The sadness of the lovely holiday getting over was hitting hard, we were up by 6.30 am and decided to hit the beach, we planned out the day because it was the last day in Pondy and we did not want to waste a minute. We rushed to the beach and stayed there, playing in the water, drenched top to down, side to side and never wanting to get dry. My husband was very reluctant to get in to the water because washing his hair was such a pain…he was the official photographer of the trip… he would sit on the sand, guard mine and Maggie’s towel and phones and just watch us play..and also drool at white women besides clicking photos and shooting videos.
We persuaded him to get into the water as it was the last day at Pondy. He finally agreed, but the question was, who would look after our belongings??? We found an old couple sitting on the beach and watching us play. We decided to take their help. We approached them and started rattling out in English, they kept giving us the “what the fuck are you talking” look. Then they spoke in another foreign language, which I thought was Russian..though I don’t know even one word of Russian. We started out actions and they understood!! We left our things with them and then hit the waters, my husband is a good swimmer, he went right into the waves and swam and was gone for a few seconds…Maggie and me stopped in our tracks and looked out, we could not find him!!!! I thought for a minute that the wonderful holiday was over, abruptly. Finally…some where 10 feet away from where he dived we saw his head surface. That was the end, he swam up to the shore and it was the last time I will ever let him enter the sea. Period. I had had enough adventure at the sea, we thanked the old couple and waved good bye to them. We decided to go back to the resort, shower and have breakfast and pack our bags. We went as per plan, took a quick shower and packed our bags and had breakfast. It was 12 noon by then, only few hours before we leave :(
We went to Beach Cottage for lunch and ate as less as possible because we planned to go hit Appachi’s for dinner. We then walked to the beach, for the last time in Pondicherry. Though it was sunny, we decided to bare all odds and have fun. We did not enter the water, but just sat there and enjoyed the scene. I collected sea shells and everything possible from the beach sans. The time was 4.30pm, our bus back to Bangalore was at 10.38pm, yes, 10.38pm was the timings printed on the ticket. With just 6 hours left for departure sadness had filled out hearts and was seeping into our souls… We wanted to pep up the evening, we went to the Coffee Shop on the beach and had cappuccinos. After all the sea shell collecting, we bid a tearful good bye to the beach and left to the resort. We packed all our bags and chilled out for sometime savouring the last few hours at Pondicherry.
We called our chauffer driven auto and Durai was in Auroba by 8pm. We packed up, clicked some last minute pics and left the place by 8.20pm. We asked Durai to take us straight to Appachi’s but he gave us the most disappointing news of the day. Appachi’s is not open for dinner!!! Then we asked him to take us to the next famous restaurant in Pondicherry. Enroute we did some good Cashew shopping and bought toys for our dog,Cleo and headed to have dinner. We were at Pondicherry bus stop by 10pm and bus departed at 10.30pm 8 minutes before the time on the tickets. We reached Bangalore at 5am the next morning. Holiday over…Pondicherry rocks!
