A new year; an opportunity to be spontaneous presented itself. Spontaneity at this point, was fairly new to me, and I was terrified of going on an adventure that hasn’t been planned well in advance. It was a friday afternoon and quick plans for a weekend in Pondicherry were brewed in a hurried fuck-I-only-have-time-for-mediocre-instant-coffee way. But once in a while, that instant coffee takes you by surprise, and this mini holiday turned out to be wonderfully frothy. Our bus was scheduled to leave at 9pm that night, and we made it to the bus stop at about 5 minutes to 9. Our tickets said ‘deluxe’ and we expected an AC and moderately comfortable seats; but we found ourselves in a crusty green bus, with sticky windows and broken seats that would entirely launch you up everytime the bus went over a speedbreaker. 310 kilometres, eight hours and innumerable seat launches later, we arrived in a quaint little town, warm and sultry, with reminiscences of a French legacy carefully preserved in its colonial villas, boutiques and cafés. The guesthouse we booked was a good 15 kilometres away from the bus stop, so we rented a few vespas and were ready to kickstart our holiday weekend. But first, breakfast at the beach! Prepped with our vespas, we made our way there, already feeling the salty breeze slowly fill us up, with a sense of easy unhurriedness which is rarely felt in our everyday-city hustle bustle. We found a small french café on the beach with lightly colored tables and chairs, a small lotus pond festooned with snails and tadpoles, and a menu that made the grumblies in our bellies all the more pronounced. After a breakfast of paninis and eggs, we started to walk back to where our vespas were parked. Walking is undoubtedly the best way to explore this town, with the sea in its air, and bougainvillea blooming brightly outside intricately carved mustard, wood, and teal toned doors. Our guesthouse turned out to be a spacious and sweet cottage, in the midst of cashew trees and kenaf bushes. The cottages themselves were sustainable, with bamboo floors and huge palm frond roofs. Three lovely women and two young men run the place, and live in a cottage just like ours; sans front door and a front wall! They spend their afternoons collecting and shelling cashews and making pickles out of the kenaf berries. A warmer bunch of people you would hardly meet. After quick showers, we spent some time gallivanting; climbing trees, drinking chai and befriending the local cats and dogs. A few hours later, it was time for lunch. We asked our hosts what's good around the area, and soon seated ourselves in a little Italian restaurant called Tanto Pizzeria. Tanto's quickly became one of my highlights; their food really hits the spot without burning a hole in your wallet. Cheesy beef lasagnas, spaghetti in pesto you KNOW has been freshly made, thin crust pizzas fluffed up with burrata and divine desserts, we left the place swooning a little. It was just after 4pm in the afternoon, and the sun had mellowed down enough for us to enjoy the beach. Buzzing with delight and satisfied appetites, we made our way to the closest beach. Chilled beer and sand between our toes, we whiled away the time spotting crabs masquerading as stones, and collecting sea shells. After soaking in a pink sunset, we started to make our way back. We decided to have a barbecue, created a bonfire to sit around, and spent the night telling tales, and star gazing. The next day, feeling slightly lazy, we spent our morning drinking several cups of chai and eating a heavy south indian breakfast. Our second, and sadly last, day we visited Auroville, meditated in its widely popular Matrimandir or Petal Meditation Room, shopped in the area's French boutiques, and rented bicycles to explore the place. It was a day of bliss, of cottons and linens in cool colors, and of cycling through an endless path of trees. Not surprisingly, we were feeling blue leaving Pondicherry and its many delights, late that night. Luckily, it isn't too far from where we live!