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.
3 comments:
piya,
this is such a wonderful blog! i love looking at all of the bits of your adventures-especially the images of games and doorways.
hope all is well,
carolynb
hey! I love the picture of the pink elephant! I thought it would be a pretty cool picture when I saw you taking it, but it really came out amazingly well! You should frame this one - there's something so diamond-in-the-rough about this.
Hey Carolyn, it's great bumping into you on the blog : ). Hope you're doing great. love, piya
ps: hello philippa! beware: i'd dedicating a blog to you soon.
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