Map In My Pocket

Month: February 2017

  • Streets of Pondicherry – Part I: Art

    Streets of Pondicherry – Part I: Art

    New Settlement. That is Pudicheri for you. Interpreted into Pondicherry by and for the French.

    From the Romans who came here to trade in the 1st century AD to the Portuguese who returned in 1521 to trade in textiles, Pondicherry has had a colourful legacy. Not the Pallavas, Cholas, Pandyas, Sangamas or the Mughals; not even the Dutch or British could lay claim to this town. It has and will always be French.

    Atleast  as Tamil as it can get, but with a constant presence of its French past.

    The historical richness of this town comes to life in its Art & Architecture. A lingering shadow of its European past in its every street.

    So, come walk with me.

    A leisurely stroll through the streets of Pondicherry, as you discover yet another piece of Urban Art, just around the corner.

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    To be continued in Streets of Pondicherry – Part II: Architecture

     

    More on Pondicherry:
    Pondicherry, Racist much?

  • Pondicherry, Racist much?

    Pondicherry, Racist much?

    Pondicherry has South India’s most distinctive sub culture. They say if you can’t afford a ticket to Europe, travel to Pondicherry instead. Stroll through the white part of town and be transported in time and place to a laid back French town where cafes cool and inviting are at every turn.

    But, just how racist are you Puducheri?

    Does the storm water canal that separates the French and Tamil quarters into neat little grids of White Town and Black Town also exist in your mind?

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    This is Cafè des Arts. It is the most popular Cafe in Pondicherry. Rated #1 on Trip Advisor with a Certificate of Excellence to boot.

    Here, Indians are not welcome.

    & this is what transpired in the cafe and on Trip Advisor.

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    “so when we ask you to wait, we are trying to please your comfort”

    Completely missed the point did they? Or do the tone, the numbers and the smattering of French point to something now not just obvious but also reiterated and reinforced??

    Forget about being “asked to wait”, if only we were even acknowledged.

    *Sigh*

    We are the same people, the very same Indians  who wait endlessly in queues outside the Kamats and Rajdhanis of the world for one simple meal.

    Cafè des Arts

    10, Suffren Street
    White Town, Puducherry

    +91 9994481914

    Open: 8:30 am – 7 pm, all days except Tuesdays

    Cafe des Arts Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

    We were refused a table at Villa Shanti too. It is the next ‘Most Popular Cafe in Pondicherry’. We were told they did not have a table, while we all stood in the foyer, right there in an empty cafe. On our second visit there, as we pushed past the half closed door, we were ushered in with a grimace from the very same head waiter. Well, every other cafe in Pondicherry was closed because of the Jalli Kattu protests going on that day. Though we definitely felt unwelcome and awkward, the food was good and the experience “okay”.

    This is the same Pondicherry where Indian citizens were once offered a choice of French Citizenship as an era came to an end. It is the same Pondicherry where old war veterans, till today, turn up on the streets in the full glory of their erstwhile military uniform on Bastille Day every year.

    It is also the same Pondicherry that I so love, for in its neat little blocks, self reliance comes easy to a girl who just wants to explore, camera in hand.