No 'Londy' in Pondy. Only Ch**iap !

Starring- Shashank, Prasenjit and Ankur.

Location-Pondicherry

Budget- Not more than Rs.250 per head.

Let me first introduce you to these two great souls- Shashank and Prasenjit (my fellow partners in all crimes). We three are classmates and share the same bench (to be more prcise, the last bench). In these four years we have successfully managed to piss off every teacher of our department and we feel so good about it :D.

Pondicherry is a beautiful escape. When you are bored with the “aam zindagi”, just head to Pondy. You can find a lot of retirees and foreigners there, searching the true meaning of life- crappy things like…moksha and salvation. But what on earth could bring three unscrupulous guys like us to Pondy??? Ya, I know that liquor is real cheap here but, we are nice guys, we don’t drink!!! Actually we have had enough of “The Satyam Multiplex” and “The Spencer’s Plaza”. We wanted to unwind. “Lekin kisi k pass zyada paisa nahi tha, Pondy was the cheapest bet.”

The photos that follow were taken by Prasenjit’s new Nikon, digital camera. It had a 10X optical zoom, we made full use of it.( Sorry I can’t show you those zoomed pics here, if u want them, just drop in your mail id along with your comment). These are some of the un-photogenic and un-creative pics that we took. Shashank is the not so thin guy and Prasenjit is the guy who isn’t fat. I am wearing the yellow T. Please, don’t commit suicide, life is beautiful.

--We reached Pondy on a Saturday, midnight. All hotels were packed up. What to do? Shashank came up with a brilliant idea. We found the best hotel around, went in and said “Can we have 2 deluxe rooms”.

“Sorry Sir we are full, the rooms will only be vacant tomorrow morning.”, replied the receptionist.

“So, what should we do now?”, Prasenjit enquired to the receptionist.

“Sir if you don’t mind , you can make yourself at home in our Sofas”, said the receptionist.

“Ok, we will manage”, said Shashank, jaise ki sala bachpan se 5 star hotels mein rehta hai.

I whispered “Chal beta sone ka intezaam ho gaya”.

This photo was taken by the receptionist, she did a great job and we really felt at home.

In the morning we were as invisible as Mr. India.

--This is the Auro beach. We heard that we could see a lot of bikini clad foreigners here in this beach. Found none. Yeh firangi banda mila tha. Bol raha tha ki woh International surfboarding champion hai. Humne uske sath photo khinchwaya. Jab woh ja raha tha, we three showed him our middle fingers. Ha ha, we can be so mean!

--Shashank and Me. Tried to pose as if we were shooting for the cover of our new music album. Failed miserably.

Prasenjit took this pic at ‘Pichavaram’, it’s a beautiful place near Pondy. Very few know about it. This place has the only mangrove forests in India apart from the Sunderbans.

--This was our ride. My new Car, Accent Glx. Cost me a mere 9 lakhs. (Drugs bechne k bahut fayde hain). Gottcha!!!

Arey yar lawaris gadi khadi thi, hum theeno ne bari bari se pose maar ke photo khinchwaya.

--This old man was selling cigarattes and stuffs at a tourist spot. I bought a couple of suttas and asked him to smile for the camera, he tried hard, but, couldn’t.

--I took this pic at the Pondy bus stand. The little girl was tryin hard to make the monkey stare at the camera. The little boy in the pic is her brother. He danced like Rajnikant and did a better job. The picture got a bit blurred, I guess even the camera wasn't sure about there future. Let’s hope that someday they wont have to beg.

The last two pics reflected a lot to my psyche. Wherever I went in India, I couldn’t keep myself away from the bitter truth of poverty. But, whatever it might be, I love India and I love her the way She is.