Deadlines, Drudgery, and Luxury

Wow. Since getting back to Delhi, I've been on constant deadline at the magazine. Somehow, in some bizarre twist, I'm in charge of putting together a "Luxury Booklet". How did this happen??? By the way, here's a little tid-bit: did you know the word "luxury" is derived from the the Latin word "luxus", which means indulgence of the senses regardless of the cost?

Hmmm...which gets me thinking. What's my definition of luxury? Oh yes. Hanging out in a true-blue pool with a new best friend... talking about life, boys, the universe... drinking fresh lemonade... playing a game of 'Marco Polo' with two seven and ten year old sisters who seem to live in the water like baby mermaids... in the evening, going for a bike ride through a fisherman's village...dodging lazy frogs hopping across a red-dirt path... and finally at night, looking up at a sky so clear you think you can see the galaxy.

Sparkys

Before heading back to Delhi, we spent a day in Chennai. Here, we visited Chennai's only All-American diner called "Sparkys". This place was recommended to me by my competitive-eater friend Dale Boone, who's a top-ranking member of the International Federation of Competitive Eating. Dale spends half the year in Chennai making movies and the other half in the States competing in competitions like NYC's "Nathan's Hotdog Eating Competition". He's a regular at Sparkys because it has an all-you-can-eat buffet on weekends. I fell in love with the place instantly too.

Outside, the awning says, "Never trust a skinny chef". Inside, the place is crammed with U.S. license plates, photos of famous American celebrities, and the various booths are dedicated to each of the 50 states. We talked with Tom, the owner and chef (who's not skinny), and who's originally from Hawaii but has lived in Chennai for over 30 years. He is a natural story-teller and life-adventurer. Philippa and I sat at the "New Orleans" table. She ate a meatball sub, and I had country-fried chicken with gravy and mashed potatoes. All the while, Ella Fitzgerald and Charlie Bird Parker played in the background. This was one of the strangest, most wonderful meals I've ever eaten.

Sunburn

The Kailash has the most perfect pool. The water is blue and warm, and in various nooks and crannies you'll find ceramic steps of various gradations to lounge on in-between laps. Philippa and I spent a whole day by the pool-side swapping life stories (she took the photo above while lounging on a recliner)... We also ended up making friends with other pool-goers, namely two young sisters aged seven and ten, who taught us how to do underwater back-flips and handstands. The sun in Pondicherry is brutal though, and I got my first sunburn in 23 years. The last time was on a family vacation to Mexico when I was seven! Below is a shot of the Kailash pool at night...

The Puducherry Auto-Rickshaw Drivers' Association

On my way back from Auroville, I came across an intriguing sight. A group of men standing next to a billboard with a photo of Sonia Gandhi on it. Turns out this is the Puducherry Auto-Rickshaw Drivers' Association, a political society, inaugurated on February 7, 2007. This BJP government sponsored club for auto-rickshaw drivers (auto-rickshaws are a type of Indian scooter-taxi) consists pretty much of the sign, under which drivers gather on the street corner in-between shifts to swap news and views of the day, and play endless games of Carrom (an Indian boardgame that's a mixture between billiards and checkers). The gentleman in the white, Sebastian, is the current reigning champ. These guys are a friendly bunch, and let me join in on their game which brought back fun memories. I used to play Carrom as a kid when I'd visit my granddad during those long-ago childhood summers.

Auroville

While in Pondicherry, my editor asked me to write a story about a place called Auroville, a self-sustaining Utopian society built 50 years ago on the outskirts of Pondicherry. If you visit Auroville's website (www.auroville.org) it says: "Auroville wants to be a universal town where men and women of all countries are able to live in peace and progressive harmony above all creeds, all politics and all nationalities. The purpose of Auroville is to realise human unity." Started under a banyan tree on February 28th, 1968 with some 5000 people, today Auroville has a population of 1,700 people from 35 different nations living as neighbors in homes built amidst the jungle (about 1/3 of Aurovillians are Indian). Auroville even has its own school (an examless place called "The Last School"), cafeterias, pizza-shops, a temple, and various community centers.

I interviewed a gentleman named Dilip, (who grew up here), and his 12-year-old daughter, Ayesha, who's half-German. Ayesha took me to her neighbor's peacock farm, where we gathered peacock feathers while she told me about her best-friends, a Korean brother and sister duo named Hansal and Danbi, and a French girl named Sisilia. Later, I chatted with her dad in their beautiful home (pictured above), about growing up in Auroville. In some ways, the people here are really cosmpolitan. They know alot about the world because they live amidst so many nationalities, and many people who live here make yearly visits to friends and family in big cities across the globe. But in other ways, Aurovillians retain a certain innocence, "They're so secluded; they live in an ivory tower", says Dilip. His older son, who's a Rhode Scholar and who went to Harvard, gave up a cushy job at a top-bank and moved back to Auroville where he's writing a book. Dilip said about the kids who grow up here, "They have a hard time in the material world, but they're also very adaptable. They learn to be independent in how they live; they're not interested in going out and getting a job and doing the typical things. My son told me when he moved back here, 'I blame you; you've made me unfit to live a normal life!'"