Now, if you have been reading all posts about Pondicherry, you must have come across this name “Selvam” Let me tell you the story of Selvam
* Selvam – The couple that stayed at Auroba Guest House were Lakshmi and Selvam, but Selvam’s actual name is Seth. My husband has christened him Selvam. On Day 2, actually night, we were high on alcohol. Mosquitoes were eating us up alive, as we were sitting in the balcony of our cottage. We wanted a match box to light the mosquito coil so that it will deter those blood suckers from making us anaemic. Bava had left for the day and Lakshmi was not around. None of us knew the man’s name. We called all different words that people used to address an unknown person, “Hello” “Aye” “Oye” “Sir” etc etc, nothing worked. We took turns in calling him, but he just would not respond. We knew he was inside the watchman room, the radio was on therefore that stopped him from hearing our calls. Nothing seemed to work. My husband came to the conclusion that most names from that area sounded some thing like “Selvam” so he called out loudly, he called “SELVAM” and there the man emerged from the watchman room and asked us what we wanted!!! From then we referred to him as Selvam and he also never bothered to correct us. The last evening in the resort we asked Lakshmi her husband’s name and she told us that his name was SETH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Day 2
Our super-relax holiday was on full swing since last night…We were at Auroba Guest House. Durai had got us this place for Rs600 per night, though we had to bargain a bit. Mind you Rs 600 per night in the 2nd week of December is a good grab. The person in Auroba Guest House was Bava Chander, a very nice person, just the kind you want to meet when on holiday. He was like the at-ur-service person. The resort (if I may call it) was very calm, firstly only our cottage was occupied at that time and secondly it was very close to the sea…and not many people used that road. The one thing that made it heaven was the cottage we stayed in…the actual bed room was on an elevated level..the ground floor had the bath and toilet and a crude ladder, made out of bamboo, served as the staircase to the bedroom on the fist floor. The cottage was made out of bamboo but had all amenities such as ceiling fan, light bulbs, phone charging point and provision for mosquito vapourisers. The beds were laid out on the floor and they provided pillows and beach towels. On all holidays I make sure to carry bedsheets…just in case the beds are not clean. But at Auroba, everything was spick n span.
On day 2 of the holiday we got up at around 7am, which according to me was very late! We freshened up and asked Bava for Coffee…though only Maggie drinks coffee, my husband and I also ordered one cup each cos it was HOLIDAY!!!
Selvam*(please read the story about his name) and Lakshmi were the star couple at Auroba Guest house to help us run errands. We just loved the way they were at peace with themselves…living life at their own pace, no rush at all. Unlike us who live to complete targets. Selvam, bought our cuppas and in no time we were running to the beach.
THE BEACH…whoaaaaaaaa whatte wonderful sight! The best thing about beaches in Pondicherry is the peace…yes!! One can find peace on the beaches…not hooligans rushing in groups to hammer each other down into the water…like in other places. The shore was endless and there were absolutely no people at all!!! Just the three of us.
Both, Maggie and I did not know how to swim…but still we were very confident that the sea would not want the devils there also, so we did not get washed off into the sea. Slowly by around 8am people holidaying were out to enjoy the sun, a handful of foreigners were doing Yoga and just enjoying the sunrise… heyy…I almost forgot..this is a sunrise beach….best to be here in the mornings. What a lovely sight of the sun rise we had. Till around 10am, we frolicked in the beach and then when the sun was getting harsh we moved our asses back to the resort. Then it was removing beach sand from hidden places in the body to taking bath. Our breakfast – Pongal, bread omelette and puri-sagu was ready by the time we freshened up. Selvam would always take 1 hour to bring our breakfast as it had to be bought from outside. There is no cooking facility in the resort. Bava promised that it would be up and running by the time we visited the next time.
By around 1pm, we were getting ready to go on a walk to find lunch for our growling stomachs….There are a few places around Auroba where one can find food.
Beach Cottage-Serves all Indian and Chinese food, all with a touch of Pondicherry. But the only drawback being – if you want lunch make sure to order in the morning and also order dinner when you come for lunch because they take years to bring food to your table
Rest n Relax – The road side all-in-all eatery where one can get omelletes to “Gopi” Manchurian, to fried rice and “newdals”
Muthu’s Guest House – We only had coffee there, because of a pre conceived notion that the place was not worth it.
New York – Ha ha contrary to the name..this place serves on Vietnamese food! Lotsa pork and beef, steaks and all. All of us in the group were not the half-cooked food lovers therefore dint try this place.
Unfortunately, we always landed up at Beach Cottage. We had 2 lunches and 1 dinner at this place... We had noodles, biriyani and fried rice. But the best dishes were Prawns Biriyani, Prawns Fried Rice and Curd Rice. The customer engagement plan that Beach Cottage had employed was to tell the customers to make the soda by themselves…by doing this we would not crib about waiting! When we ordered for fresh lime soda, he bought 3 glasses with lemon squeezed into it, a cup of powdered sugar and 3 bottles of soda with a bottle opener! We very obediently sat there and prepared our own fresh lime soda until the food came.
