As the first day was coming to an end we made our way to Pondicherry. We were staying at Som's cousin Namasya's (unique name!!! atleast I haven't heard it before) place. A few calls and we located her apartment and landed there. Namasya & her hubby Mr. Venkata Sashtry work for Kalinga Institute of Information Technology. She has a really adorable 8 yr old son Aniruddha who studies in SAICE (www.sriaurobindoashram.org/ashram/saice/index.php) a really interesting schooling concept. He is already learning a lot of languages. We counted Telugu (father), Oriya (mother), Hindi, English, Tamil (Pondicherry), French and many others. He's also learning skating, gymnastics, swimming, chess, cricket etc. Phew...that’s a lot!!!! We quickly settled down and dozed off for the night.
Day 2
Up in the morning we got ready, planned the day and set out. First stop was the very popular Adyar Ananda Bhavan (http://www.aabsweets.in/). While we all ordered our Pongal (http://www.pongalfestival.org/rice-pongal.html) -Vadas, wasn’t surprised that Anu ordered Onion-Rava-Masala Dosa. Recollected that this was her favourite dish during her stay in Bangalore way back in 2001. Once done with breakfast we proceeded to the Sri Manakula Vinayagar Temple (http://manakulavinayagartemple.com/) and like any traditional Hindu temple in southern India especially Tamil Nadu we were greeted by the temple elephant, Lakshmi. As is the custom people visiting the temple make offerings / take blessings from the elephant thought to be a reincarnation of Lord Ganesha himself. With the idea of showing an elephant from close quarters I took Srishti along and made her give some offerings to Lakshmi. But as she brought her trunk over Srishti’s head scared she started crying. I quickly moved away and we entered the temple. Once done and out Srishti clearly told me not to go near the elephant. From there we walked a few steps to visit the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. It’s really a great experience visiting two different ‘shrines’ situated so close to each other. Looking at people around her Srishti, the good girl she is kept quiet during the entire time that we were inside. As we moved out Namasya rejoined us. While deciding what next Srishti kept herself busy playing with Reema on a bicycle and running up & down the steps in front of a gate. A few minutes later we went into the nearby Auroshika (www.auroshikha.com/) outlet. Colourful that it is, it did kept Srishti busy while Som & Anu shopped for stuff. Done with the place we left to meet one of Som’s aunt. She really stays is a beautiful apartment. Walking with her towards a place for lunch she told us a bit about the modern Pondicherry and the French attachment. Little did I realize that we were entering Rendezvous (http://www.tripadvisor.in/Restaurant_Review-g659792-d1116100-Reviews-Rendezvous-Pondicherry_Union_Territory_of_Pondicherry.html) a very famous restaurant where me & Reema enjoyed a great lunch when we went to Pondicherry! While everybody was busy chatting and ordering me & Srishti went about exploring the place and having a bit of fun…running up & down the steps, checking out different types of fish etc etc. Finally the food arrived followed by desserts which we all enjoyed. Soon we left to get back home. Needed to recharge ourselves a bit…
Evening
In the evening we all set out to go to the beach front where Srishti again enjoyed seeing the waves and lot of people around. With no vehicles on the road she was free to roam a bit too. While Namasya, Reema, Anu & Srishti left on the bike (quite a sight to watch!!!) Som & me roamed a bit. He was really enthralled by the architecture around, taking a lot of nice pictures before it was time for dinner and we headed to Don Giovanni (http://www.hindu.com/mp/2010/02/27/stories/2010022750060100.htm) on the rooftop of Hotel Corbelli on Mission Street, recommended by Namasya of course. Run by a true-blue Italian chef, Massimiliano ‘Murali' Morsiani from Bologna it’s a quaint little place and already has its owns set of loyal customers. As we entered we noticed Max was asking the guests what they would be interested in having. After a lot of discussions we did order our dishes while Som was busy trying to capture a lizard on the wall!!! It was also the day when India was playing England in the World Cup…cricket of course. We were wondering there was no way to keep a tab on the match in an Italian restaurant. Sigh…but much to our delight there was a small TV on which the employees of the restaurant were watching the match. Me, Anu & Reema stayed back after dinner to watch the final overs. Relieved to witness a tied match we walked down the street to catch an auto to get back home…
