A RECOVERY, A SMART PHONE AND A TRIP TO PUDUCHERRY
This blog covers three topics as the heading indicates. As I write it, I feel it will be a long one, so though I am writing this on a Thursday morning, I think it will be uploaded on Saturday or Sunday.
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Around Ganesh Chaturthi time this year in September, I caught a 'flu (I think !). Usually, the pattern when I catch a 'flu is that it manifests itself as cold with bouts of sneezing and then transforms into cough and a dry cough before subsiding. I don't take tablets and the process lasts around a week. This time, the cold and sneezing was not much, but worse was to follow. For a few days, I woke up with an extremely painful throbbing headache which began over my right eye and then just pulsed over the head. Literally sick, I consulted my doctor who prescribed a couple of tablets. Due to the pain and the feeling of tiredness, I took a couple of days off from work in September. I also lost weight and given my already thin frame, I suspect I must have resembled a scarecrow all the more during this time ! Over a fortnight, the headache subsided gradually and then the weakness also disappeared.
During this time, I went to work in an auto-rickshaw. Later, I started using my motorbike and car. Now, given a choice between a motorbike and a car to drive, I prefer a motorbike simply because of maneuverability and the flexibility to use narrow roads, to avoid traffic. For a few days after the subsiding of the headaches, I was just thankful to God that I could get back on my bike and enjoy the drive. On one of the signals that took 60 seconds to change from red to green, I looked up at the sun and prayed my gratitude for the recovery.
That prayer was premature ! On one of the days in October, I lost control of my balance and fell down from my motorbike.
I am normally a cautious motorbike driver, typically driving at 30 kmph or 40 kmph on the city roads. For most of the time, I follow the traffic rules. This is not to say that I am a very honest and strict driver. For example, when a car driver or a tempo driver behind me honks to take a left turn, though there is no free left turn, I have made the mistake of taking the turn myself. I have also rushed through orange signals. However, in my judgement, I am still a more careful driver than the average Bengaluru driver. Having said that, I have experienced too many falls on my motorbike to call myself a good driver. Most of those falls are due to circumstances : once I started the bike when it was in first gear and it lurched suddenly ; on another occasion, a man on a TVS50 with a huge package swerved at a signal, knocking me down at a signal, etc.
This time in October when I fell, I was to have no such "saving grace" : I was the only person responsible for my fall, unfortunately ! Temporarily, I lost my sense of balance, which led to the fall.
This experience is like failing in an exam. When I was a student, I was an average (or slightly above average) student and I always thought I would not fail any "big" exam. I had feelings of pity and superiority towards the students who performed badly in exams. In engineering, that was to change : I failed - and it felt like I had lost my aura of immortality and invincibility ! Life teaches tough lessons at times !
The fall from my motorbike has been one such lesson : I had indications that I was losing my sense of balance. I refused to listen to signs that my body gave me and ultimately keeled over, while taking a turn. The fall was painful of course : what was worse that I had not learnt to control myself even when part of me knew that I was not OK. I picked up myself with the help of a couple of bystanders and drove home with the extra consciousness that I had lost my sense of balance. I took an anti-tetanus injection on the day that day.
There were bruises on my left elbow, above my left knee and on my left palm. For a couple of weeks, I was back to taking an auto rickshaw to work until the bruises healed. I got my motorbike serviced, but it looked like there was a leakage problem. The garage service technician checked it after a week and said that there was no such issue. So it was nearly a month after my fall that I went back to my motorbike. It feels good now, but even today, I have the feeling of being fallible. In a way, I suppose it is good. It will make me a better driver. I am upset with myself that I have fallen so many times, but I am also glad that each time I have fallen, I have been able to stand up and ride again ! As Ralph Waldo Emerson has said : "Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail." It looks like that I have taken this message rather too literally !
It is only now that I feel I have been OK. I get the feeling that circumstances have changed for the better. At work we have moved to new premises that look better than the older one and I have a team to support me professionally. I visited New Delhi on work and met an old friend of mine. The trip was worth it just for the dinner I had with him ! One of these days, I again need to look at the sun in the morning at a signal, feel the warmth of the morning winter sun and silently wish a prayer for health !! The only sad news in recent times is the unexpected demise of a cousin, who helped us. To counter that, another cousin and his wife earned their doctorates (Ph. Ds) and are now parents of a bubbly child.