Lost in Pondicherry

Philippa and I decided to explore downtown Pondicherry, an intricate network of streets lined with flower-filled homes, beautiful cathedrals, shops, parks, and hotels. We ended up getting thoroughly lost in the French Quarter's maze of quaint "rues", and as we tried to find our way, we uncoverd and discovered all sorts of small, beautiful, ordinary things that filled us with delight and left us in awe. For instance, while walking along the promenade, a big strip of pavement running parallel to the startlingly blue ocean, we saw large ceramic rabbits hugging garbage bins...

We stumbled onto a street so white it reminded me of a fairy-tale...

I saw a pink elephant tucked away inside crumbling walls...

The heat in Pondicherry, especially during mid-morning, is blazing, and at random corners, under lush green trees, old men standing behind wooden carts squeezed out fresh lemonade from lemons the color of the sun...

On another street corner, we saw a parrot playing cards and gambling with a group of school-aged children who seemed suspiciously like they were skipping class...

As we walked, we passed tiny temples with roof-top etchings of colorful Gods and animals; and, along alley-ways, we found small antique stores with beautifully carved sculptures of horses and lions...

Even the run-down doors and crumbling buildings in Pondicherry are beautiful, many of them relics of French colonial life.

The Beach Nextdoor

As soon as we put our bags away, we decided to explore the beautiful beach right outside the gates of The Kailash. Below are some photos Philippa, photographer extraordinaire, took. In fact, she's a fellow blogger too, and you can read about her three months in India on her wonderful blog: www.pippalehar.com/indiablog

You can't see them, but the beach was filled with translucent crabs scuttling about.

As we walked farther down, we met a large family from the nearby fishing village who were enjoying an evening swim. They spoke Tamil, Hindi, French and English! We all had fun posing for photos together. That's one of the odd quirks about India. People love to get themselves photographed, regardless of whether they get a copy of the photo or not. It seems all the magic and fun lies simply in taking the picture.

The Kailash

In Pondicherry, we're staying at a place called The Kailash. It's tucked away at the end of a dusty road that runs through a fishing and farming village on the outskirts of the town.

Philippa (pictured above) stayed here in the beginning of her trip to India and she couldn't stop raving about it. It's even better than I'd imagined.

The Kailash is a pink-walled haven, filled with the scent of a thousand flowers, greenery at every step, a big blue pool, and the sound of the ocean nearby. It's owned by a wild-haired gentleman named Raj, who's Indian but has a French accent and who spent a large part of his childhood in Vietnam. Raj meant for The Kailash to be a small home for himself and his wife, but then turned it into a resort. He and his Argentinian friend Dara (who looks after the property) treat their guests like old friends, and during dinner in the lamp-lit patio it's not uncommon for them to join you at your table and tell stories about life and love.

Magical Pondicherry

I've finally made a friend here in India. Philippa's from Boston, and has been visiting the sub-continent for the past three months due to her job. She works in publishing and came to India to meet some of the Indian vendors her company works with. My dear college friend Nitasha put us in touch, since she thought I might be able to show Philippa around. Turns out, Philippa's seen more of India than I have, even in her short time here!

When we first met in February, she told me about this magical place in South India called Pondicherry. I've always wanted to visit, so as a fun farewell to Philippa's last week in India, we decided to take an impromptu break from hectic Delhi life and visit somewhere wonderful.

Pondicherry, now renamed "Puducherry" as a way to throw off the last vestiges of colonialism, has a population of 900,000 but retains the innocence and charm of a small village. There are no airports in this once-upon-a-time French Colonial town, so you have to drive three hours from Chennai (the nearest city) along a coastal road lined with palm trees and beaches.

All along our drive there, we passed these huge billboards advertising Pondicherry and the various resorts in it. My two favorites were: "Pondicherry-- Give Time a Break" and "Pondicherry--Restless and Yet so Calming." Our taxi-driver was a small Tamil man who spoke no English, had a shy smile, and a cell-phone with a ringer that sounded like a rooster crowing!

Just going by the drive, Pondicherry is a place like no other.

Color

Photo Postcard to a Friend:


"Yesterday Nani and I went to her favorite tailor shop, "Eves." Nani hadn't been there in six years. The mission was to get her some salwar kameezes (an indian dress--long shirt and baggy pants) made in pretty colors. Nani's been wearing brown, black, gray and white for the past couple of years.

So we went to Eve's with swathes of cloth----rose pink, lemon yellow, white with pink paisly, and dewy blue...The place was a riot of color itself. it's run by this family (mom, dad, daughter) and they have all these men stitching on old machines in a small room in the back.

The owner ("Bholla" is her name) remembered Nani and even had all her measurements carefully recorded from years back (which have increased a little since). The best part is when Nani uses her age as a bargaining tool. She'll say in her sweetest, oldest sounding voice, "Bholla, daughter, I'm an old lady. I don't have any money. Make it 1000 rupees..." and then she'll actually put her hand on Bholla's hand as she's writing the bill and make kissing sounds and say, "No, daughter, no, don't make it so much." Nani is evil! I'm attaching her "game face" aka "bargaining face" below..."