Another day in Pondicherry well spent. Close friends, a darling of a kid around and a lovely place…what more can you ask for. Thus ends Day 2 of my trip…Hoping that the penultimate day is as exciting I go to bed…
Day 2
Up in the morning we got ready, planned the day and set out. First stop was the very popular Adyar Ananda Bhavan (http://www.aabsweets.in/). While we all ordered our Pongal (http://www.pongalfestival.org/rice-pongal.html) -Vadas, wasn’t surprised that Anu ordered Onion-Rava-Masala Dosa. Recollected that this was her favourite dish during her stay in Bangalore way back in 2001. Once done with breakfast we proceeded to the Sri Manakula Vinayagar Temple (http://manakulavinayagartemple.com/) and like any traditional Hindu temple in southern India especially Tamil Nadu we were greeted by the temple elephant, Lakshmi. As is the custom people visiting the temple make offerings / take blessings from the elephant thought to be a reincarnation of Lord Ganesha himself. With the idea of showing an elephant from close quarters I took Srishti along and made her give some offerings to Lakshmi. But as she brought her trunk over Srishti’s head scared she started crying. I quickly moved away and we entered the temple. Once done and out Srishti clearly told me not to go near the elephant. From there we walked a few steps to visit the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. It’s really a great experience visiting two different ‘shrines’ situated so close to each other. Looking at people around her Srishti, the good girl she is kept quiet during the entire time that we were inside. As we moved out Namasya rejoined us. While deciding what next Srishti kept herself busy playing with Reema on a bicycle and running up & down the steps in front of a gate. A few minutes later we went into the nearby Auroshika (www.auroshikha.com/) outlet. Colourful that it is, it did kept Srishti busy while Som & Anu shopped for stuff. Done with the place we left to meet one of Som’s aunt. She really stays is a beautiful apartment. Walking with her towards a place for lunch she told us a bit about the modern Pondicherry and the French attachment. Little did I realize that we were entering Rendezvous (http://www.tripadvisor.in/Restaurant_Review-g659792-d1116100-Reviews-Rendezvous-Pondicherry_Union_Territory_of_Pondicherry.html) a very famous restaurant where me & Reema enjoyed a great lunch when we went to Pondicherry! While everybody was busy chatting and ordering me & Srishti went about exploring the place and having a bit of fun…running up & down the steps, checking out different types of fish etc etc. Finally the food arrived followed by desserts which we all enjoyed. Soon we left to get back home. Needed to recharge ourselves a bit…
Evening
In the evening we all set out to go to the beach front where Srishti again enjoyed seeing the waves and lot of people around. With no vehicles on the road she was free to roam a bit too. While Namasya, Reema, Anu & Srishti left on the bike (quite a sight to watch!!!) Som & me roamed a bit. He was really enthralled by the architecture around, taking a lot of nice pictures before it was time for dinner and we headed to Don Giovanni (http://www.hindu.com/mp/2010/02/27/stories/2010022750060100.htm) on the rooftop of Hotel Corbelli on Mission Street, recommended by Namasya of course. Run by a true-blue Italian chef, Massimiliano ‘Murali' Morsiani from Bologna it’s a quaint little place and already has its owns set of loyal customers. As we entered we noticed Max was asking the guests what they would be interested in having. After a lot of discussions we did order our dishes while Som was busy trying to capture a lizard on the wall!!! It was also the day when India was playing England in the World Cup…cricket of course. We were wondering there was no way to keep a tab on the match in an Italian restaurant. Sigh…but much to our delight there was a small TV on which the employees of the restaurant were watching the match. Me, Anu & Reema stayed back after dinner to watch the final overs. Relieved to witness a tied match we walked down the street to catch an auto to get back home…
Another day in Pondicherry well spent. Close friends, a darling of a kid around and a lovely place…what more can you ask for. Thus ends Day 2 of my trip…Hoping that the penultimate day is as exciting I go to bed…
Concluding part coming up...
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