Tamil French Dictionary: Overcoming The Language Barrier

In an effort to help the Tamil speaking people residing in France to overcome the language barrier, H. Nagarajan, a native of Puducherry now residing in France has compiled a French-Tamil dictionary. This dictionary called Dictionnaire Français Moderne runs to more than 700 pages with detailed entries and meanings in French and Tamil. Apart from the usual word-meanings, the dictionary also features an annexure which has commonly used French terms, abbreviations, idioms and phrases, slang, colloquial words and expressions used in the French language.

Nagarajan, who learnt French at the Alliance Française in Puducherry was quoted by The Hindu as saying, “After my graduation from Tagore Arts College in 1974, I got an offer to work in France. But, language was a barrier. I sought to bridge the gap and joined a French language course at the Alliance Française. I picked up the language to help me adapt better to jobs and later settled in France”.

Nagarajan, now a French national is competent in both Tamil and French and hence was able to compile this dictionary, but not without difficulties. Seven years of hard work and efforts have gone into compiling this bilingual dictionary from classical French dictionary. Nagarajan feels that the obstacles he faced in compiling this dictionary pales in comparison to its huge success among people.

France has a considerable population of Tamilians from India and Sri Lanka, including refugees who are not very fluent in French. This bilingual dictionary will be immensely helpful for Franco-Tamils to adjust and cope better in France.

Beach Road Of Pondicherry To Get A Facelift

The Beach Road (Promenade or Rock Beach) of Puducherry is prepped for its monsoon cleaning, as the Puducherry Municipal Authorities have begun the process of relocating the mobile cart vendors and hawkers near the Gandhi statue to a new location in the beach area. The order for relocation came from Lieutenant Governor Ajay Kumar Singh.

The Rock Beach is one of the most prominent tourist spots of Puducherry, and the unregulated hawking has had raised cries of outrage from tourists and authorities alike.

The authorities felt that the hawking is marring the aesthetic beauty of the beach front.

According to a report by The Hindu, S. Rajamanickam, Puducherry Municipal Commissioner, has said, “We have to do a balancing act of beautifying the beach so as to attract the tourists on the one side and rehabilitating vendors on the other. We identified a place behind the Promenade Hotel and the hawkers have agreed to move there. The trader’s complex is coming up here at a cost of Rs. 45 lakh.”

The mobile carts selling products varying from sea shells to compact disks and the innumerable food stalls have spread, taking up a most of the place on the beach leaving little space to walk. And wastes from these shops, including paper plates, cups, left over food could be found lying on the beach road. Despite the efforts of the Municipality, which has installed a large number of dustbins, the garbage is still strewn all over the place.

In an effort to keep the beach a clean and pollution free zone, the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Puducherry had ordered the civic authorities to remove the cart vendors, in the early 2011. However, the Puducherry Kadarkarai Siru Viyaparigal Nala Sangam (beach small traders’ welfare association) had appealed to the Madras High court demanding a fair mechanism for the relocation. Following the court order, a meeting was held last June to decide the relocation process of the beach vendors.

The beach vendors have been doing this business for over three-decades and relocating them would affect their business tremendously. But after a long legal battle, the authorities have succeeded in convincing the vendors to move out. A consent letter was given by the vendors a few weeks ago and a deadline of one month has been set for the completion of relocation.

Although the move promises to promote tourism, many who throng the beach for an evening walk with their weekly dose of sundals and pani puris and cotton candies are sure to be left disappointed.

Sense of Auroville

Sense of Auroville” – join a 1-day walking tour of Auroville to get an insight into the Aurovilan way of life.

Pre-registration is not necessary. Just show up on any Thursday morning at Dreamer’s Cafe in the Visitors Centre at 8.30am and be welcomed by the team Auroville Retreat.

Day / Date / Time : every Thursday  from 8.30am to 4pm
Fee : Rs. 850 per participant inclusive of cycle hire (as needed), lunch, tea and snacks (please call and check for the revised tariff)

For more information :
Landline : 0413 2622571
Cell : (0) 89402 19725
Email : info@aurovilleretreat.org
Website : aurovilleretreat.org
Venue : Auroville Retreat, a project of Auroville Consulting, Saracon, Kottakarai, Irumbai post, Auroville, Tamil Nadu 605101, India

Puducherry Liberation Day

The Lt. Governor of Puducherry, A.K. Singh issued a notification on August 30th declaring November 1st as Puducherry Liberation Day and a public holiday. November 1st which has been considered as the traditional liberation day will from now on be an official holiday in the Union Territory and will henceforth replace the Independence Day of 16th August.

Puducherry along with its surrounding areas of Mahe, Yanam and Karaikal had their de facto transfer from French India to the Republic of India on this day in the year 1954. It was on this day that Puducherry stopped being a French colony and became a Union Territory. Yanam and Mahe had their liberation on 13th and 16th June respectively in the same year. But collectively November 1st has stuck as the Union Territory’s liberation day, which 60 years later is being turned into a public holiday.

Chief Minister N. Rangasamy promised that arrangements would be made in full force for Liberation Day by the territorial administration to commemorate the historic day in the freedom movement of Puducherry.

He said the decision had been taken after considering the recommendations of a committee, which had gone into the historical facts and evidence.

The Chief Minister expressed that the elected government of Puducherry lived at the mercy of the Central government in Delhi. This lack in executive power, he said, was a drawback for the elected government of Puducherry to go through with its plans and programmes for the union territory.

“We, therefore, demand that Statehood be granted without delay so that the expectations of the people can be fulfilled expeditiously and development plans could also be evolved,” he said, according to a report by The Hindu.

Onam – Celebrating Kerala’s Heritage & Culture

Onam is the harvest festival celebrated predominantly in Kerala. It is the state festival of Kerala and celebrated for ten days with an array of cultural programs, traditional food and rituals lined up for every day. Onam has much mythological significance apart from being the harvest festival.