I suppose that is the way life evens itself out. My thoughts go to Javed Akthar and his lines in the song from 1942 : "Ek ladki ko dekha to aisa laga .... jaise sardi ki dhoop ....". The cool of early morning winter and the warmth of the morning sun are symbolic : opposites cancel each other out. There is a balance in life, which is missed in uncomfortable times. In such times, it feels like the bad times never end, but that is false. Perhaps, it is just the sensation of the Bengaluru winter and the warm morning sun that make me feel so philosophical today, but I feel it is a lesson that must be retained !
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My first challenge was to transfer all my contacts : I still haven't done that completely. I have a USB interface for the Nokia phone, but my PC refuses to recognize it as a device, unfortunately. So I went back to pen and paper and wrote down mobile numbers that I needed, transferred the frequently called ones to my SIM and then transferred it from the SIM to the Samsung phone. The vendor had suggested updating the mobile numbers in Gmail but I am a little suspicious of Google's policies and decided it is better to do it the hard way.
My second challenge was when I saw that except for a tiny icon for battery on the top, there was no way for me to gauge how long the smart phone would survive ! Again, I found that the short cut to "Battery usage" does the job to some extent, but it surprised me that there was no easy way for me to assess how long the phone would last on battery. I expected a smart phone to tell me that easily.
The third pain I had was when I saw my (meager !) pre-paid balance rapidly dwindle whenever I accessed the Net. My brother and cousins were happily chatting on apps like WhatsApp, etc. and here I was, hoping that I would not run out of money ! The difference was that they were on a Wi-Fi network and at home, I don't have Wi-Fi set up yet ! As my brother, niece and sister-in-law frequently insinuate, my PC (on which I am typing this blog) is another potential candidate for the museum !
The smart thing to do is to enquire about data plans with the mobile network service provider. I did that a few days ago and went in for one scheme. The good part is that I am able to use WhatsApp without fear of my pre-paid amount being eaten away. Now, will some experienced smart phone user please advise on apps that I absolutely must have ?! Otherwise, there is the Internet for me to scour !
Another surprise to me was to notice that the phone has no pre-loaded games. On the Nokia phone, I played Nature Park for hours while commuting from work. The game is simple and is somewhat like Tetris : leaves, flowers, etc. fall from the top of the screen in L-shape, vertical and horizontal shapes. The idea is to get three similar leaves or flowers (or whatever) in a straight line, i.e. either vertically, horizontally and diagonally. Occasionally, stones fall which sort of obstruct the leaves. The objective of the game is simple and during the commuting journey, it kept me occupied for many an hour. The sensation of triumph I got while scaling new high scores was addictive ! When I first crossed 1000, I could empathize with batsmen who score a century or bowlers who take 100 wickets : what a feeling it is ! On my new phone, I don't have any games - yet ! I will have to download "Angry Birds" soon !
What I like about the smart phone is the ability to stay connected and stay in touch. My cousin shared photos and a video and it feels good to show it to my family here. For that alone, the smart phone is worth its price. The 5 MP camera is a bonus for me, since all I had was a VGA camera on my older phone. I have not explored the world of apps yet, but hopefully it will be an interesting expedition !
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We left on Thursday night in a KSRTC Airavata bus at around 11 p.m. from Shanthinagar. After we crossed Krishnagiri, the road quality was rather poor. My wife commented that the bus felt more like "zero-axle" rather than "multi-axle". The air conditioning was cool and the blankets provided were necessary. It rained after Thindivanam but it had stopped when we reached Puducherry.
Puducherry auto rickshaw drivers are like Chennai auto drivers. They demand a flat price and since we had luggage, we settled for Rs. 80/- for a 1.5 km trip at 6:15 a.m. in the morning ! We stayed at Dhanalakshmi Residency on Laporte Street (http://www.dhanalakshmiresidency.com/ has the details), a decent hotel well worth the money paid. The disadvantage with the hotel is that it has no restaurant, but to make up for it, the hotel is walkable to most of the places to be visited in Puducherry. We took the family room that contains two rooms with a common entrance and also a common bathroom.
