Pondicherry has two sides to it..Subir Roy
| It took us a long time to get to Pondicherry. We keep going to Chennai and it is barely a couple of hours from there, so we can do it any time, we thought. And that is how five years passed; Chennai kept popping up on the calendar but Pondicherry somehow never did. So this time we were determined that we would do it, before we got superstitious and thought it was jinxed. And having been there, we know it will be the first of many visits. |
| Pondicherry is not what it used to be, we were warned. All towns in India, in this age of frenetic urbanisation, are growing in a faceless way. This remaining flavour of France in India is no exception and is slowly losing its special character. Most important of all, the sea face has changed. Not so long ago, you could actually find a bit of seclusion on it. But after the Tsunami, rocks were put to bolster the promenade, taking the sea further away. It is so much more difficult to get to where you can sit in peace as the breakers crash and become little rivulets around your toes. |
| But the sea is only pushed back a little and if you are lucky to get a room in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram guest house with a balcony which has a view of the sea, then it does not let you down. The breakers keep crashing and the sound rises and falls in an endless repetition like nature reciting its own mantra and counting its breaker beads. The vastness of the sea and its wisdom create a peace that does not make time stop but simply removes it. The couple of hours at a time that you sit on the deck chair with an unread open book on your lap become small parcels of eternity. |
| The guest house is loaded with character. In the age of pervasive granite and marble paving everything from hotel to hospital lobby, it is good to come by a place that is clean and has all the comforts without the ostentations. And as in an ashram mode, there are rules galore. The odd one is you can park your own car within the premises and your driver can sleep in it at night, but not if it is a hired car. Hired cars must be parked outside as their drivers apparently end up consuming all the wrong things. |
| The most distinctive part of the guest house is its garden and lawn that look out to the sea. The green is fringed with a variety of well-tended plants and little grottos. A late middle-aged western woman in a floppy hat spends a long hour snipping and manicuring some of the plants. There is a preponderance of such people who have come a long way looking for a special peace. And, of course, early evening and very early morning there is the yoga class on the lawn for transiting groups of westerners. |
| Other than the cultural presence of the ashram and its many adjuncts, Pondicherry is defined by the visual and architectural distinctiveness of the French colony. Our son and I stop to take careful photographs of the simple, elegant building with its row of arched windows and hanging verandah, only to discover at the end that it is none other than the French consulate. Hazy images of New Orleans, visited decades ago, come to mind. |
| We make a memorable evening dining out at one of the many restaurants decked out with little fairground lights and set amidst gardens. The service and cuisine deliver far greater value than a similar price tag will, elsewhere in India. The significant western clientele has managed to set it own standards. |
| The beer glass and the beer are correctly chilled. What is most satisfying is that the cocktails are truly well-made. I realise I have not had such a good Bloody Mary in a long time. So I go and order a Planters Punch after that. Our son says his steak is excellent. I have an inspiration and order a cheese omlette to go with the garlic bread and French fries. I have rarely had a better cheese omlette. The waiter deserves a prize and gets a double tip. |
| When we go back to the guest house early to beat the closing time for the front gate (as I said, there are lots of rules), my wife is worried I am smelling of all that I have had to drink and insists on herself fetching the room key from the front desk. As I re-read the firm injunction on the wall against consuming liquor and other abuses, I wonder if I am not an interloper. My consolation is that Sri Arobindos teaching does not prescribe specific forms and mantras but asks that you aspire to a higher consciousness as a personal journey. |
| The meeting of east and west is a terrible cliché, but in Pondicherry by the sea, between the worlds of the ashram and the dining out, there is a harmony, as there is between the sound of the breakers and the motor boats as they go out to fish at the break of dawn. |