Puducherry French Culture

Puducherry fondly called as Puduvai or Pondy by the Tamils is a modest settlement situated on the southern sea-coast of Republic of India. Located just 165 km away from the Tamil Nadu's capital city of Chennai, Puducherry is a Union Territory of India, established out of four confined district of erstwhile French India, that is the establishments instituted by the business enterprise of French East India Company in India. Truth has to be told that the French touch has definitely added a cosmopolitan flavor to the local culture. The sands of the Puducherry beaches have a typically French flavor to them!

The French Connection

The French forces first set their foot in this small fishing village of Pondicherry during the year 1674 and left behind a component of them when their undisturbed rule finished during the year 1954. From the moment the French forces left India, nothing much has changed! Today, Puducherry, as it is formally recognized but seldom addressed, is taking advantage on a modernized edition of that history, and coming forth as a traditional destination with a delicate French touch in anything to everything. It is like Republic of India envisioned through a Gallic lens system, or perhaps the other way around!

It is important to note that the Gallic influence in Puducherry keeps going to this day. Instances include the egg-shaped central city with right-angled street crossroads, and the avenue that environs the primary part of township, architecture patterns of the 18th and 19th century church buildings and public edifices, a promenade (public area set aside as a pedestrian walk) along the beach, and even statues of  Joseph Francois Dupleix and Joan of Arc. Watched from the ocean, the visible horizon is distinctive of that of a typical French Mediterranean settlement. The trademark of Pondicherry is the flat-top tube-shaped red service cap worn by the Puducherry police.

French Scenario of Puducherry

Even today, Puducherry houses a medium-sized community of French, and French is included as a functionary language of Government of Puducherry. Furthermore, there are about 6,500 French people cross-filed in Southern part of India, and out of them about 5,500 are living in the union territory of Puducherry. They are also qualified for by right according to law to emigrate to French Republic, and the French Government does not promote the exercise. Young aged French enterprisers who prefer to establish commercial enterprise in our country, launched their organizations and develop their clienteles in association with Indian based business ventures.

French business patterns in our country are present in assorted spheres such as information technology, automobiles, energy, engineering, manufacturing companies like St Gobain and so on. The French entrepreneurs have successful business stakes in exporting fish and other seafood, luxury goods, leather and textiles. As a question of fact, L’Oreal and Louis Vuitton have a strong presence in Puducherry. The French population in our country is an amalgamated community that is bonded by a range of organizations and establishments that strive to encourage French culture in India. The urban centre houses various organizations that connect French speakers living in the union territory of Puducherry. The French populations of Puducherry are ardent followers of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother and the French people simply love the spiritual aura that exists in abundance in the union territory of Puducherry.

The singular case of the union territory of Puducherry can well be explained through a French saying, "The more things change the more they stay the same"!