Vamba(a) keera pa(a)layam, a small livelihood area just outside the famous oval ring road (boulevard) of Pondicherry town. It is situated at the south east end along the seashore, where a road from the ring splits out and is located between the old harbour and the new harbour light house.
Palayam can be referred to something like 'shire', a very common subname that denotes a locality. I have no idea why the place got the name 'Vambakeerapalayam' :-)
Vambakeerapalayam is a mix of both town and village. It has a panchayat within it and most people here are fishermen who worship sea as their god. The god of the land is 'Angaala Parameshwari' an avatar of Sakthi, the wife of god Shiva. They celebrate an annual festival every year and it will be wonderful to see the gods while in procession.
God Parameshwari in procession - taken at Vambakeerapalayam
The famous Indira Gandhi stadium which hosts Independence and Republic day parades, 150 years old Petit Seminaire school, Electricity & Agriculture departments of Pondicherry are all stone throw away from this place.
Inspite of all this, Vambakeerapalayam is notorious for fights within and outside with other sea villages, many times ending up with spilling of blood. A small boy who was born and brought up there knew a little about this but never understood why. He joined a school ran by a visionary and passed out with more than 90%. He then pursued engineering and cleared out with distinction, plus a job in hand. He then for the first time moved out of this place to Trivandrum, Hyderabad, Atlanta(US), Chennai, Sheffield(UK) and now in Peterborough (UK). For nearly six years, he is out of this place but made frequent visits to this.
This place, Vambakeerapalyam, is always so special for him and... his name is Karthigeyan.
1 comment:
very nice job
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