English

Chronicle 6#  Translated by Bhawna Singhmar

Its 9 am and I have locked myself in my comforting air-conditioned room that I worship like one of those million Hindu gods.


Since yesterday morning, the weather has taken a sharp turn. The forever lifesaving fresh sea breeze which soothes the subtropical climate of this region throughout the year has stopped for a month. A climate phenomenon that occurs every year around end of April and beginning of May.


In fact wind continues to blow during this period but becomes extremely hot as it does not blow from the direction of the sea rather the sun-drenched lands.
Which means even my terrace has lost its fresh morning charm and the sunrise exercise routine, so much loved by Pondicherrians has suddenly become less desirable.
Its 9 AM and the temperature outside is soaring to 40°C. I just came back from a quick round of the city gone so deserted now, except for those pink jackets who seem to be have been forgotten in this never ending confinement.


These pink jackets are the tireless women workers ensuring the cleanliness of our desolate Pondy.
Discussions related to the lockdown continue as it is further extended till 17th May. Everybody with their own speculations pass on the rumours.
I am having a hard time balancing between my well-known optimism – the ability to see things as they are and one small part in me which is stressed and tries not to get affected by the fact that flights and opening of borders have been put off indefinitely.


In the meantime, I am not giving up and following my routine.
My made in China footwear bought during an emergency one morning in France could not withstand the over usage and effects of climate here.
And if I am to believe the prevailing public opinions on Chinese products then China already being the principal adversary of India, will now be all the more boycotted for its products in the country. This could mean that I may have to continue bare foot going up and down the stairs and walking the lengths and breadths of my rooftop for some more time.


The terrace of # 66 Pappamal Koil Street apartments is becoming more and more lively. Everyone seems to enjoy this social space turned soindispensable for taking some fresh air and doing exercises.
Our patriarche appears tired and almost melancholic, he made me listen to a sweet melody of Kashmiri music and no more questions were asked this
morning, only a few gestures and an extinguished regard searching something.
Don’t we all exiles wear the same regard during the confinement ? the onetrying to foresee the possibility of returning to one’s homeland and most importantly that tries to see how the future world looks like?


Certainly a new world awaits us if we are ready to change our perspective and to see the world through a new lens. A world so different and unique for each one of us.



Chronicle 5# Translated by Bhawna Singhmar

Since yesterday 20th April, here, some restrictions have been lifted but at the same time we are maintaining the lockdown till the 3rd May as previously announced.

Getting into the facts can get a little confusing… streets are now more animated with people, more and more riders and passengers of the two wheelers can be seen in masks.


Mask would be a big word to use, it is rather faces covered with a large handkerchief, the ones found in the almirahs of our grandfather.


Regarding this, it seems that not wearing mask and riding more than two people on the two wheelers are punishable by a fine. It is certainly more difficult to maintain social distancing in the second case.


One often observes that some women are not going about alone, that some men are incapable of doing the groceries (they have perhaps never done it for running a house), that some have absolutely no idea about cooking in a scenario where all the domestic helpers are at their home and most of the amazing food joints providing no less delicious “street food” are now closed.


Women apparently do not venture out alone because their husbands are always available and also because getting supplies require travelling far. There is also the fear of the unfamiliar situations that one do not want to face alone.


The cultural question related to the confinement evoked in the media throughout the world is more apparently put here. A new way of life is therefore put in place as is everywhere I believe with its own ingenuity and creativity.




Some young boys on the next terrace have improvised an open air fitness club (still no girls), a few meters away a ground for playing pétanque has been made (again no women), challenging the existing rules of social distancing…


For most of the women, life now days is no different but with the economic issue added for the poorest. How to buy food in absence of a regular income. For the regular jobs and that’s far from being the majority, salaries are intact.
Government aids are proposed, once again, should one have the required documents? To recall, that is not the case for a big portion of the population despite the efforts made in this regard by the present government.


With the good news of some relaxations in the lockdown, activity in agricultural and other sectors has resumed… But is it really a good news? It’s difficult to answer. Do I really have confidence in the Press and its freedom?


But what remains unchanged is the police patrolling in the streets with loud speakers. The announcements in Tamil are generously translated by my 10 years old little neighbour, Aum whose name signifies the primordial sound. Student at the Shri Aurobindo Ashram School, he speaks Tamil from his mother, Bengali from father, Hindi due to his birth and early years in Mumbai. He started his schooling at the French Lycée, so he also speaks French beside English of course. It is always fascinating for me.


Despite limited conversations with the big Kashmiri family (stuck in Pondicherry since the beginning of the confinement, they were not able to go back to the mountains in the given four hours between the announcement of the lockdown by the Prime Minister Modi to the population and its effective implementation), who speak only a few English words, I could not escape the regular patriarcal question on marriage.
I replied No.
I could see in the eyes of this old man and in his dubious look that my answer was incomprehensible ( being single, I am used to answering that I am married for avoiding such misunderstanding),
The marriage is the first thing he repeats, the first of I dont know what… and why this time I made an exception to my own rule?


Certainly difficult to imagine life without marriage which still governs the social, economic and cultural life in India in a big way.


Every morning, I try to feel this atmosphere so familiar and yet strange in this particular period from the top of my rooftop. The pond in the adjacent temple reflects the palm trees and a marooned plastic aeroplane, certainly made in China, floats with difficulty on the surface.



At the sight of air traffic, beneath this sky so pure, I wonder when the borders would reopen and when I would be able to see my mother.