Pondicherry really is one of the loveliest cities in India

I just spent a week and a half in Auroville. I'm really too tired to start banging on about Auroville right now, but it's a great concept, a man-made town inaugurated in 1968 as a place where ' men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities'. I was here years ago but back then I really wasn't so perceptive to such things as eco-living and communal experimentation. This time I'm happily switched on. Of course, one needs at least six months to a year of living among the people of Auroville to understand the place, and to feel the attitudes which exist just beneath the surface.

But the constitution is sound and it's yet another example of the great tolerance of India, to allow such an experiment on their own soil. For all the drawbacks of such a complex, populous, and conservative society, there is a certain aspect of Indian thinking which is way ahead of its time. I really don't want to do Auroville a disfavour by summarizing it all up in a single paragraph, but at the same time I can't be arsed to write anything else about it. The official website of the universal township of Auroville can be found here.

About 10km south of Auroville lies the former French colony of Pondicherry. It's a friendly city with a mad weekly market, a few good eateries which try hard to emulate their former French counterparts, and a mixed population of Hindu, Muslim and Catholic Tamils. It prides itself on having a reputation as the French Riviera of the East. Colonial mansions brightly painted in blues and yellows nestle alongside Tamil bungalows with shady verandahs and long gardens, while people snooze on the pavement beneath the trees, and cycle-rickshaws and old Ambassador taxis cruise the wide, tree-lined streets. If this paints a pretty picture, then I'm happy, because Pondicherry really is one of the loveliest cities in India. posted by matt at 10:56 AM Wednesday, February 21, 2007