A little this and some that

I haven't updated my blog for a while, as You might have recognised. So I have to go back in time a bit. I have been planning for a while to write about the best place I know around: Nonakuppam Beach. It is located at the meeting of a river and the ocean, and forms a peninsula. If You don't want to take a huge walk You can only get there by boat, a really nice 10-15 minutes journey. The beach actually named after Paradise and there certainly is some truth in it. I am lucky enough to have been there many times but I can't get bored with it. It has an atmosphere quite unique in India. Silent and peaceful. Usually it is not very crowded, so with some luck we can have a hut on our own. And then just laying down. I usually spend big part of our time there sleeping.

And that is not waste of that time at all! As at home it is very hot, I learnt to appreciate a proper sleep, without waking up sweating. Of course it would not be India if there were no dogs around. It is quite a phenomenon that You can find people, dogs and cows everywhere, no matter where are You going. There is also volleyball field available, but I haven't yet dared to brave the heat and the curious sight of the Indians and joined for a game.
Last time I have been ther with Isabel and Natacha. Yes, Natacha spent her a week for my greatest happiness, and we had a wonderful time together, I had almost forgotten how nice is to have her around but she came and reminded me :-)
There are some people in one's life whose company means a lot, even if You are not doing anything special. I just love to see her sitting in front of the computer in full concentration or listening her explainig something with enthusiasm, I can't help smiling spontaneously.

I have found my ultiamately favourite Indian dish, it is called prawn pakoda. Little prawn pieces mixed with onion and well-fried. With prawn fried rice and beer, well..... unbeatable combination. And the place where You can get it: Bamboo Hut. A nice restaurant on a terrace with lots of plants. An oasis in the middle of the

city. I love to look down at the busy and nosiy street, I need this distance to enjoy the cavalcade that is so typical of Indian cities. Being down there for me is struggle for survival, I can't lose my focus, constant awarness of the cars, bicycles, motorbikes, rikshaws coming from all direction, sounding the horn and making the most amazing manouvers. And then the armies of beggars and vendors all trying to tell, to touch or at least look. That is part of the Indian reality.

Ok, about other things, the biggest sensation is that in the last few days the monsson has finally reached us, the temperatures dropped under 40 Celsius, the sky is cloudy and we have experinced some rain.

It is said that Pondicherry is particularly dry, and I am sure it's true. Appart from the last one week or so I can count maybe three small rains. And the last days have also failed to bring heavy torrential rains... here. If You follow the news You can read about the devastating power of the monsoon. The local papers display photos of cities under water, and the death toll is already well beyond two hundred. And seeing the infrastructure, or rather the lack of it, I can imagine that a stronger rainfall would turn our neighbourhood into a lake or at least swamp. One has the feeling that they are not prepared for monsoon, as if it was something new and unexpected. Anyway for me so far it has proved to be a relief, with the little sideffect that there are noticably more intense mosquito activity.
I don't know, I started this post with beach, Natacha, prawn pakoda then I turned to beggars and now it's the mosquitos and the monsoon. I am still a bit fragile, maybe it was to early to try to write again... anyway I think I'd better shut up now ;-)