The French Quarter of India? Surely you’re joking! Only 160km south of Chennai lies the seacoast town of Pondicherry (Puducherry.) This anomaly on the Bay of Bengal is an oasis in the otherwise noisy, crowded, and rushed world of India. Controlled variously by the French, English, and Indians over its colorful history, Punucherry represents welcome relief from the bustling Indian cities. We could easily have been in Paris or New Orleans. Coffee and croissant, cappuccino and pastry, espresso and crème brulee. Puducherry reconnects us with western European familiarity. We are no longer the only white faces in a sea of Indians. The pace slows. The breeze is welcome. The change of scenery is restful. Yet we do not escape the ubiquity of poverty. The beggars are still working the streets. The familiarity eases our discomfort. It’s just a reminder of what a long, strange trip it’s been.
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