Pondy’s beachfront

I cooled off in a beach side restaurant because it wasn’t only the thirty-two degree heat that had me wilting, but the high humidity drenching my skin. I sat talking to a Mumbai visitor while the Bay of Bengal beckoned.

At the feet of Gandhi

How could I be in India without taking at least one photo of a statue of India’s beloved Mahatma? It seemed every Indian vacationing in Pondy wanted to do the same.

Puducherry’s Bharathi Park

In the midst of Pondy was a little green space, Bharathi Park. A walkway skirted the octagonal perimeter under shady trees past a children’s playground.

Puducherry’s French Quarter

I roamed back and forth along streets designated as the French Quarter.

A French tourist staying at my homestay advised I look out for buildings with columns. Most of them were a bit of a disappointment, but at least one stood out as stylish.

Puducherry

I bussed south from Chennai and passed walled plots of coconut plantations, pine trees, an occasional rice paddy field and gained a taste of the old India. But resorts were encroaching on this farmland to the point where some farmers had signs plastered on boundary walls, “This property isn’t for sale.”