Tag Archive for 'Puducherry'

Foreign food in surprising places

Published on June 19, 2009 in Culture, Food and Travel. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

No time to travel in Paris? Get a French infusion in Pondicherry instead. For a dose of India, look no further than Singapore. From the Wall Street Journal:

PONDICHERRY

pondicherryAs Bastille Day events go, the reception was rather low-key: a speech by the French consul, a few plateaux of fromage and saucisson — that’s trays of cheese and sausage to the English speaker — but no parades or fireworks or singing of “La Marseillaise,” the French national anthem.

Still, the interesting point is that the event happened at all. Why should this tranquil Indian city of 220,000 people, 8,000 kilometers from Paris in a country that was once a British colony, mark France’s July 14 national day? The answer lies in its peculiar history: From 1674 until 1954, seven years after Indian independence from Britain, this little corner of the country was an off-and-on French possession. And while the tricolor flag no longer flies, there remain some connections to France, including three representatives in the Assemblée des Français de l’Etranger (Assembly of Overseas French).

The prospect was enough to draw my wife, who is French, and me to the city now officially called Puducherry (the old name is still used, and the nickname remains “Pondy”). It’s in the far southeast corner of India, an easy three-hour drive from Chennai. More: [Image: vegdevil / CC]

SINGAPORE

Whenever Sydney resident Priya Jaikumsingaporear flies to London, she always schedules a two-day stopover in Singapore to get her India fix.

For Mrs. Jaikumar, who immigrated to Australia from India 20 years ago, it’s a chance to stock up on glittering saris, ornate gold jewelry and Bollywood music, hit up a few temples and stuff herself with inexpensive Indian food. If there’s a chance, she also tries to catch a dance recital or two.

“All our relatives now live in London or Sydney, so we don’t get back to India much any more,” she says. “But we love to stop in Singapore when we travel; we’re really able to get a taste of India that we miss so much.”

If you can’t make it to India, Singapore’s large and vibrant Indian community may offer the next best thing. Ethnic Indians, who comprise 9% of the city-state’s population, date back to the establishment of the British colony in 1819, when they arrived as assistants and soldiers. Later in the 19th century came a second wave, mostly Tamils from southern India, to work as laborers. More: [Image: akuppa / CC]

Hidesign and the French connection

Published on August 30, 2008 in Business. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

In Mint-Lounge, Priya Ramani profiles Dilip Kapur, president and founder of Hidesign:

Dilip Kapur, founder of Hidesign

Dilip Kapur, founder of Hidesign

What did luxury powerhouse Louis Vuitton (LV) see in a (relatively) small Indian leather goods manufacturer? How did the French brand even think of setting up a factory-its first in Asia and one that will likely end up being its largest in the world-in Puducherry of all places? Why did the intensely private company buy a stake in Hidesign, an Indian company that began as a hobby in 1970s Auroville, India’s French hub?

Dilip Kapur, 60, president of Hidesign, the free spirit who began his life as an entrepreneur with Rs25,000 (for a sewing machine, some leather and a worker, all accommodated on a thatched shed on his roof) and who now has a Rs100 crore turnover, can’t answer these questions.

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At a retreat in India, lessons on yoga and life

Published on August 21, 2008 in Education and Travel. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

In the International Herald Tribune, Kyle Jarrard visits Puducherry (earlier known as Pondicherry) in India:

In the old French quarter of Puducherry.
In the old French quarter of Puducherry.

The first sound in the morning is crows, right at 5. Then we hear waves off the Bay of Bengal slapping the shore. In the garden, a man meditates while walking quickly over the lawn of the ashram guest house in the dark. Along the shore, other men pace the beach in the silver jetty light. Fishing boat lanterns like stars ride the black sea south to north.

My wife and I have come to this old French comptoir (formerly Pondichéry) in southeast India mostly for the yoga. The classes used to be held in one of the many parcels of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram scattered across the colonial city. But for this retreat, there’s a new venue and to get there you have to be on Ajit Sarkar’s bus by 5:45. There are 20 or so of us, nearly all from France.

[googlemaps http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=India&mrt=all&ie=UTF8&s=AARTsJqveHHE4QxarzrzRfBueiuB2RxgHg&ll=12.538478,80.205688&spn=1.608596,1.647949&z=8&output=embed&w=300&h=300]

Ajit, in his 70s now, grew up in this famous ashram with his parents, who went into the retreat founded and inspired by the yogi and guru Sri Aurobindo and his vision of universal consciousness and peace. In this idyllic world, Ajit learned everything from ballet to track to gymnastics, but especially yoga, a skill he has taught with acclaim for decades both in India and in France.

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Pondicherry’s French connection

Published on March 29, 2008 in Travel. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

In the colonial city of Pondicherry — or Puducherry, as it is officially known but rarely called — southern India meets the South of France. Matt Gross in The New York Times:

pondicherry.jpg

In the garden of the 33-room Promenade, Pondicherry’s second-newest boutique hotel, situated (surprise!) right on the promenade, well-heeled patrons – mostly Western, with a smattering of Indians – drank cocktails and dangled their feet in a small pool. It was a Tuesday in March, but it felt like a summer Friday.

North of the park sat the equally tranquil Pondicherry Museum, an old mansion full of relics from the past, both recent and distant. For 20 minutes, I was the only visitor, wandering alone among the carriages and cannonballs, ornate dining room sets and bronze statues of goddesses, until I found a display of 2,000-year-old Roman amphorae from the nearby archaeological dig at Arikamedu.

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