We freshened up and set off walking towards Aurobindo Ashram. We had gone 500 m when it started raining - an ominous beginning to a 3 day, 4 night trip ! To our good fortune, this was the only rainfall that we faced. We stood in front of a club and since the rain fell for nearly 25 minutes or so, we set off towards the Ashram in a medium drizzle. We were drenched, but quickly became dry.
Our first stop was Surguru, a restaurant that serves excellent pongal and coffee. We ate here a few times here during our stay and relished the south Indian cuisine. The north Indian food was not that good.
If I have to summarize Puducherry, it would have to be in the following words : "a place with some sense of heritage". The signs of heritage are from the French architecture around the Aurobindo Ashram, to the roads named in French, to the cobbled roads. My wife and her mother noticed the signs of a laid back nature (probably common place 20 years ago) when they noticed senior citizens playing chess (or checkers) in the afternoon. I also saw that there are fairly big book stores, but that may be expected, since Puducherry has a literacy rate of more than 86%, as seen in http://www.census2011.co.in/census/district/482-puducherry.html.
The photo https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/100096871512006362186/albums/5816930767496489137/5816930772523337298 shows the cobbled roads in front of Aurobindo Ashram. This road (from left to right) leads to the beach. In front of the beach is a promenade with a nice 1.5 km stretch for walking.
The arrangement of flowers in the samadhi in the Aurobindo Ashram paid due homage to the mother in the samadhi. I did not know much about Aurobindo's history. So, my wife's father, my wife and I picked up a few books to learn more.
From the Ashram, we went to the Manakula Vinayagar temple, a couple of minutes away from the Ashram. The temple is spacious and clean. Ganesh idols from various parts of the country and also in different parts of the world (Java, Kampuchea, etc.) are displayed as paintings on the walls. http://manakulavinayagartemple.com/Aboutus.htm has more information on the temple and http://manakulavinayagartemple.com/Gallery.htm# has photos.
Our next stop was the beach. As we walked along the beach, we saw a park opposite the Governor's house. This is the Bharathi Park. The greenery here is pleasant. The photo https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/100096871512006362186/albums/5816930767496489137/5816930838329118690 shows this. The park also contains the Aayi Mandapam, whose story is described in http://www.indiangyan.org/category/indian-monuments/The-Aayi-Mandapam. I read a similar story in the museum, which we visited next.
Thus, in one afternoon, we had covered most of what Puducherry town had to offer ! We ate lunch at Adyar Anand Bhavan and walked back to the hotel.
In the evening, we went to the beach. The beach, the Bharathi Park, the museum, the governor's house, etc. are all part of the French Town of Puducherry. There is a canal that separates this "ville blanche" or the "white city" from the "ville noire" or "black city". The roads are paved with cobble stones and one can get an idea of European cities from this part of Puducherry. This can be seen in the photo https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/100096871512006362186/albums/5816930767496489137/5816930772523337298 shown above. However, Puducherry is an unclean place, like most (all ?!) Indian cities. The streets are called "Rue" which is the French equivalent of "street". We also saw a lot of French names like Dupont, etc. which is a sign of the French heritage.
Just as there is no dinner served in Tamil Nadu, there was no dinner in Puducherry as well. My uncle had told me about this peculiarity. For our family, dinner without rice is unimaginable in normal circumstances ! At Surguru that night, we ordered North Indian food and filled our stomachs. There was a book sale on Mission Street right opposite the Notre Dame church. I bought a couple of books for Rs. 100/- each; so did my wife and her parents.
Tired by the bus journey and the walk in Puducherry, all of us slept well.
On Saturday, we went to Chidambaram. http://www.chidambaramnataraja.org/index.html has information about the temple. The gopuram is tall as seen in https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/100096871512006362186/albums/5816930767496489137/5816931009026143346. The temple complex is spread out in around 50 acres. We reached there at around 9:30 a.m. The crowds had begun, but it was still manageable. We had the darshan of the Nataraja and the priest explained a legend in Tamil. It is only now that I understand the legend after visiting the web site ! I also learnt of the symbolism of the architecture from the web site.
Joseph, our driver, stopped at the Kali temple in Chidambaram. On the way back, we went to Chunnambar beach and spent a few minutes admiring the scenery.
