O Simple Things (Le Puducherry Trip)

"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha"
That five syllable deep toned laugh.
It had to mean something. (Not in Tamil, we didn't learn a word of it) ... but all five of us knew that in short it (more or less) always signified ki hamara ******* kat chuka hai.

Or maybe it was all random. This whole trip had been one big act of randomness.
Perhaps getting the last five tickets on the last bus leaving was good enough. Rest was all about grouping at Suchitra Biryani in time and we were on our way, involuntarily headbanging, shaking every bone-bone and at times flying out of our seats.
Back seat rides! ...where taking a spoon full of biryani into your mouth could just be the most difficult game you ever played.
***

Le Muthu Guest House

"asbhdj ndj ddhg MUTHU RESORT, nddh syetfb AURO BEACH, gduet dgy 1500 RUPEES" (Except the words in capital and numerals, treat rest as Tamil)
"OK. Done. Wahan Two-Wheeler milega rent pe or we should take it from here?"
"dgyhd bdhde ajdge hfh shs"
"Lagta hai bol rha hai milega"
"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha". "Mi-le-gaa, ja-ao, ja-ao".

Muthu guest house was fine. Par two wheelers wahan kya, poore Pondicherry me kahin nhi mila. Weekend rush. Hence all our plying around was Auto-based. And thank God for that...else we would have never met 'Wyaayun'.

Its all about the view, isn't it?

***

Le Cafe

Goubert Avenue did justify all I had heard about the French legacy this place boasted of. Or atleast all names began with 'Le' and 'Rue'.

Goubert Avenue

Le rocky beach

Le escape from heat

Le Gandhi Statue

Le Mandir

The sweltering heat didn't let us linger around much to explore more of the French connection. I personally saw India everywhere. For example, no matter where you are, all auto-walas bargain the same way.
"Bhaiyya auro beach. how much?"
"10 million."
"Bhaiyya, 2 km only! Google Maps me dekha hai hamne"
"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha"
"200 Rupees"
****

Le Auro Beach

All our curses about the heat drowned in the heavy downpour that followed. What followed was, kind of, the high point of the trip. Reaching the beach fully drenched. Entering the angry waters and being thrown around by the waves.
It takes away your tiredness yet exhausting you on yet another level. I do not know, but in some manner, all waters, though same, are different. Be it Goa, Digha or Puri. So was Auro.

<No pictures. Too busy jumping around purposelessly.>
***

'Wyaayoun'

Looking for the right place to eat can sometimes be a little tricky. In this particular instance we went around for two hours, enetering, exiting, Le this and Le that. and thn we decided to visit 'Le Club'.
A swimy eyed auto wala was stopped for us.
"Le cafe"
"bdhfg djurf hdhf rydgd"
"How much"
"10 million"

He was brought down to a reasonable level and off we went. Realisation dawned upon us that he had been given the wrong address.
"Bhaiyya not Le cafe. Le club."
"sghdg dghsg Le cafe andh dhdg Le club"
And then he miraculously started speaking hindi.
"Ye Sub-way. Idar khaane ka. Acha hai."
"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha"

But we insisted on Le club.

"agdjf shgr nfhd gkghh".He was singing a song now as he sped his auto like a ferrari. And a moment later brought he ride at standstill right in front of the Le club.
"Wyaayoun". He said.
I (and others) used all our will power to not end up ROFLing right there on the road.

'Wyaayoun' became he buzz word from there on.

For the way back, we got an auto (who had some union/stand issues). He kind of wanted to snatch us in and zoom off before other auto walas apprehended him.
So when only 2 and a half of us were inside, I said 'wyaayoun', and he was off!
For the next five mintues I was choosing between panicking and stopping my stomach from bursting with laughter.

