It's been two days since I returned from Pondicherry. I've just about finished sorting out my pictures and I’ve buckled down to write a short review of my trip. At least the baggage has been unpacked, though some of the stuff is spread across my room floor. I've also got to clean up the mess I left before I went on my trip, which includes mail, CDs and books.
Of course, the CDs and books should be a pleasure to deal with.
I'm finally home from my awfully splendid adventure in Pondicherry. Frankly, it's rather modest when compared to the journey of travelers I met along the way, but to me, it was more than splendid. I spent a little over three days in a place I'd never been to before; I walked, swam, ate, visited museums, roamed, gossiped, drank, bought books and danced; and I spent a lot of time on my own. I'd never had a journey - physical or emotional - like this one before. There were many things I did that I hadn't done very often, if at all. One of them was studying the place and the people around me and I saw many things I didn't before. It's true; we fail to remember to marvel at ourselves, the living that fills the area between oceans and mountains.
Travel is about taking on new experiences: food you've never eaten, languages you've never spoken, religious and historical stories you've never even heard of. To decline any offer at all — a spontaneous invitation to a rave near the outskirts in Pondicherry, a swig of some wine at the beach — is to deny the very spirit of adventure, and so I declined nothing.
It was hard to leave Pondi and return to B’lore where I need to get back to the old routine. I hardly used the computer during the long weekend; now I'm back to reading the news, blogs and music reviews. But I’m glad I impulsively took off for a holiday. I was thinking about how to fill a void that had been created sometime before. There were things missing in my life, and I needed something really different from my ordinary life. And I got what I needed on this journey. I experienced plenty of lonely, worrying moments, but also discovered much happiness and indulged my curiosity. I knew that my heart had returned to me at last, or perhaps it was that I had returned to it. And I'm glad it happened at the start of summer.
Within walking distance of the Aurobindo Ashram, one of Pondi’s French styled colonies. It's a beautiful pavement you can't quite miss, and it fits so perfectly with the rest of the architecture in this part of the city. When I first saw it, I stopped in my tracks. This was the first stop my traveling companions and I made upon entering the city. I rather wished B’lore could have roads like this.
Travel Tip: Hide money strategically in various places of your bags and in your underwear.
Which has to make you wonder- has all the cash at one point been cleverly concealed in someone's underwear??
The track that I’m playing here today has incidentally been on repeat in my playlist for the past few days. It’s from the soundtrack of “Once”. It's a sad one, and if you've read this blog long enough, you'll know that sad songs are the kind that hit me hardest.
Listen to it here and make of it what you will.
And since I love twist of fate and chance connections, I have to mention that it wasn't until my friend talked about "Once - How often do you find the right person?" and how much he loved it that I decided I should get round to watching it. The movie is set in Dublin and is about two struggling artists, whose performances are passionate and so wonderfully real. The movie is so authentic that it makes the experience of watching it, quite unexpected. It's about that one chance that’s being pushed at you or one that is subtly offered up and is then taken away. Fate is amusing and crazy that way and so songs like these describe it all. It gives a nice tune to something that could possibly be tragic.
Of course, the CDs and books should be a pleasure to deal with.
I'm finally home from my awfully splendid adventure in Pondicherry. Frankly, it's rather modest when compared to the journey of travelers I met along the way, but to me, it was more than splendid. I spent a little over three days in a place I'd never been to before; I walked, swam, ate, visited museums, roamed, gossiped, drank, bought books and danced; and I spent a lot of time on my own. I'd never had a journey - physical or emotional - like this one before. There were many things I did that I hadn't done very often, if at all. One of them was studying the place and the people around me and I saw many things I didn't before. It's true; we fail to remember to marvel at ourselves, the living that fills the area between oceans and mountains.
Travel is about taking on new experiences: food you've never eaten, languages you've never spoken, religious and historical stories you've never even heard of. To decline any offer at all — a spontaneous invitation to a rave near the outskirts in Pondicherry, a swig of some wine at the beach — is to deny the very spirit of adventure, and so I declined nothing.
It was hard to leave Pondi and return to B’lore where I need to get back to the old routine. I hardly used the computer during the long weekend; now I'm back to reading the news, blogs and music reviews. But I’m glad I impulsively took off for a holiday. I was thinking about how to fill a void that had been created sometime before. There were things missing in my life, and I needed something really different from my ordinary life. And I got what I needed on this journey. I experienced plenty of lonely, worrying moments, but also discovered much happiness and indulged my curiosity. I knew that my heart had returned to me at last, or perhaps it was that I had returned to it. And I'm glad it happened at the start of summer.
Within walking distance of the Aurobindo Ashram, one of Pondi’s French styled colonies. It's a beautiful pavement you can't quite miss, and it fits so perfectly with the rest of the architecture in this part of the city. When I first saw it, I stopped in my tracks. This was the first stop my traveling companions and I made upon entering the city. I rather wished B’lore could have roads like this.Travel Tip: Hide money strategically in various places of your bags and in your underwear.
Which has to make you wonder- has all the cash at one point been cleverly concealed in someone's underwear??
The track that I’m playing here today has incidentally been on repeat in my playlist for the past few days. It’s from the soundtrack of “Once”. It's a sad one, and if you've read this blog long enough, you'll know that sad songs are the kind that hit me hardest.Listen to it here and make of it what you will.
And since I love twist of fate and chance connections, I have to mention that it wasn't until my friend talked about "Once - How often do you find the right person?" and how much he loved it that I decided I should get round to watching it. The movie is set in Dublin and is about two struggling artists, whose performances are passionate and so wonderfully real. The movie is so authentic that it makes the experience of watching it, quite unexpected. It's about that one chance that’s being pushed at you or one that is subtly offered up and is then taken away. Fate is amusing and crazy that way and so songs like these describe it all. It gives a nice tune to something that could possibly be tragic.