We ate lunch at Hotel Karthik, followed by natural ice-cream, including sugar free coconut versions that were welcome in the afternoon heat ! Right opposite the hotel is a transport centre for Auroville. There was a bus that was on the way at 2 p.m. We went into it and soon, we were at Auroville. As http://www.auroville.org/ explains, Auroville is in Tamil Nadu and is spread out over 25 square kilometers. There are around 50,000 residents. Our guide led us to a classy looking information center, where we watched a video that explained about Auroville.
Auroville is the idea of The Mother, who is considered as Sri Aurobindo's spiritual partner. The crowning glory of Auroville is the Matrimandir. Matrimandir is not open at all times and reservations need to be made. Instead, we could see it from a viewing point. Our guide led us from the information center walked to the viewing point. It felt like we were walking in a forest, but 30 years ago, the place was just red earth ! It is a tribute to the people who have contributed their effort and to the vision of Roger Anger. The web page http://www.auroville.org/vision/Roger_Anger.htm contains a tribute to him. The photo https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/100096871512006362186/albums/5816930767496489137/5816931191126126210 shows the Matrimandir, a huge sphere that contains two crystals on one of which the rays of the sun fall and make patterns of light. The Matrimandir serves as a meditation room. There are 12 gardens that are planned, as also a lake. I feel that while this project is a continuous process, it has taken a long time in the development.
Our next stop was the Auro beach. The beach is clean, but the smell of fish is pervasive. I persuaded my wife to step into the cool waters of the Bay of Bengal and she and I enjoyed the sensation of the rushing water around our feet and the slipping sand beneath it ! The high tide was just beginning when we left Auro beach. In the evening, we packed dinner and ate at our hotel itself.
On Sunday morning, we woke up with the knowledge that we did not have much to do that day ! We had heard of a Sunday market on Gandhi street, five minutes away from our hotel. We woke up leisurely and set out towards Surguru, going via Gandhi Street. At around 9 a.m., the shops were still being set up but people were already shopping, searching for the best deals. We finished breakfast and went back to Gandhi Street. By this time, the shopping had started in earnest. The road was full of makeshift stalls. We saw shirts being sold for Rs. 80/-, shoes and slippers, belts, tops, vessels and utensils, books .... all at throwaway prices !
The only place remaining in Puducherry city that we had not seen were the Botanical Gardens. This is a 20 acre park just behind the bus stand. For people of Bengaluru used to Lalbagh, it is not worthy a visit, but since we had the time, we went through the aquarium and spent some time in the sylvan and silent park. From there, we went to Surguru Spot, where we ate lunch. This is another of the Surguru restaurants in the city.
In the afternoon, my wife's parents left for shopping first. We joined them half an hour later, stopping to buy a belt for me and a pair of tops for my wife. I purchased my belt for Rs. 60/- at the Sunday market and so far, it has served me well ! My mother likes the top that my wife purchased and feels she should have bought one more at least ! We bought it at a proper shop, but at Rs. 250/- my wife liked the deal. Her parents also fell for the shopping bug : they bought a knife for Rs. 15/- and a nail-cutter.
We spent the evening watching the waves of the Bay of Bengal crash against the rocks of the Puducherry shore. It was relaxing, listening to the waves and the cries of excited children and for a few minutes I was transported to a world of calm. Then, it was back to reality and the promenade and the hotel !
We ate dinner at Surguru. On Monday morning, we left the hotel at 7:30 a.m., ate breakfast at Hotel Karthik in the bus stand and took the Airavat bus back to Bengaluru. The club class bus felt a lot more comfortable than our onward journey, but that may have been because it was day time and we knew what to expect ! After Thindivanam at around 9:30 a.m.our next major stop was beyond Krishnagiri at around 3:30 p.m. ! It was just as well that my uncle had warned me about this. We had taken guava fruits and pongal, which served as a meal. The bus was empty in Puducherry, but filled up in Tiruvannamalai at around 11 a.m.
Thus ends this blog of three unconnected threads !
This blog covers three topics as the heading indicates. As I write it, I feel it will be a long one, so though I am writing this on a Thursday morning, I think it will be uploaded on Saturday or Sunday.
