What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear Pondicherry (if you are familiar with India)?
Beaches.
And then?
Doesn’t it have a beautiful French influence?
When I learned of my placement in Pondicherry, one of the first things I thought of was along the same lines. Although the first is factually true, the second, at least in my opinion, has a little twist to it, which I will get to. But first, a little history lesson!
Going back in time, we get to Vedapuri as the name of Pondicherry. This was not a name I found online, but rather a name that a consultant helping with housing had mentioned in conversation. Vedapuri roughly translates to the city of sages. With a name like that, I had to find out more. Thus jump-started my first sidequest- what is this city I will be spending 10 months in?
In my preliminary research into the history of Pondicherry, I found that governmental websites such as Smart City Puducherry, Puducherry District, or Government of Puducherry lay out the history of Puducherry. As per the Government of Puducherry, Puducheri (meaning new settlement) was the first name used during the rule of many Indian kingdoms, such as the Cholas in Pondicherry. It was under French rule, which began in 1673 with François Martin being its first French governor (Government of Puducherry), that Pondicherry was adopted as a name.
Fun fact: François Martin was the first street we lived on for the first 2 weeks in Pondicherry right outside of the French Quarters.
In subsequent years, much turmoil existed with countries like Portugal, Britain, and the Netherlands fighting over the city for its advantageous trading ports until 1816. This lasted until 1816, when the French took control (Government of Puducherry) until 1954, when they gave back control to India as a Union Territory. Going back to names, in 2006, ‘THE PONDICHERRY (ALTERATION OF NAME) ACT, 2006’ went through, which changed the name back to Puducherry. (THE PONDICHERRY (ALTERATION OF NAME) ACT, 2006 ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS). So from here on, I will refer to the city as Puducherry in this blog.
Getting back to the little twist, when I learned of my placement in Puducherry, one of the first things I learned about the city was how it is structured. The structure of a city is always fascinating because if you can identify the nuances of where each category of people lives, the way the space is utilized, and how structures aid in this, you understand the history of the city well!
And by that I mean the history of the French that has left its legacy in Puducherry. The effects are not just evident in person with French architecture, but can be seen on a map as well. If you take a quick look at a map of Puducherry, the town is divided into two sections, White Town (or better worded, French quarters highlighted in yellow) and the rest of the town around it, the Tamil Quarters (referred to that way in conversation). The French Quarters are where the French built governmental buildings (right by the beach), European-style homes, and grid-like streets. The urban planning of the French Quarters remains intact, with grid streets not so different from Manhattan.
But when you leave the French quarters and Heritage Town (bright orange outline), the roads can get narrow in the Tamil quarters. There is also a canal that serves as a divide, although the canal is now dried up (Chakrabarty and Gangopadhyay 101). Not just the canal, but the Heritage Town also lies between the Tamil quarters and the French Quarters. Heritage Town is basically houses that are required by the government to be maintained in their original form.
If you notice, transformers and the sewage system are not out in the open in Heritage and French quarters, whereas in the Tamil Quarters, they are out in the open.
So what difference does this divide in structure make in this day and age?
From the lens of accessibility, it makes a mountain of difference, which is what I have noticed. A common hurdle throughout India is navigating vehicles on the road while going on foot, irrespective of the city or town. This has taken some getting used to for sure, as a New Yorker used to sidewalks in most places, but I mention it now because in the French quarters with paved, wide roads and some sidewalks, accessibility for people with physical disabilities is possible. However, in certain streets in the Tamil quarters, where streets can be narrow or unpaved, accessibility becomes difficult. This is not the case for all the roads, but certainly for many that are in residential areas.
Combine this with the rains that Puducherry gets, and you get flooded streets that can be difficult for PwD to navigate. Compared to the French Quarters or Heritage Town, which would not get as flooded (though I am yet to see a full-blown rainstorm, I am told, so if I do see otherwise, I will take note of it).
Under the Rights to People with Disability passed in 2016, reaching a decade soon, under Chapter 8, point 41:
41. Access to transport.—(1) The appropriate Government shall take suitable measures to
provide,—
(c) accessible roads to address mobility necessary for persons with disabilities
Specifically focusing on line C, the law is set up clearly; it is the implementation of it where the gap lies. This brings to light my question of what kind of tools are needed to make accessible roads, not just maintain the ones that were built decades ago? There is a deeper level of research needed to understand this, but that dichotomy between the two quarters, as an outsider, on the urban planning side of things, is worth further digging into.
So the question of what to call this city, Pondicherry or Puducherry, is something to ponder. Although the name is now officially Puducherry, as far as accessibility is concerned, at a glance, the French name of Pondicherry may just be the better contender.
This is just the beginning of my exploration of Puducherry. Maybe once each street has been walked (like a true New Yorker), then I can provide more meat to this question of inclusion in public space. I think I will start my journey in Puducherry with many questions that I hope to answer in due time.
Citations
- Chakrabarty, Premangshu & Gangopadhyay, Nandini. (2018). French Legacy and Tourism: A Study in Puducherry Town, South India. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329736166_French_Legacy_and_Tourism_A_Study_in_Puducherry_Town_South_India
- “History | Official Website of Government of Puducherry, India.” Www.py.gov.in, www.py.gov.in/history.
- “History | Puducherry District | India.” Puducherry District, puducherry-dt.gov.in/history/.
- “History of Puducherry – Smart City Puducherry – the Union Territory of Puducherry.” pondicherrysmartcity.in, pondicherrysmartcity.in/history-pondicherry.php.
- India Code. THE PONDICHERRY (ALTERATION of NAME) ACT, 2006. 2006, www.indiacode.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/15932/1/the_pondicherry_%28alteration_of_name%29_act%2C_2006.pdf.
- India Code. THE RIGHTS of PERSONS with DISABILITIES ACT, 2016. 2016. https://www.indiacode.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/15939/1/the_rights_of_persons_with_disabilities_act%2C_2016.pdf
