the town was sleeping tight and so were the people in the hotel we were supposed to stay. But somehow, after waking up the manager and a handful of waiters, we managed to get our room and some over burnt dinner as well. (I shall not name the hotel else it might lose the little business that it?s managing to get still.)
THE JOURNEY
Pondicherry is more or less on the same longitude as Chennai so there wasn?t a lot of difference in the sunrise and the sunset timings. But certainly the sun at sunrise looked more beautiful than it did from Chennai, or may be it was the ambience that it made it so. The beach is the most popularly visited place in Pondy and with good reason too. It?s very relaxing and quiet and even with hundreds of people walking along its side, it still manages to bring a bout of freshness to every one of them.
There?s a Gandhi statue at the beach (for some reason) and it?s a very well maintained one. Most of the activities at the beach seem to centre around this very statue. And, right opposite this statue, is a very highly ignored statue of Pandit Nehru. It is opposite to the Gandhi statue in every sense of the word. Very dilapidated and worn out, it stands solitary and waits for people to notice it. Explains why Gandhiji is called the father of the nation.
Other attractions on the beach road are the lighthouse, a few well constructed buildings (whose names I?ve forgotten) and a newly built hotel called Promenade.
Pondy has an amazing law and order condition. You can see police people in their amazing uniforms that look like they?ve not been updated since 1947- complete with a foot tall red cap and stark white clothes and gumboots- yes, Gumboots. With such an ?intimidating? (read hilarious) appearance, Pondy can practically boast of a very low crime rate. But this has also got to do with the fact that people in Pondy are, by virtue of their birth and the atmosphere of the city, highly disciplined and well mannered. Therefore, you can be sure of not being cheated in Pondy even if you?re a tourist?
NOTE: Pondy is such an experience that it is impossible to restrict it in a few hundred words. Those of you who read this can get back to me for the second part of the review. Only then will I post it. Thanks for being so patient.