Summer in South Asia

For those that “return” to Pondicherry, having the French nationality seems to only be a tool, to have access to the Metropole’s resources. Or at least, a way to secure possible opportunities while still engaging in the culture they come from.However, when they do that, given that they aren’t allowed Indian nationality, have no rights a citizens in India. In other modern countries like Italy and Ghana, descendants of their nationals are able to get citizenship. India has something similar,…

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Note: This blog post was intended to be submitted July 27th. As we head through the end of July, I am realizing several things about the reality of Pondicherry. I hoped to find a cool mix of the French language and Tamil or something, like the French and West African mix of Haitian Creole. A Pondicherrian creole? I knew that La Réunion, a French department just East of Africa, has a kind of Creole that has Tamil influence, and Mauritius in…

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I have arrived in Pondicherry and it has been about a week of being here. The journey here for me was hectic, from moving out from my apartment in Ann Arbor, to being the New Dehli airport the next day, to then get to Chennai the next, and then finally Pondicherry. There was so much uncertainty in the journey here, from being interrogated by immigrations, losing my SIM card, having my card not work at ATMs, etc. I was worried…

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