My stay at Pondycherry

Jairam had taken ill and was not well.  He called up on Friday night and overnight I decided to go. I took the early morning bus to Pondy on Saturday and reached Pondy by 9 a.m.  Jairam had managed to cook idlys.

It is a big change to live in a small town. No servant, no milkman, no known neighbours, it felt a lot like the first time I had gone to Raipur to start my married life.

I thought that the routine household chores like cooking and cleaning and washing, would be boring and horrible, but to my surprise, the routine has set in quite nicely within the first few days and I am surprised at my stamina !! I am actually able to sweep and mop the entire house without getting a back cramp !

In a small town like pondy, the best entertainment is in discovering the town. From Day one, I have made it a point to walk through different lanes. We are centrally located and the market or shopping center area starts at about 1 km distance from our house.

The town being small, walking is a good option, provided you are equipped with two things (a) Ear plugs (b) An Accident insurance policy.

In Pondy, pedestrians, automobile / two-wheeler drivers, buses, lorry and truck drivers are all given the same treatment and rights – You just drive on any side of the road, walk (if you dare), on the road ! The roads are all narrow – say about 25 feet width out of which, on either side of each main road, two wheelers are parked and so, taking away 7 feet so, that leaves out 19 feet of road for two way traffic. There is no such a thing called pavement/ pedestrian walk-way. If it exists, it is for the pavement hawkers who sell any thing ranging from clothes to fruits to stationery to movie CDs – you name it and you have it. And there are open gutters running on the side of the pavements – some open, some partially covered – so, watch your step ALWAYS !

All vehicles come with heavy duty horns and they are manufactured with a defect – it never goes off until your vehicle is parked and the engines are turned off ! So, on day one, I thought there was a whole fleet of ambulances heading on all sides – only to find out that starting from a dreary  “Luna to Innova” all had this perpetual horn problem. So, the urgent need for earplugs. When I was walking on the slightly raised pavement  avoiding the open gutters (and this was turning out to be quite strenuous as I would take a few steps ahead and then,) the pavement would be blocked by a regular hawker and then, I would have to jump on to the road and walk along with the live traffic of  scooters, mobikes, autos, cars etc. – Only I do not have this inbuilt horn ! I then, found out that in Pondy – you can become invisible !! because, all the vehicles that were cruising along side me – had not the slightest clue that I was a fellow commuter – only instead of wheels I was cruising on two legs. They just went past and did not bat an eyelid seeing me jump several inches above ground each time a horn blared into my ear or I was nearly crushed under some big wheel.  Weirdest of all,  this 17 feet road serves as a 4 lane traffic system – because, out of the blue, even on the left extreme of the road you will can expect to be confronted by an oncoming two wheeler or auto who just want to enter the nearest left side street !!  

I found  out that I had real good reflexes and can dodge, jump, run at top speed at signals so, and, admirably, even without an accident insurance policy– have managed to survive these past 4-5 days “unhurt”!! But, I would highly recommend an accident insurance policy.

Nehru Street is the main shopping street. It  is actually an extension of Kamaraj salai, it starts at the intersection of Kamaraj salai and Anna salai. If you walk on straight ahead – you will end up at the rocky beach. On either side of Nehru street are shops. Mostly garments, but also a variety of other shops. Nehru street has several intersections and each lane that cuts across is again an extended market area – each lane specializing in a different commodity. There is Goubert market ( Kuber in Tamil) A large square market with several access points from Nehru street and surrounding lanes as well. This market specializes in fruits, vegetables, flowers, poultry, fish, grocery, oil and so on. I have been only to one small part of this market. Vendors are friendly and haggling is fun.

On one other small lane – off Nehru street – they sell only jewellery – silver and Gold market there.

Right in the middle of Nehru street amidst the shops is also a large police station. To enter the police station, you need to wade through the thousands of vehicles parked outside it – a prospect that requires a bit of practiced hip swaying movements in order not to topple the rows and rows of two wheelers and bicycles parked there. Police men are jolly and kind faced. They just mind their business – which is to let things take their toll. They follow the non-interference policy. In this entire rushed city, with blaring horns and people flying in top speeds atop their vehicles, I have been lucky not to witness a single road accident . I guess, all people in Pondy are nimble and agile – always on top alert with quick reflexes. All rule breakers are tolerated with benevolent kindness and “ today you, tomorrow me” policy.  So, no fights on the roads.

On Sunday, I walked into MG street – a somewhat wide road –off Nehru street. Being Sunday, Several big shops were shut. But, the road was occupied by saree sellers on the pavements outside closed shops.  The sarees ranged from cotton to synthetic to embroidered ! A large variety. This is a special Sunday market.  The prices start from an unbelievable Rs.50 to Rs. 350/- Crisp cotton sarees starting from Rs.100/- !!

Yesterday, I came across one small lane – an offshoot of Nehru street – the lane was about 6 feet wide and tapered long and winding till it culminated into another lane – which was not visible in the dark. It was splattered with several tailoring machines and tailors sitting beside each machine. So, if you need anything stitched – you just go there, sit and have a cuppa with the tailor while your things get stitched !!   

I ventured into MG Road once again yesterday (weekday) and found that this is a lane specializing in Stationery shops, and Rice mandy. In addition there was a healthy sprinkling of  garments, and other shops as well. I saw a huge – very large Shivan temple and walked in. To my pleasant surprise, the temple housed several other deities. A well maintained temple – really large with the inner sanctum and spacious outer area. built as per ancient norms – it could have been an old and ancient temple – I did not inquire about its origin and whereabouts as I had no company. When I got out of the temple – right opposite the temple was “an Archies- old books shop” I selected several old English novels and paid a small sum. I was delighted at my find, but the shop has a limited selection. Lots of  books in French.

I walked on ahead and there beckoning to me was a large “ OM Namo Narayanaaya” and another large temple. Here it was lord Venkateswara – beautiful and peaceful ! This temple too was big, but not as large as the shivan temple. I then, walked on till the end of MG road and at the intersection of MG road and Anna salai. Jairam came to pick me up as I was totally exhausted and could not have walked one more step. While he came to pick me up, I waited outside the most peculiar Ganesh temple I have seen so far. The idol is a huge face of Ganesha – it is actually a Rock outcropping with natural formations of a trunk   and two sunken eyes. There is no body. The face erupts out of the rock and looks like an Ant-hill. It was fascinating.

At a distance of 5-10 minutes walk from my house are two cinema theatres. Balaji and Jeeva. They almost always play only Tamil movies, with an exception of an occasional Hindi movie. Now on show is “All the Best”.  Jairam and I plan to go to this one.

I have planned to go further up Nehru street in the next two days and find out what other treasures this nice town has !!