First trip with my ex colleagues to Pondicherry (Puducherry)

I have worked with my ex colleagues for about 2 years with 1 year and more in lockdown. I know and have bonded with almost everyone from the team, all thanks to the team bonding activities (One of my favorite things about my ex office). It has been a great working experience as everyone was super friendly and cool, irrespective of age.

I am used to travelling with 2 of my friends, who I know for almost a decade and so we are quite comfortable with each other. This being my first trip with my ex colleagues, with a huge group of 8 and having visited Pondicherry earlier, everyone was looking forward to me when it came to sight seeing. I was a bit skeptical about it at first. The responsibility of being a tour guide, a trip with quite a large group, I had all type of questions running back of my mind like, will they like the places I recommend, will they roam around or just chill at one place, how will I enjoy a trip with a larger group, will we end up arguing, how will I adjust with food (being a vegetarian myself and a majority of them being non vegetarians) and many such stupid ones. BUT, I ended up having super duper fun and left with an amazing experience. I realized that a huge group can be much more fun (sorry you two).

The destination, Pondicherry, was decided as we had only a few days in hand and a majority of people of the same team were supposed to take leaves. The trip started from Mumbai Airport. We booked a Mumbai-Chennai flight since Pondicherry is not far away from Chennai, we were supposed to travel by road later. Our flight was around 9 pm and so, many of us left for the airport by 6 or 6:30pm. Obviously, everyone was excited to meet each other after a long time (Thanks to work from home!) and we happened to skip dinner as everyone thought that we would meet and eat something at the airport. Hahahaha! Life is not so good. Majority of stalls and shops were shut at the domestic airport! Initially we were shocked and happy to see an empty domestic airport and Karma hit us. No food. Our trip had hardly started and this was happening.

Day 1 started like this…

It was flight time, we played games on flight and finally landed Chennai around 1am. Huge Nataraja welcomed us to Chennai.

Luckily, couple of stalls and shops were open this late in Chennai and a few had some food left at their stalls. We somehow managed to eat some rice and coffee and left the place by 3:30 am. We took 2 cabs and reached Pondicherry by 6 am. But this was not it, we got a small place to rest, that was, a couple of chairs and a sofa since the villa we booked was already occupied and finally after waiting for almost an eternity, got our villa by noon. Finally our struggle for a good place to sleep was over. Our rented bikes were in front of our villa gate, much before we got our villa as renting a bike is very easy in Puducherry. We did not sleep though, got ready and straightaway headed for the day. Had good lunch and headed for the light house. It is peace to visit this light house and so I insisted on visiting it before the clock hit 5pm, its closing time. But again, THANKS to Covid, the light house was closed for the visitors. We ended up spending good time and collecting shells at the adjoining beach. It was empty, and serene. Later, we went for a walk on Promenade and Rock beach. After a series of photo sessions, we girls went for some shopping (the boys were least interested and hence, we sent them back to the villa) at the market, its similar to an exhibition which is open throughout the year. This market has a variety of artifacts. You get jewelry made from coconut shells, ceramic artwork, sea shell art works, incense sticks, lamps, wooden toys and much more. As we reached our villa, all the boys were spread throughout the villa and were in deep sleep, not even realizing that we were back. That concluded our day 1 after a good dinner.

Day 2

After going through a hectic day, day 2 started pretty slow. It was a chill day, the weather was cloudy and calm. After a good south Indian breakfast at an nearby south Indian restaurant, we headed for Matri Mandir, Auroville. The road is just amazing to drive, less traffic and no pot holes. The parking fees at Auroville is ₹20. Now generally, it takes you around 15 mins to reach Matri Mandir Viewing point from the entrance but it took us about an hour! No, we did not miss any turn or any road, we all clicked about 10,000 pictures on our way.

After finally reaching the viewing point, I was, a very little bit, disappointed as renovation work was in progress everywhere around. But the cheerfulness of our group made me forget about it. The specifications of Matri Mandir is displayed near the entrance. It does not literally translates to a temple but Matri Mandir is a meditation space.

Again a row of picture clicking began and after spending around half hour at the place, we finally were returning when we again took a break for making reels for the then famous Shrivalli hook step! It took us another hour to shoot it and none of it turned out to be a perfect shot.

Auroville is a whole different world where you are a resident of Auroville and not any specific country, you are free to do whatever you like, be it farming, construction, painting, literally or anything. It’s a place where barter system is practiced even in 2022. The products that are made in Auroville are sold here as well as online ( https://www.auroville.com/ ) like incense sticks, essential oils, coffee, chocolates, clothes and much more. There are cafes which serve the best croissants. We had some snacks here and left for the day.

Returning to our villa, we had a blast. Played games, people had booze (being an union territory, its cheaper here), learned a few dance hook steps, again there was reel shootings and more fun. We concluded our day 2 with a tasty south Indian feast.

Day 3

One of my room mates always asked me to lock the door before sleeping as one of the boys wakes up early and troubles others. We followed this locking system every night. This morning, he started waking everyone since 6:30 am, one of my room mates woke up on his 3rd attempt and came back. After trying again for a few more times, he started playing music at very high volume, the sound was turned so high that the neighbors came requesting to lower the sound and he had to stop playing music. And this is how our Day 3 began. This being our last day in Puducherry, we started our day by visiting 2 of the famous temples of the area followed by a delicious and lip smacking lunch at a nearby Asian Restaurant.

After having a fulfilling lunch, we headed towards Paradise Island. You can visit the island either by boat or road, mostly people prefer boat. The parking charges is ₹20 and per person entrance charge is ₹10. The boat charges to reach Paradise Island is ₹ 350 per person (these are 2022, the charges may/not vary). It takes you around 20 mins to reach this island by boat. This is a small island which is unlike the Kokan or Goa beaches.

The beach is clean. No similar water activities like Kokan and Goa beaches. There are a few other activities like dash car, rain dance, fish spa having separate charges. The island also has a small café where you get south Indian food.

After spending a leisure time at Paradise Island, playing in water, throwing sand at each other, having a short war with sandals, bottles, we left the island when it was almost evening. The island too closes by 5 pm. We headed for the villa, shopped for souvenirs, eatables for small ones and after dinner and games, called it a day. We had to catch an early morning flight the next day from Chennai so again we had to start at night for Chennai. Everyone took some rest and we headed for Chennai airport by 3 am.

You would not like to miss a visit to Mahabalipuram if you have a day or two to spare. Located between Chennai and Puducherry, it is known for its temples and monuments built by the Pallava dynasty in the 7th and 8th centuries of which Krishna’s butter ball is a famous attraction

To conclude, Pondicherry or Puducherry was a mesmerizing trip. Many tourist spots including a few beaches, which gets closed by 5 pm. Pondicherry is a blend of French and Tamil culture. People here speak either Tamil or English, a place where filter coffee is heaven. The Churches in Puducherry are feast to the eyes with French architecture. And the same goes for the temples. While walking at Promenade, you come across many tourist places like Aurobindo Ashram (also closes by 5 pm), Mahatma Gandhi Memorial, French War Memorial, Old light house, etc. White town, influenced by French Architecture, is a place for Instagrammers, just stand in front of any property and there you go.

Puducherry, where bright color houses are normal and French cuisine is a must try, a beautiful land in India.