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Languages meet at the sea wall.

Tamil, French and coastal life, held in one salt-air walk.

Puducherry

First passage

I begin Puducherry with at the sea wall. It is a place to start looking at the labour, landscape, memory and changing present that gather around a single thread. A real portrait needs many voices and many return visits. This first passage simply leaves the door open.

This is a first doorway, not a total account of a place. As the archive grows, I will shape these stories with local knowledge, review and full credit to the people in them.

Four ways to meet a place.

01

Food

Tamil kitchens, bakeries and coastal ingredients make eating an easy form of wandering.

02

Festival

Public celebrations reflect Tamil, French and local coastal histories in different measures.

03

Flora & fauna

Wetlands and sea edges support birds, turtles and a coastline under pressure.

04

Fashion & craft

Handloom cotton and easy silhouettes suit heat, salt air and the town’s unhurried pace.

Next field journalAndhra Pradesh↗

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differently.

A note from me when there is something good to share: a fresh story, a useful route, or a voice worth hearing.

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