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India’s Puducherry still exudes French charm 70 years after end of colonial rule
- The Indian city retains signs of its colonial past, from women in saris chatting in French to policemen wearing gendarme hats
- Ahead of President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to India, Puducherry residents express pride in their French heritage
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Seventy years after France quit once hard-fought for territories seized from India, the dwindling influence of Paris on the bustling streets of Puducherry is still reflected in language, architecture and cuisine.
It is more than 8,000 kilometres (5,000 miles) from Paris to Puducherry, but some women dressed in colourful saris still chat in French, policemen wear the peaked kepi hats of the gendarme, and road signs mimic the famous blue and white enamel lettering of Paris.
As President Emmanuel Macron heads to New Delhi to celebrate Republic Day on Friday – marking the day independent India’s constitution came into force – Francophiles in Puducherry say the impact of France’s colonial rule was better than British brutality elsewhere in the country.
“Indians of Pondicherry were considered as French nationals – culturally and legally,” said 96-year-old David Annoussamy, a former judge who served in the French court in the port city, using its colonial-era name.
“Nationality wasn’t about colour, it’s about knowing France,” the author said, wearing a traditional Tamil wrap around his waist and speaking from his sprawling home with a tree-lined central courtyard.
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