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THE RECOVERY
The first topic concerns my health.Around Ganesh Chaturthi time this year in September, I caught a 'flu (I think !). Usually, the pattern when I catch a 'flu is that it manifests itself as cold with bouts of sneezing and then transforms into cough and a dry cough before subsiding. I don't take tablets and the process lasts around a week. This time, the cold and sneezing was not much, but worse was to follow. For a few days, I woke up with an extremely painful throbbing headache which began over my right eye and then just pulsed over the head. Literally sick, I consulted my doctor who prescribed a couple of tablets. Due to the pain and the feeling of tiredness, I took a couple of days off from work in September. I also lost weight and given my already thin frame, I suspect I must have resembled a scarecrow all the more during this time ! Over a fortnight, the headache subsided gradually and then the weakness also disappeared.
During this time, I went to work in an auto-rickshaw. Later, I started using my motorbike and car. Now, given a choice between a motorbike and a car to drive, I prefer a motorbike simply because of maneuverability and the flexibility to use narrow roads, to avoid traffic. For a few days after the subsiding of the headaches, I was just thankful to God that I could get back on my bike and enjoy the drive. On one of the signals that took 60 seconds to change from red to green, I looked up at the sun and prayed my gratitude for the recovery.
That prayer was premature ! On one of the days in October, I lost control of my balance and fell down from my motorbike.
I am normally a cautious motorbike driver, typically driving at 30 kmph or 40 kmph on the city roads. For most of the time, I follow the traffic rules. This is not to say that I am a very honest and strict driver. For example, when a car driver or a tempo driver behind me honks to take a left turn, though there is no free left turn, I have made the mistake of taking the turn myself. I have also rushed through orange signals. However, in my judgement, I am still a more careful driver than the average Bengaluru driver. Having said that, I have experienced too many falls on my motorbike to call myself a good driver. Most of those falls are due to circumstances : once I started the bike when it was in first gear and it lurched suddenly ; on another occasion, a man on a TVS50 with a huge package swerved at a signal, knocking me down at a signal, etc.
This time in October when I fell, I was to have no such "saving grace" : I was the only person responsible for my fall, unfortunately ! Temporarily, I lost my sense of balance, which led to the fall.
This experience is like failing in an exam. When I was a student, I was an average (or slightly above average) student and I always thought I would not fail any "big" exam. I had feelings of pity and superiority towards the students who performed badly in exams. In engineering, that was to change : I failed - and it felt like I had lost my aura of immortality and invincibility ! Life teaches tough lessons at times !
The fall from my motorbike has been one such lesson : I had indications that I was losing my sense of balance. I refused to listen to signs that my body gave me and ultimately keeled over, while taking a turn. The fall was painful of course : what was worse that I had not learnt to control myself even when part of me knew that I was not OK. I picked up myself with the help of a couple of bystanders and drove home with the extra consciousness that I had lost my sense of balance. I took an anti-tetanus injection on the day that day.
There were bruises on my left elbow, above my left knee and on my left palm. For a couple of weeks, I was back to taking an auto rickshaw to work until the bruises healed. I got my motorbike serviced, but it looked like there was a leakage problem. The garage service technician checked it after a week and said that there was no such issue. So it was nearly a month after my fall that I went back to my motorbike. It feels good now, but even today, I have the feeling of being fallible. In a way, I suppose it is good. It will make me a better driver. I am upset with myself that I have fallen so many times, but I am also glad that each time I have fallen, I have been able to stand up and ride again ! As Ralph Waldo Emerson has said : "Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail." It looks like that I have taken this message rather too literally !
It is only now that I feel I have been OK. I get the feeling that circumstances have changed for the better. At work we have moved to new premises that look better than the older one and I have a team to support me professionally. I visited New Delhi on work and met an old friend of mine. The trip was worth it just for the dinner I had with him ! One of these days, I again need to look at the sun in the morning at a signal, feel the warmth of the morning winter sun and silently wish a prayer for health !! The only sad news in recent times is the unexpected demise of a cousin, who helped us. To counter that, another cousin and his wife earned their doctorates (Ph. Ds) and are now parents of a bubbly child.
