We wandered the side streets of Pondicherry today and came into the Muslin quarter. There are two mosques both looked after quite meticulously. The one above appears to be the larger of the two.
The neighbourhood was also quite fascinating with a variety of restored homes. The French influence was evident. If you have ever visited the French quarter of New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina, it feels architecurally like that.
This is the entry to Professor Illam's house. He announces that he has been awarded teh Legion d'Honneur de France.
All of this one discovers in the best way possible while travelling - wandering the back streets away from the tourists. By doing this, you are in the world that the people who live here inhabit. It is not always pretty. Poverty is real. We observed a nun from the same order as Mother Theresa working with chidlren on the streets. There is raw sewage floating down the sides of some streets and the smell is obvious.
There is also a lot of garbage. One of the worst things to happen to India is plastic. The people would throw garbage out the window and the animals that roam would clean it up - cats, dogs, cows, goats and so on. They continue to throw it out the window and door but the plastic now lingers. Regrettably, some of the animals are eating it which is destroying their digestive system and setting them up for long, slow deaths.
Today there was a street market that went on for blocks. We were the only whities to be seen most of the time. It is mainly household items, clothing and so on for locals to purchase.
There are also lovely moments. We came across this boy who had made a kite. He was determined to make it fly and was running up and down the street trying to do so. There was one handicap - no wind!
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