When your trip begins with a cancellation, it&rsquos probably a sign. A day before we were scheduled to leave Mumbai for a Lakshadweep cruise, the ship failed to anchor. The most bizarre cause for cancellation that I&rsquod ever heard But high on holiday mode, my girl-friends and I decided not to let it dampen our nomadic spirit and headed for Pondicherry.
We set out for Auro beach, known mostly to true travellers. But our autowallah, who&rsquod probably never heard of it, took us instead to Paradise beach&mdashPondi&rsquos most touristy stretch of sand. Continuing our quest the next day in a taxi, we reached Auro&rsquos dirty entrance, only to discover a group of lecherous boys, ill equipped to gracefully handle their newfound puberty. Used to such &lsquomardana&rsquo behaviour, we obviously brushed it off. But soon their biker friends started harassing us, and one of them rode towards my friend Aparna, attempting to grab her. We yelled, and tried to catch hold of them. Out came Nicky&rsquos pepper spray. But she didn&rsquot use it. Fact is, violence isn&rsquot most people&rsquos first reflex. The group hooted in laughter, but the bikers left us, and as the beach itself was unappealing, we hopped over to Serenity beach.
True to its name, the beach had inviting blue waters, cozy eateries, colourful fishing boats and happy surfers. While Nicky quickly changed into her swimsuit and joined the crashing waves, we preferred to dip our feet at the shore. All our valuables were with us except, the bag with Nicky&rsquos clothes, surrounded by our shoes, was on the beach. Suddenly, a man started shouting at us from a distance. Taking it to be a high-tide warning, we frantically signalled Nicky to get out. Next the man was chasing a boy, who was running with Nicky&rsquos bag Aparna sprinted and I followed suit, but we quit on reaching the maze-like interiors. We still tried tracking the thief with the help of locals, but had no luck
Finally, with some guilt for being careless, and annoyed about the episode, Aparna and I went in search of a garment shop, our holiday spirit well and truly ruined.