The festival usually falls during the month of August or September, which is also the Malayalam month of Chingam. The festival marks the return of King Mahabali, who according to the Vishnu Puran was bested by Lord Sri Vishnu in his fifth incarnation as the dwarf sage Vamana. King Mahabali was a demon king and yet was revered by one and all. It is believed that every year during the month of Chingam, he revisits his kingdom from the underworld to see his people living happily.

Such was his love for his people and Onam is celebrated, rejoicing his annual visit. The Vamana avathar (incarnation) of Lord Sri Vishnu who is called Onatthappan is also worshipped during Onam. A clay figurine of Vamana is installed next to the traditional floral carpet in honor of Lord Sri Vishnu. The presiding deity of Thiruvanthapuram, Sri Padmanabhan’s birthday is celebrated as Thiruvonam, which is the most important day in the 10-day long Onam celebrations. Thiruvonam this year falls on 7th September.

Chingam is the first month of a new year in the Malayalam calendar, and the people welcome the new year with Atthachamayam (Royal parade on Atham Day) which marks the beginning of the Onam celebrations. All over the state the festival is celebrated with great pomp and fare and brings out the best of Kerala’s cultural heritage.

The traditional aspects of this festival are the Onapookkalam, which is the floral carpet made with flowers of different colors in the courtyards. The Onamsadhya which is the grand feast is prepared during Thiruvonam. The number of dishes in the Onamsadhya can go upto 30.

Onam is also famous for its unique and magnificent snake boat races, called Vallamkali wherein about 100 men row the majestic snake boat with hundreds of spectators cheering them on. Traditional dances like Thiruvathira, Kummattikali, Pulikali, Thumbi Thullal are also performed during Onam.

Though Onam is a festival of malayalees, it is also celebrated in other parts of South India. In Puducherry, it is perhaps celebrated with great fanfare in Pondicherry University which has many students from Kerala. Apart from the cultural performance organised, on Thiruvonam, that is 7th September, Onamsadhya will be prepared and served to all.

Are You “Franco-Pondicherrian”?

It always makes me smile when hearing someone ask me “Are you franco-pondicherrian?” Though I truly understand what this question entails, I cannot prevent myself time and again from thinking “what on earth does he mean?”. Yet, anyone who will have spent time in Pondicherry will have got to hear of this expression at some point or another.

What makes this expression bizarre is the fact that you would normally call someone who had a dual French and Indian citizenship, a “Franco-Indian” (or “Indo-French” for those who feel slightly more inclined towards the Indian side!). Putting aside the fact that India does not recognize dual nationality yet, the question remains, what is a “franco-pondicherrian” then? Is it a dual French and Indian citizen whose roots are from Pondicherry? Well, it appears that a franco-pondicherrian is in fact a French citizen who, despite not being from a legal point of view Indian, is still referred to by his origins to the Indian city of Pondicherry. I guess this term allows to differentiate between the French nationals and Indian nationals who both consider themselves as being truly Pondicherrians. Though it always takes me aback when hearing this term, in a strange way, I relate to it at the same time.

Being myself a French national whose roots are from Pondicherry, using this term immediately conveys a sense of where I belong to and where I come from. It conveniently bridges these two cultures to which French nationals who hail from Pondicherry are often profoundly attached to. Per se, the term is probably misleading, as a franco-pondicherrian is entirely French from a legal point of view and, as to my knowledge, there are no people of former French colonies called this way, but then again, this is a specificity that is somewhat amusing. Critics might say that this is an unfair way of distinguishing French people according to their country/place of origin and there may be a truth to this.

Would it be more socially acceptable to say “French of Indian origin”? Or why not “French of Pondicherrian origin”? But does this make much of a difference all said and done? I see utter confusion when I tell the person asking me whether I am a franco-pondicherrian, that I am in fact French, American, and Pondicherrian all at the same time! I guess this comes to show how diverse the inhabitants of Pondicherry are today, and what makes this city a truly charming melting pot.

Pondy Celebrates Ganesha Chathurthi

Its Ganesha Chathurthi and streets are busy with artists from in and around Pondicherry lining up their clay idols of Lord Ganesha. For many the day begins with buying the idol and then decorating it with a small woven umbrella and jewelry of beads.

Ganesha Chathurthi, also known as Vinayaka Charthuthi, is celebrated for three days. Idols of Ganesha as tall as 20 feet are installed around the town and poojas are performed twice a day. But smaller idols of 2 feet are bought by people to keep in their houses and do poojas.

Clay idols are more preferable over the ones made of plaster of paris as the former is more eco-friendly. As prasaatham kozhukattai, mothagam and aval pori (a mix of flattened rice and puffed rice) is offered in temples as well as at the temporary installation of these idols. These sweets are also individually prepared in most households.

In Saram area, a 20 feet tall Ganesha idol, painted in vibrant colours is installed and many cultural performances of dance and music are organised. People come from all around Puducherry to seek blessings of this majestic God. The Manakula Vinayagar temple with their special poojas for the occasion is also visited by many on this auspicious day. Devotees line up at the temple from early in the morning to get the darshan of the Lord.

After three days of religious poojas, where many people offer their prayers to Lord Ganesha, the idols from different places of installation are taken on a royal procession through the streets finally reaching the Bay of Bengal sea for immersion. This procession is a sight to behold with Ganesha idols of different sizes from 2 feet to 20 feet, taken on a ride.

It is believed that on this festival, when a Ganesha statue is brought to your house and poojas are performed, the Lord stays with you, helping you in your journey by removing all the obstacles. And when on the final day he is taken out on a procession, he takes with him all the negative force from your house, blessing you with prosperity and bliss.