A Perfect Day in Pondicherry

It was time for our grand graduation trip and we decided upon the perfectly lazy and idyllic Pondicherry with its cheap alcohol and oodles of freedom without the done to death wildness of Goa. And the trip had quite a few surprises for us.

The first was the 150 Kms road trip from Chennai to Pondicherry – out of sheer laziness we had chosen to splurge on a cab instead of taking the bus to Pondicherry from the Chennai railway station and it was worth every extra paisa. The road was amazing with terrific views on the way. We had started late in the afternoon and it was pitch dark half way through the drive but even the continuous hypnotic glare of the road strips, the steady hum of the engine at a constant high speed, and the rush of the wind, made it one of my personal favourites.

The next day started on a wonderful high note. Armed with very detailed road maps provided by the hotel, we hired scooties (Rs. 200/- for the entire day) early in the morning and made our way to the quaint Le Café – a must visit café and the only cafe on the Promenade Beach of Pondicherry, framing the sight of the waves crashing on the embankment through its old wood worked balcony. The view and a sumptuous English breakfast was a perfect beginning to a perfect day.

After breakfast, a lazy walk along the Promenade studying the various historical landmarks and statues along it, was followed by a very pleasant 13 Km scooty ride to Autryville through mainly shaded by quiet roads.

Auroville is a wonder in itself. Known as an experimental township established on the ideals of Shri Aurobindo Ghose, it was established by Mirra Alfassa, popularly called the Mother. Now, it has a population of about 2500 people from over 50 countries, seeking spiritual transformation. The main attraction here is the Matri Mandir at the very centre of the Auroville at an area called ‘Peace’, and it is called the ‘Soul of the City’. Visitor’s cannot enter the Matri Mandir as it is a place for meditation in isolation and can only be entered by Aurovillians. However, visitors trek the trail from the entrance to Peace to view this large golden sphere gleaming in the sun. It is supposed to create the illusion of emerging out of the earth to symbolise the birth of a new consciousness. 

We were welcomed to the Auroville by the sound of gigantic wind chimes tied high up in the air and a pervading calmness. The environment was infectious and we just sat under the shade of the trees just soaking it all in, hardly talking to each other.  The walk to the MatriMandir was beautiful, through shades artificially made by creepers and on the way is a Banyan tree, a little over a hundred years old, covering a huge expanse of land. The Matri Mandir was indeed a sight to behold, gleaming bright and golden amongst the beautiful gardens. 

Giving Auroville Beach a miss due to the increasing mid day heat, we came back to Pondicherry after a lazy lunch at a café enroute to the city. Later in the day, we rode through the French Quarter to marvel at the quaintness of this part of the city. Every building in this quarter deserves a series of pictures of their own. Reluctantly we finally left to visit the Arulmigu Manakula Vinayagar Devasthanam temple, which Temple built before the French came and settled in Pondicherry i.e. before 1666. Here we encountered, besides the colourful and unusual architecture, an elephant who was blessing people by bumping its truck to people bowed head. 

Finally, thoroughly tired, we came back to our now favourite spot, the Promenade Beach, for a terrific sunset on the beach. This 1.2 Km stretch along the sea is closed to traffic during time and loads of people come down here for a peaceful stroll in the evening. We followed suit and saw the War Memorial, the Gandhi Statue and the Light House along the Beach.

Another over-indulgent meal in later, we called it a day and moved on to our next stop, Kodai Kanal – an overnight trip by bus.

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