I suppose that is the way life evens itself out. My thoughts go to Javed Akthar and his lines in the song from 1942 : "Ek ladki ko dekha to aisa laga .... jaise sardi ki dhoop ....". The cool of early morning winter and the warmth of the morning sun are symbolic : opposites cancel each other out. There is a balance in life, which is missed in uncomfortable times. In such times, it feels like the bad times never end, but that is false. Perhaps, it is just the sensation of the Bengaluru winter and the warm morning sun that make me feel so philosophical today, but I feel it is a lesson that must be retained !
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THE SMART PHONE
The second topic is my recent purchase of a smart phone. My family assured me that if I had retained my older Nokia phone (a 6260 I think) for some more time, it would soon qualify as an antique piece ! The phone was more than 6 years old but to make calls and play games occasionally, it was more than enough. More with a view to try out apps on the smart phone, I decided to buy a smart phone and my wife bought me a Samsung Galaxy Ace in October.My first challenge was to transfer all my contacts : I still haven't done that completely. I have a USB interface for the Nokia phone, but my PC refuses to recognize it as a device, unfortunately. So I went back to pen and paper and wrote down mobile numbers that I needed, transferred the frequently called ones to my SIM and then transferred it from the SIM to the Samsung phone. The vendor had suggested updating the mobile numbers in Gmail but I am a little suspicious of Google's policies and decided it is better to do it the hard way.
My second challenge was when I saw that except for a tiny icon for battery on the top, there was no way for me to gauge how long the smart phone would survive ! Again, I found that the short cut to "Battery usage" does the job to some extent, but it surprised me that there was no easy way for me to assess how long the phone would last on battery. I expected a smart phone to tell me that easily.
The third pain I had was when I saw my (meager !) pre-paid balance rapidly dwindle whenever I accessed the Net. My brother and cousins were happily chatting on apps like WhatsApp, etc. and here I was, hoping that I would not run out of money ! The difference was that they were on a Wi-Fi network and at home, I don't have Wi-Fi set up yet ! As my brother, niece and sister-in-law frequently insinuate, my PC (on which I am typing this blog) is another potential candidate for the museum !
The smart thing to do is to enquire about data plans with the mobile network service provider. I did that a few days ago and went in for one scheme. The good part is that I am able to use WhatsApp without fear of my pre-paid amount being eaten away. Now, will some experienced smart phone user please advise on apps that I absolutely must have ?! Otherwise, there is the Internet for me to scour !
Another surprise to me was to notice that the phone has no pre-loaded games. On the Nokia phone, I played Nature Park for hours while commuting from work. The game is simple and is somewhat like Tetris : leaves, flowers, etc. fall from the top of the screen in L-shape, vertical and horizontal shapes. The idea is to get three similar leaves or flowers (or whatever) in a straight line, i.e. either vertically, horizontally and diagonally. Occasionally, stones fall which sort of obstruct the leaves. The objective of the game is simple and during the commuting journey, it kept me occupied for many an hour. The sensation of triumph I got while scaling new high scores was addictive ! When I first crossed 1000, I could empathize with batsmen who score a century or bowlers who take 100 wickets : what a feeling it is ! On my new phone, I don't have any games - yet ! I will have to download "Angry Birds" soon !
What I like about the smart phone is the ability to stay connected and stay in touch. My cousin shared photos and a video and it feels good to show it to my family here. For that alone, the smart phone is worth its price. The 5 MP camera is a bonus for me, since all I had was a VGA camera on my older phone. I have not explored the world of apps yet, but hopefully it will be an interesting expedition !
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THE TRIP TO PUDUCHERRY
During the last weekend, my wife, her parents and I visited Puducherry.We left on Thursday night in a KSRTC Airavata bus at around 11 p.m. from Shanthinagar. After we crossed Krishnagiri, the road quality was rather poor. My wife commented that the bus felt more like "zero-axle" rather than "multi-axle". The air conditioning was cool and the blankets provided were necessary. It rained after Thindivanam but it had stopped when we reached Puducherry.
Puducherry auto rickshaw drivers are like Chennai auto drivers. They demand a flat price and since we had luggage, we settled for Rs. 80/- for a 1.5 km trip at 6:15 a.m. in the morning ! We stayed at Dhanalakshmi Residency on Laporte Street (http://www.dhanalakshmiresidency.com/ has the details), a decent hotel well worth the money paid. The disadvantage with the hotel is that it has no restaurant, but to make up for it, the hotel is walkable to most of the places to be visited in Puducherry. We took the family room that contains two rooms with a common entrance and also a common bathroom.