Because everytime you cant take a picture

In a while, we rendezvoused. Unfortunately, we had been trailed. While he was being cornered, we switched autos and 'wyaayouned' off.
***

Le Serenity

"Serenity beach. how much?"
"200"
"Bhaiyya 2 km only". "achha ok. pehle serenity, fir matri mandir, fir paradise. how much?"
"450 (after lots of thinking and deliberations)"
"too much bhaiya. only serenity and matri mandir. how much?'
"200 (after taking equal thinking time)"
"too much bhaiya. only serenity. how much?"
"100, Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha"

Serenity

Le fishing boats

Le Sangam photography

Le babbu

Le philiosophy

Ramp walk

Le he he

Le poses

Le ghatal

Le serenity

***
Le Matri Mandir, Auroville

After 10 minute long video and so much walking, having to see it from such a distance was a big turn down. Yet it was a sight anyway.

Globe?

Le superman

***

Le Paradise

It took an hour to get the tickets for the ferry which would drop us to the island.
And then it took another 3 hours of queuing up to get to the boat.
Finally we got there. Something seemed missing. where was that person, the one who was supposed to come up to us, say something and then follow it up with what we had begun to dread so much.
No one came. We went around the place.
And then looked at each other.
"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha"

backwaters

ferry on

Le paradiso

Le jhopri

Le port of return

***

Le M########

The trip was summed up with a hotter than pondicherry heat dinner.

"Chittinaidu Chicken. Spicy please. spicy milega?"
"Haan. Spicy milega. Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha"

After the meal one could easily have mistaken us as dragons breathing out fire.
And when gulps and gulps of Maaza didn't put the fire out, we turned to Parle Poppins (I thought it had been extinct!).

"3 rupees each"
"But mrp says 2 rupees?" 
"No"
"No? customer care me complain we will". (customer care nahi be consumer court hai). "Consumer court me we will complain", we reiterated.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha" was the reply.

Need I say anymore?
***

**************************

Rights to exaggeration and bragging reserved.
Its not how it happened; its how you remember it.
No characterisation intended.
Data and information may have been skewed to suit the storyline.
Everything is relative to your perspective.

***

The sleep of no dreaming

At times, there's something that stops you from doing what you want to do .. and you won't do it until what you are doing is over ..unless you don't care about what you are doing ..or you care more about what you want to do..

(Don't read it again, it wouldn't make any sense a second time either :D ) . I too would rather stay quiet, than explain it!

But this time it took two long months.

Long, despite the fact that they did fly by at quite a break-neck speed and in a thoroughly engaging manner. 

The final presentation got over and it felt that Atlas* was back bearing the burden of heavens instead of me and my ever so dear team mates. Heres a tribute to them.

'Darth' Bansi BTM (in)Vader

Taare Zameen Par

So many!

Giant Tiger

KE-2

The training period is over, but Atlas would return the burden back to me and I have to keep the skies from falling on me. 

But looking back at those two long, yet quick months, I guess it wouldn't be too bad. 

I got good people on my side. If in some parallel universe, I would be using Google Plus, I would have three big circles of friends..the ones from school..the ones from college ...and the ones from work...giving me a plan A, a plan B and a plan C every weekend.

Need I ask for anything more? (other than becoming batman :P )

'Ghar'

'Bahar'

'Office'

More or less, we are all, but the pursued, the pursuing, the busy, and the tired.

The sleep of no dreaming seemed bothersome in the beginning. 

Now its a bliss...

...knowing that through the day, staring into the screen of the laptop, you can (and will) escape into a matrix**, and weave patterns with threads of the known, and the unknown. 

***

* Atlas: In Greek mythology, Atlas was the Titan (like the ones in the movie 'Clash of Titans') who held up the heavens (sky), so that it doesn't fall upon the earth.

** Matrix: It is a world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth. Unfortunately, no one can be told what the matrix is. You will have to see it for yourself. (Follow the white rabbit, and when Morphius asks you to choose between the red and the blue pill, take the red one.)

******

Rights to exaggeration and bragging reserved.
Its not how it happened; its how you remember it.
No characterisation intended.
Data and information may have been skewed to suit the storyline.
Everything is relative to your perspective.
***