Ladies weekend in Pondicherry

I'm going to rewind all the way back to the first weekend in November so I can tell you about our fun ladies' trip to Pondicherry. One of the great things about being at a relatively small post (and at a "hardship" post in particular) is the camaraderie that develops among the families posted together. There's a "we're in this together" kind of feeling that pushes you to build relationships where you might otherwise keep your distance.

Here in Chennai we do a lot of exploring together. It's usually to idli shops or flower markets or fabric bazaars, but sometimes we go a little further afield. In November it was to Pondicherry. This was the first trip I've taken without John or the kids. Samuel's at an age that lets me do it now, and I feel like I'm entering a new phase in life.

Here are most of the ladies early Saturday morning just before heading down the coast.

 

Most of us rode together in what we called the party van, because check out this decor! And there were mirrors on the ceiling. What?

 

 

We stopped just north of Pondicherry to explore Auroville, which is a little hard to describe. The town was founded in 1968 by people from all over the world who follow someone called The Mother and her teachings, and they say they're trying to build the model city. They claim not to be a religion, but to be followers of the "Divine Consciousness" or of  "the supreme Truth." I'm not exactly sure how that's not a religion, but there it is.

 

The center of the community is the Matrimandir, a huge round building that houses a 70 cm clear crystal globe that followers use in meditation. We had to sit through a film and get a ticket before we could walk out to see the Matrimandir. We couldn't go inside to see the crystal, though. This photo doesn't do justice to the size of the thing.

 

 

Auroville is an odd place, but really interesting. I had good discussions about religion and spirituality with several members of our group.

 

As usual, we became a tourist attraction at the tourist attraction ...



 

There's a huge banyan tree at the center of Auroville. Those things that look like poles are actually shoots that the tree sends out to support itself as it grows.

The main attraction for our group, though, was Auroville's shops. The community supports itself by selling its art, which includes all kinds of jewelry, clothing, textiles, handmade paper and soaps and candles, musical instruments, woodwork, ceramics ... you name it and you'll find it here. I bought some great handmade paper.

 

 

Then it was on to Pondicherry, with a quick stop at this incredible antiques store. It was actually a man's house and outbuildings, which were overflowing with incredible stuff like these carved doors.

 

He had trunks, tables, beds, thousands of chairs, smaller carvings and puja items, carved screens ... I've decided that there are some people who can look at something old and dusty and see the potential in it and know how to get to that potential. I'm apparently not one of those people. There were some beautiful things there, but mainly I felt overwhelmed. I had more fun at some of the smaller antiques stores we visited, where the selection wasn't so enormous and most things had already been restored.

Our hotel was right on the Promenade, so most of us went for a walk after checking in. Here's my room ... I had it ALL TO MYSELF!!

Here are a couple of shots from our walk along the Promenade (stolen from other people, since I didn't have my camera with me).



This huge statue of Gandhi was right in front of our hotel.

 

 

We checked out some more antique and handicrafts shops and then had a fun dinner at the rooftop restaurant in the hotel. It was the company that made it fun, though, because I don't think I've ever had worse service. That's saying something when you live in India, believe me. It was a beautiful night, though, and it was fun to eat outside by the ocean and the old lighthouse.

The most hilarious part of the trip was our stop at a French bakery the next morning. You can't understand our need for good bread and pastries and cheeses, because you haven't lived in Chennai. It's a lovely place, but it's really all South Indian food all the time. I love South Indian food, but when the girls organizing the trip told us we would be stopping at the bakery I joined everyone else in sending a nice-sized pre-order for baguettes and pain chocolat.

Imagine 15 bread-starved women descending on this bakery all at once, chattering and giggling and behaving like they'd spent weeks crawling through the Sahara. It took a while, but everyone's order got filled and we had French pastries to munch on for the ride home.

We were driving along just north of Pondicherry, when we saw this huge carved wooden horse ...

... and we just had to stop and check it out. It was standing outside one of countless roadside antiques shops. We spent a good hour exploring a few of them, where we saw old statues of Hindu dieties and demons ...

... and more exquisitely carved doors and furniture, among other things. Bibi figured out how to pack a new/old coffee table into the van with us, and Kate bought these carved doors. (The doors wouldn't fit in the van ... they would be restored and delivered later.)

The drive to and from Pondicherry along the coast road is really beautiful, so there was plenty to see and talk about on the ride home.

It was a fantastic trip, and I'm really glad I went. We've been incredibly lucky in our first post. Not only is India beautiful and fascinating, but we've been surrounded with wonderful people, too.