Life in a Crystal Pot. Review on Pondicherry

Where shall I start? It’s Wednesday morning, 1 am and I’m sitting here at the Hosur petrol bunk getting my puncture fixed. Looking back, oh it was an amazing trip. But could it have been better if my bike hadn't got punctured for the **second time at least?

Life in a crystal pot and I’m sharing one of those beautiful trips been with one of my sweet friends to Pondicherry.

(3 DAYS AGO)-Saturday 5.45 pm

Me:Hey, why don’t we go for a trip?

Friend:Oh, I’m game

Me:But where?

Friend:I don’t know, you say

Me:How about Ooty?

Friend:Nay, I’ve been there.Why not some beach?

Me:Pondy?

Friend:Done

-Saturday 7 pm-

Bangalore traffic and we started our journey through the crowded city getting on the Hosur highways where the trucks don’t dim their eyes and on my Unicorn sailing at a steady speed of 80, crossing mile stones and our eccentric trip to Pondy got some life.

-Saturday 8:30 pm-

You see, my friend doesn’t ride bike so riding all alone could be tiring but am I suppose to show that emoticons here to say that the place was SO EMPTY?? I don’t even find a place to stop or just to relax for a while!! So those narrow roads still taunt me and yep, I see a small shop surrounded with those huge trees. STOP and STARE!!

-Saturday 10 pm-

Covering 350 kms on a bike at a stretch could be tiring and when we have no option to stop and there are no street lights to show if there is any humps ahead, oh crazy!!

-Saturday 11:30 pm-

I see a small town and there are some lights but then I don’t think the place is safe. We stopped to have our dinner. And yes, I was dead hungry. I don’t remember how many Paratha’s I had. That old man was kind enough to serve us since he had almost closed his hotel [Can’t say Hotel but yea!!].

-Sunday 1 am-

I have no option but to ride, and Pondy is the only destination in my mind. And the cold breeze made me feel so sleepy that I just wanted to hit the bed. My meter showed 320 kms and I was sure it’s going to be another 30 kms.

-Sunday 2 am-

The first thing was to find a place where we can stay and relax. I was tired. To be precise, I was too tired. And the first thing I did was to hit the bed and I don’t even remember removing my shoes. We reached Pondy!!

-Sunday Noon-

Like you know, Pondy is a small place where we find a beach crowded by the entire residents and I’m not sure if they all waiting for a mermaid but a beauty, I must confess. So, we went to this beach side hotel 'Ajantha' and had our lunch, admiring the beauty of PONDY BEACH, 'Promenade'!! The first place anyone should go to. Agonizing the remembrance of last dreams, the statue of Joan of Arc glowing a motivation, the heritage town hall, the statue of Mahatma Gandhi standing tall, Dupleix statue, light house, the remains of the old pier, the old customs house, speak the luxury of the by gone era.Just after the lunch, around 2:30 pm taking a round around the small town, happen to know there is another beach named as Paradise Beachwhich is around 8 kms from Pondy. So we reached the other beach and spent some time but then it wasn’t that neat. Anyways, I liked the place since it was calm and quiet.

-Sunday Evening-

I have heard a lot about French colonies in Pondy and I thought maybe some French toast [not exactly] for dinner and visited one of the finest places where we could have some of them. It was this elegant place where we had food along with wine and it tasted too good.

-Unforgettable Monday-

Auroville which is about 6 kms from town was our first destination and I tell you, I was shocked to see this beautiful place. I loved the place and it was so peaceful. There is a history behind this place and they play us with a video of the same just before we get to see that golden globe. So when we were walking back and taking my bike I was so shocked to find my keys missing. My friend was paranoid.  I walked all the way back and don’t know if it was my friends sincere offerings to God or the power of the place, got my keys from one of the securities who had taken our SNAPS!! So we went to Manakkula Vinayaka temple since my friend had made an offering for getting back my keys and spent some time there and of course I remember that elephant who stood outside the temple and blessed people.

-Tuesday Noon-

Aurobindo Ashram was the last place to visit. It was again peaceful and we spent around 30 minutes there since we had to vacate our room and reach Bangalore the same night. So this place is quiet and we got to enter barefoot, meditate and leave quietly.

-Tuesday 6 pm-

We started our journey. Few memories in a crystal pot and I was riding at a steady speed of 90 kms since my intention was to cover those lonely streets and reach Hosur road before it’s too late. But, my bike fell into a gutter and got its tire punchured. But I had no other option than to ride with the same tire but, that couldnt help much so we started pushing the bike, almost for 2 kms and found a workshop. Time was 9:15 pm. I remember his face. His name is Anwar. He didn't have spare tube so managed to fix it for us to travel. We had some food from the nearby hotel and started our journey again. Leaving all those huge trees behind, locking those beautiful moments we cherished in a 'Crystal Pot', sailing all the way through those narrow roads... Memories never die... Do they?

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Now, when I look back, it was fun. Oh, I got my tube replaced!!** I can reach Bangalore in another 1.30 hours. I wish you all a happy journey to Pondy and make sure that you don’t travel on a bike. I don't know if I was crazy but I have no regrets. Take care.