For the shopaholic

Five hours or fifty — how many do you have to spare? Doesn’t matter actually — just give Margazhi a break, drive along the East Coast Road and immerse yourself in the multicultural melting pot of activities that is this weekend. Take your pick.

December 11, 2014 07:41 pm | Updated December 12, 2014 03:03 pm IST

mp_rue

mp_rue

Go hunting for quirky gifts in a European-style market

Among the few European traditions that Pondy keeps alive, the annual Christmas Market, is one we’re most thankful for! Traditionally, Christmas markets in Western Europe are street affairs with open-air stalls where local artisans bring what they make to the table.

Pondy’s ‘Marche de Noel’ (as it is known in French) brings together everything that is home-made and handmade by artisans, small businesses, expat entrepreneurs and non-profits, from both Puducherry and Auroville. From home-grown fashion labels, handmade jewellery, eco-friendly toys, beauty hampers, leather bags, paintings, French confectionery, preserves and pates — you will find plenty of original gift ideas here. The market is organised by the Amicale de Pondichery, a social network for the French in the city and a percentage of the sales is donated for the education of underprivileged children. Make your way to the Lycee Francais on Victor Simmonel Street anytime between10 a.m. and 7 p.m this Saturday — just make sure you have ready cash. Cards are usually not accepted.

For the romantic at heart- Catch the sunset from the deck of a backwater cruise

If you’ve dined, wined and shopped till your bags are splitting at the seam, you are allowed to grumble there’s not much to do after dusk here. But this December the gods of nightlife are inclined to be friendlier. Starting this weekend, you can float through a stretch of backwaters flanked by coconut trees, while watching the sunset or spotting the stars, from the deck of a cruise boat, decked with lights.

The backwaters at Chunnambar and the much-loved Paradise beach are usually out-of-bounds for visitors after 6 p.m. but a newly launched backwater cruise may change that. You can choose between the sunset tour at 6.30 p.m. or the moonlight ride at 8.30 p.m. The 40-seater cruise will head all the way to Paradise beach and back, in the span of an hour and a half. As the tour operators are still testing the waters, the cruise will be a simple, pleasure ride — nothing too fancy or luxurious, admits Ramkumar of Varsham Enterprises, the tour operator. But there will be music, an Indian dinner with vegetarian/non-vegetarian options on the lower deck, 45 minutes of entertainment — juggling, stand-up comedy or dance on a makeshift performing area on the upper deck, and life jackets on board. Tickets inclusive of dinner are priced at Rs. 1,000. For more details, call 98940 10316.

For the ‘something-different’ seekers, Belly-dance with a Brazilian dancer or dress up as the mad hatter.

Belly-dancing as oriental dancing is usually called is an example of more than what meets the eye. As Oriental dancers will tell you, belly-dancing is the path to getting in touch with your feminine side. This weekend, Brazilian contemporary ballerina, Claudia Oliveira is in town. Her four-hour workshop, ‘The dance of Shakti’ on Saturday and Sunday will explore the connect between dancing and mysticism. Learn the finer nuances of belly-dance from Oliveira at Casita on Eswaran Koil Street. For details, contact 76394 05194 or 0413- 4210875.

If you’re tired of the regular party scene- here’s something straight out of Alice in Wonderland. The Mad Hatter Party at the Ska restobar at Ocean Spray on ECR Road promises to break the monotony. Get the craziest, goofiest or bizarre hat you can find and join the other mad hatters at this outlandish affair for night birds.

If you love drama-There’s more than you can take this weekend

Catch American playwright Neil Simon’s ‘The Odd Couple’ performed by Auroville actors at the Sri Aurobindo Auditorium. The Broadway play that was later adapted for television is all about two mismatched room-mates with failed marriages. Showing at 8 p.m. on weekend nights.

Follow it up with an original Pondicherry production by Indianostrum — ‘Alfonsina’, a play within a play touching on the haunting power that art has on the artist that created it. The play will show on all evenings this weekend at 7 p.m. at the theatre on Romain Rolland Street. On Sunday evening, join a discussion on ‘Practicing theatre in India’ organised by the Indian Foundation for the Arts .

Laughs are aplenty at the Puducherry Theatre Festival, an initiative of the Department of Tourism at Kamban Kalai Arangam. Crazy Mohan’s ‘Chocolate Krishna ‘kicks off the festival (4.30 p.m.) on Saturday, followed by his ‘Meesai Aanalum Manaivi’ (7.30 p.m). Sunday may begin on a a merry high with Stray Factory’s Kaka Suttai Vadai (10.a.m) followed by the troupe’s ‘Osama Cinema and a Whole Lot of Black Money’(11.45 a.m). S. Ve. Sekar repertoire is reserved for the evening’s entertainment with ‘Alwaah’ ( 4.30 p.m.) and Udhai Vaangiya Aboorva Sigamani(7 p.m.)

For the shutter bugs, Catch a moving photo exhibit and get a glimpse of 1950's Pondicherry

If you’re planning to walk on the Promenade Beach this weekend, we recommend keeping it for Saturday evening. The seafront will be a riot of colours and images as an innovative moving photography exhibition takes off from Gandhi Thidal at around 5 p.m. No less than 50 auto rickshaws will line up on the Beach Road, each carrying an image shot by acclaimed photographers from across India and the world. The selected images will touch, inspire, motivate or affect you in some way, says Kasha Vande, one of the organisers. After two hours, the autos will disperse, carrying the images through the city for the entire month. ‘The Moving Image ‘exhibition is the latest attempt by Pondy Art to take art and photography into the public space.

If your appetite for fine photography is whetted, catch a glimpse of Pondicherry in the 1950's , as seen through the lens of one of Pondy’s finest photographers — the late Robi Ganguli. Ganguli, worked closely with photography doyenne Henri Cartier-Bresson during his visit to Pondicherry to cover the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. The exhibition ‘Musings in Black and White’, is a tribute to the photographer who passed away earlier this year by TASMAI gallery (17, Advocate Chinna Tambi Street, Kuruchikuppam). The annual calendar brought out by Shilpataru, an artist’s collaboration, will feature some of the images. They are available at the gallery from Sunday and at bookstores.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.