We freshened up and set off walking towards Aurobindo Ashram. We had gone 500 m when it started raining - an ominous beginning to a 3 day, 4 night trip ! To our good fortune, this was the only rainfall that we faced. We stood in front of a club and since the rain fell for nearly 25 minutes or so, we set off towards the Ashram in a medium drizzle. We were drenched, but quickly became dry.
Our first stop was Surguru, a restaurant that serves excellent pongal and coffee. We ate here a few times here during our stay and relished the south Indian cuisine. The north Indian food was not that good.
If I have to summarize Puducherry, it would have to be in the following words : "a place with some sense of heritage". The signs of heritage are from the French architecture around the Aurobindo Ashram, to the roads named in French, to the cobbled roads. My wife and her mother noticed the signs of a laid back nature (probably common place 20 years ago) when they noticed senior citizens playing chess (or checkers) in the afternoon. I also saw that there are fairly big book stores, but that may be expected, since Puducherry has a literacy rate of more than 86%, as seen in http://www.census2011.co.in/census/district/482-puducherry.html.
The photo https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/100096871512006362186/albums/5816930767496489137/5816930772523337298 shows the cobbled roads in front of Aurobindo Ashram. This road (from left to right) leads to the beach. In front of the beach is a promenade with a nice 1.5 km stretch for walking.
The arrangement of flowers in the samadhi in the Aurobindo Ashram paid due homage to the mother in the samadhi. I did not know much about Aurobindo's history. So, my wife's father, my wife and I picked up a few books to learn more.
From the Ashram, we went to the Manakula Vinayagar temple, a couple of minutes away from the Ashram. The temple is spacious and clean. Ganesh idols from various parts of the country and also in different parts of the world (Java, Kampuchea, etc.) are displayed as paintings on the walls. http://manakulavinayagartemple.com/Aboutus.htm has more information on the temple and http://manakulavinayagartemple.com/Gallery.htm# has photos.
Our next stop was the beach. As we walked along the beach, we saw a park opposite the Governor's house. This is the Bharathi Park. The greenery here is pleasant. The photo https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/100096871512006362186/albums/5816930767496489137/5816930838329118690 shows this. The park also contains the Aayi Mandapam, whose story is described in http://www.indiangyan.org/category/indian-monuments/The-Aayi-Mandapam. I read a similar story in the museum, which we visited next.
Thus, in one afternoon, we had covered most of what Puducherry town had to offer ! We ate lunch at Adyar Anand Bhavan and walked back to the hotel.
In the evening, we went to the beach. The beach, the Bharathi Park, the museum, the governor's house, etc. are all part of the French Town of Puducherry. There is a canal that separates this "ville blanche" or the "white city" from the "ville noire" or "black city". The roads are paved with cobble stones and one can get an idea of European cities from this part of Puducherry. This can be seen in the photo https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/100096871512006362186/albums/5816930767496489137/5816930772523337298 shown above. However, Puducherry is an unclean place, like most (all ?!) Indian cities. The streets are called "Rue" which is the French equivalent of "street". We also saw a lot of French names like Dupont, etc. which is a sign of the French heritage.
Just as there is no dinner served in Tamil Nadu, there was no dinner in Puducherry as well. My uncle had told me about this peculiarity. For our family, dinner without rice is unimaginable in normal circumstances ! At Surguru that night, we ordered North Indian food and filled our stomachs. There was a book sale on Mission Street right opposite the Notre Dame church. I bought a couple of books for Rs. 100/- each; so did my wife and her parents.
Tired by the bus journey and the walk in Puducherry, all of us slept well.
On Saturday, we went to Chidambaram. http://www.chidambaramnataraja.org/index.html has information about the temple. The gopuram is tall as seen in https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/100096871512006362186/albums/5816930767496489137/5816931009026143346. The temple complex is spread out in around 50 acres. We reached there at around 9:30 a.m. The crowds had begun, but it was still manageable. We had the darshan of the Nataraja and the priest explained a legend in Tamil. It is only now that I understand the legend after visiting the web site ! I also learnt of the symbolism of the architecture from the web site.
