Nov 21-22/Chennai-Pondicherry/ECR :
Notorious for planning dime-a-dozen trips, I should thank "bangalore se aaya mera dost" for what turned out to be the high-octane cruise on the bump-free and beautiful ECR. OK, that is not true, not possible with a 2000 model Maruti Zen loaded with 4 not-so-size-zero-guys.
Sudhi (tamilian in the guise of a kannadiga) and me set-off to first replace the wiper blades and have our bat-mobile checked for any major performance barriers. After a mathematical mess-up of epic proportions at the spare parts shop, we picked up the ever-so-popular Raghav and the new kid on the block-Narasimhan, from the latest addition to Chennai city maps - Tambaram. Never one to keep up the sanctity of punctuality, we were behind our schedule by a mere one hour.
The recent rains ensured that we bumped our way to the ECR road and then in a yahoo moment, pressed on the accelerator and the engine cried out loud for some mercy. Every trip of ours ( dating back to the US days ) has centered around food, and so I took a U-turn after we missed Don-Pepe" by a whisker, only to order some "kewl" cool drinks and a chimichanga and enchilada. Satiated, I laboured into the driving seat and hit a steady 80kmph. Mamallapuram looked not so appealing in the hot sun, but to showcase Chennai to Sudhi, we did the mandatory pit-stop. To ask directions, we could not recollect the historical monuments in local lingo and it was a comedy of sorts trying to explain arjuna's penance, and I blurted out "rocks".
We reached Pondy and checked into GINGER - a TATA enterprise. The hotel offers a freshness not to be seen in the more pricey options or cheaper ones - thanks to the "citrus" theme. We had our dose of caffeine from the in-house coffee day and I couldnt help buying India Today and Sports Illustrated from the miniature landmark. The rooms were very convenient for the Rs.1800 tariff. After stretching our legs, we hit the streets and navigated through the chaotic JN street ( we wanted to shop even in Pondy...for a pair of Cargos to ease the pain of wearing trousers ) without much success. The beach front reminded us of the Besant Nagar stretch, and the slight drizzle made our distant gazes across the dark waters more special. Soon after, we wandered off to the Asian House and then to Le Terrasse for our dinner. We retired to our rooms for a well-deserved rest and Raghav was very adamant that we witness the sunrise the next day.
Sudhi, is the epitome of perfection and so he woke up by 5 AM and surprisingly Raghav came into our room hoping to beat the daylights out of me. Luckily I was awake by then and we started off to witness a bright start to the day. Well, the clouds played spoil sport, but we still had a great time just sitting on the rocks with umbrellas to give us cover from rains ( Narasi....under the umbrella...hmm...he wandered off in his thoughts... ). It was very calming and refreshing to see the waves hit the rocks under the cover of dense clouds, which I preferred over a bright orange circle arising out of distant horizons. Food - we never forget food. So back at GINGER, we were as usual pestering the hospitality boys for the buffet breakfast, and not surprisingly we did the honours in inaugurating the rather conservative buffet( Rs.99 ). I went back to my room and deciding to rejuvenate my aching muscles and sore back to take the trip back home. The trio visited Auroville meanwhile and just came back in time to check-out by the customary deadline of 12 Noon.
We bought quite a few "Off-beat" printed casual Tees, before heading to "Promenade" for our buffet lunch(Our motto - more the buffet, the better ). Priced at 575 per head, the food was as good as the beautiful view of the ocean side. We felt that the overall lunch experience was awesome, which meant my job as a driver was that much more difficult ( for obvious reasons ). The return trip was very pleasant - en route we stopped for a tender coconut drink. The next drink for us was coffee/T at besant nagar CCD. Overall, it was a very welcome break from the hum-drum of city roads and the constant chaos. The best part is that we proved people wrong by proving that we can execute our plans as well as we plan them ;-)