The evening was complete with a visit to the beach…we sat there and relaxed watching surfers and people having a good time. The windy beach had blown the life out of my hair, so I decided to oil my hair everytime I hit the beach.
The day 2 ended with Breezers, Beer and Maggie’s Raagi mixture. Apart from all the best times we had in Pondicherry, nights was the funnest time, the roaring sea was a lil scary but then again, everything that involves fear also has some thrill in it.
On day 2 of the holiday we got up at around 7am, which according to me was very late! We freshened up and asked Bava for Coffee…though only Maggie drinks coffee, my husband and I also ordered one cup each cos it was HOLIDAY!!!
Selvam*(please read the story about his name) and Lakshmi were the star couple at Auroba Guest house to help us run errands. We just loved the way they were at peace with themselves…living life at their own pace, no rush at all. Unlike us who live to complete targets. Selvam, bought our cuppas and in no time we were running to the beach.
THE BEACH…whoaaaaaaaa whatte wonderful sight! The best thing about beaches in Pondicherry is the peace…yes!! One can find peace on the beaches…not hooligans rushing in groups to hammer each other down into the water…like in other places. The shore was endless and there were absolutely no people at all!!! Just the three of us.
Both, Maggie and I did not know how to swim…but still we were very confident that the sea would not want the devils there also, so we did not get washed off into the sea. Slowly by around 8am people holidaying were out to enjoy the sun, a handful of foreigners were doing Yoga and just enjoying the sunrise… heyy…I almost forgot..this is a sunrise beach….best to be here in the mornings. What a lovely sight of the sun rise we had. Till around 10am, we frolicked in the beach and then when the sun was getting harsh we moved our asses back to the resort. Then it was removing beach sand from hidden places in the body to taking bath. Our breakfast – Pongal, bread omelette and puri-sagu was ready by the time we freshened up. Selvam would always take 1 hour to bring our breakfast as it had to be bought from outside. There is no cooking facility in the resort. Bava promised that it would be up and running by the time we visited the next time.
By around 1pm, we were getting ready to go on a walk to find lunch for our growling stomachs….There are a few places around Auroba where one can find food.
Beach Cottage-Serves all Indian and Chinese food, all with a touch of Pondicherry. But the only drawback being – if you want lunch make sure to order in the morning and also order dinner when you come for lunch because they take years to bring food to your table
Rest n Relax – The road side all-in-all eatery where one can get omelletes to “Gopi” Manchurian, to fried rice and “newdals”
Muthu’s Guest House – We only had coffee there, because of a pre conceived notion that the place was not worth it.
New York – Ha ha contrary to the name..this place serves on Vietnamese food! Lotsa pork and beef, steaks and all. All of us in the group were not the half-cooked food lovers therefore dint try this place.
Unfortunately, we always landed up at Beach Cottage. We had 2 lunches and 1 dinner at this place... We had noodles, biriyani and fried rice. But the best dishes were Prawns Biriyani, Prawns Fried Rice and Curd Rice. The customer engagement plan that Beach Cottage had employed was to tell the customers to make the soda by themselves…by doing this we would not crib about waiting! When we ordered for fresh lime soda, he bought 3 glasses with lemon squeezed into it, a cup of powdered sugar and 3 bottles of soda with a bottle opener! We very obediently sat there and prepared our own fresh lime soda until the food came.
The evening was complete with a visit to the beach…we sat there and relaxed watching surfers and people having a good time. The windy beach had blown the life out of my hair, so I decided to oil my hair everytime I hit the beach.
The day 2 ended with Breezers, Beer and Maggie’s Raagi mixture. Apart from all the best times we had in Pondicherry, nights was the funnest time, the roaring sea was a lil scary but then again, everything that involves fear also has some thrill in it.
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