Rest yourself where? புதுச்சேரி.

“While British dominance is well-documented, French presence in India is often overlooked or lesser known.”

All image credits: Ashray Kumar

This photo series was shot on a short trip to Pondicherry ( புதுச்சேரி), a former French colonial settlement in India. While British dominance is well-documented, French presence in India is often overlooked or lesser known.

In the time that I was there, it became evident to me that beaches here serve as hubs of daily activity, offering local residents a space for relaxation, camaraderie, and a place of solace to countless couples through late afternoons. Residents of Pondicherry embodied a laid-back, leisurely attitude unlike in other parts of India where life is often fast-paced, hectic, and teeming with relentless energy. Pondicherry possessed a preserved Eurocentric sense of relaxation that one can only imagine; harkens back to its colonial roots when the town served as a haven for French settlers seeking respite.