Joseph, our driver, stopped at the Kali temple in Chidambaram. On the way back, we went to Chunnambar beach and spent a few minutes admiring the scenery.
We ate lunch at Hotel Karthik, followed by natural ice-cream, including sugar free coconut versions that were welcome in the afternoon heat ! Right opposite the hotel is a transport centre for Auroville. There was a bus that was on the way at 2 p.m. We went into it and soon, we were at Auroville. As http://www.auroville.org/ explains, Auroville is in Tamil Nadu and is spread out over 25 square kilometers. There are around 50,000 residents. Our guide led us to a classy looking information center, where we watched a video that explained about Auroville.
Auroville is the idea of The Mother, who is considered as Sri Aurobindo's spiritual partner. The crowning glory of Auroville is the Matrimandir. Matrimandir is not open at all times and reservations need to be made. Instead, we could see it from a viewing point. Our guide led us from the information center walked to the viewing point. It felt like we were walking in a forest, but 30 years ago, the place was just red earth ! It is a tribute to the people who have contributed their effort and to the vision of Roger Anger. The web page http://www.auroville.org/vision/Roger_Anger.htm contains a tribute to him. The photo https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/100096871512006362186/albums/5816930767496489137/5816931191126126210 shows the Matrimandir, a huge sphere that contains two crystals on one of which the rays of the sun fall and make patterns of light. The Matrimandir serves as a meditation room. There are 12 gardens that are planned, as also a lake. I feel that while this project is a continuous process, it has taken a long time in the development.
Our next stop was the Auro beach. The beach is clean, but the smell of fish is pervasive. I persuaded my wife to step into the cool waters of the Bay of Bengal and she and I enjoyed the sensation of the rushing water around our feet and the slipping sand beneath it ! The high tide was just beginning when we left Auro beach. In the evening, we packed dinner and ate at our hotel itself.
On Sunday morning, we woke up with the knowledge that we did not have much to do that day ! We had heard of a Sunday market on Gandhi street, five minutes away from our hotel. We woke up leisurely and set out towards Surguru, going via Gandhi Street. At around 9 a.m., the shops were still being set up but people were already shopping, searching for the best deals. We finished breakfast and went back to Gandhi Street. By this time, the shopping had started in earnest. The road was full of makeshift stalls. We saw shirts being sold for Rs. 80/-, shoes and slippers, belts, tops, vessels and utensils, books .... all at throwaway prices !
The only place remaining in Puducherry city that we had not seen were the Botanical Gardens. This is a 20 acre park just behind the bus stand. For people of Bengaluru used to Lalbagh, it is not worthy a visit, but since we had the time, we went through the aquarium and spent some time in the sylvan and silent park. From there, we went to Surguru Spot, where we ate lunch. This is another of the Surguru restaurants in the city.
In the afternoon, my wife's parents left for shopping first. We joined them half an hour later, stopping to buy a belt for me and a pair of tops for my wife. I purchased my belt for Rs. 60/- at the Sunday market and so far, it has served me well ! My mother likes the top that my wife purchased and feels she should have bought one more at least ! We bought it at a proper shop, but at Rs. 250/- my wife liked the deal. Her parents also fell for the shopping bug : they bought a knife for Rs. 15/- and a nail-cutter.
We spent the evening watching the waves of the Bay of Bengal crash against the rocks of the Puducherry shore. It was relaxing, listening to the waves and the cries of excited children and for a few minutes I was transported to a world of calm. Then, it was back to reality and the promenade and the hotel !
We ate dinner at Surguru. On Monday morning, we left the hotel at 7:30 a.m., ate breakfast at Hotel Karthik in the bus stand and took the Airavat bus back to Bengaluru. The club class bus felt a lot more comfortable than our onward journey, but that may have been because it was day time and we knew what to expect ! After Thindivanam at around 9:30 a.m.our next major stop was beyond Krishnagiri at around 3:30 p.m. ! It was just as well that my uncle had warned me about this. We had taken guava fruits and pongal, which served as a meal. The bus was empty in Puducherry, but filled up in Tiruvannamalai at around 11 a.m.
Thus ends this blog of three unconnected threads !
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