Pondicherry – Give time a break!
Part 2
I
returned from Pondicherry with pleasant memories and thought I’d come back soon
but it took nearly a year for me to return to the city in Nov 2013. The
memories of the city had faded, including the innumerable statues and how
people navigated the place! :P In that sense, this was another new
visit to the city and the people.
Thara and
I had a pleasant bus journey and reached Green Palace Hotel at around 5.30am,
waking up the hotel staff to check us in; ) Our room was at 4th floor
(4106), a simple yet clean room. We reached office in the morning, and had a
busy day ahead. We were joined by Sumithra in the evening for a quick outing to
the beach. The ocean, the wind, the beach shops, the temple, Anand Bhavan and
all the places around refreshed my memory and I relived the happy experience
once again J This time, we had a nice dinner at a French place,
travelled by bus and headed home happy. The evening was fantastic with great
company and beautiful beach.
The next
day, I along with a bunch of colleagues visited the international short film
festival at Pondicherry University, for the movie ‘Nero’s guests’ – a fine
movie showcasing the work of P Sainath, watched in rapt attention by the
audience. The movie pierced my heart, and I couldn’t take the reality of
Vidarbha tragedy. We were soon joined by Sainath himself amidst a thundering
applause showing deep respect and appreciation for his grass root
work. The next hour was all about Sainath, and his firey speech,
with each statistics telling a grim story. I was emotionally drained and lost
in melancholy.
We came back to office for lunch, and my hang over was hard to
get over. I looked for some magic to pull me out from the morning depression,
and god answered it with a sweet surprise! I got a phone call from a friend and
pepped me up completely; I was relieved to find myself smiling and continued
the day ahead. While the experience of the morning was disturbing, I was glad
to have gone there and witnessed the film festival – a day that changed my
perspective and strengthened my conviction for the cause and continue my
journey of service.
The last
day of the trip was a visit to Auroville, an experience of tranquility yet
adventurous. After a nice day at Auroville, I headed back to the city for
an evening with Sumithra, had fun time chatting up, dinner near the beach and
spent quite moments watching the ever rolling, splashing white waves and bid
good bye to the beautiful city of Pondicherry.
A
heritage city with a potpourri of different cultures and beautiful people;
surrounded by a stunning ocean, seducing every visitor to come back again, and
again!
No comments:
Post a Comment