Historical Pondicherry

The French Colonial Past is Preserved Here Even Today

The skyline has changed so much : The high-rise buildings alongside the shanty slums, the software companies and the vendors of fast foods just outside makes us long for the days of the glorious past. Days when we did not have to stand in a queue even to get into a bus. Today there are crowds just above everywhere.Yet despite the contrasting change, India still holds hope for the visitor. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Pondicherry, once a French colony (about a 130kms from Chennai) in Tamilnadu.( 1 ) We discovered this for ourselves when we were there recently with our family.

We saw the difference even as we got there-it was so quiet that we wondered if people talked or did anything at all. The main hub of life is focused on the 'market'. One could get lost here as it consists of a series of roads crossing each other like in a grid.You will not know when and where to turn next to reach anywhere. Men and women of every nationality buy anything they fancy from shops adjoining these roads . Hundreds of shops sell handcrafts, sculptures, textiles, electronic items and of course you will find the money changers. Anyone can exchange a dollar or a frech franc easily without any questions asked.There are hotels lodging some of the richest people in the world. There are lodges even for the average visitor. Every nook in the grid has one. We stayed in one of them - The Hotel Sooriya International.( 2 )