A little about Pondicherry

04/01/2009

Roman Roland, a French Journalist, friend of Mahatma Gandhi, lived and breathed in Puducherry.
The celebrated writer lived in Puducherry for many years, the city boasts of major library named after him.
Puducherry is not just a home of scholars like Roman Roland alone. It is also spiritual abode for many. Sri Aurobindo International Society is one such. The former French colony is metropolitan in culture, while its distinct identities are well prevalent even now.
For hockey too this city is emerging as a force to reckon with – if not already at least hereafter.
The benevolent Government of Puducherry has recently laid a synthetic turf in the Indira Gandhi Stadium complex. Its an exotic Balsam turf.
Located at the right end of the sprawling sports complex, the green spectacle it produces is seen to be believed
There is a stand on one side, and the facility is perhaps to be officially inaugurated.
The campus also has hostels for some disciplines including hockey.
In the evenings and mornings, the area is abuzz with players' muse while many chose the area for their fitness walk as well.
More than the structure, what inspires from the hockey perspective is location of many schools that surround the sports complex.
One can easily say at least half a dozen leading schools are available in 3 km radius to the sports complex. One of them was started some one hundred years ago. These schools house around 2500 to 3000 students, thereby .indicating the human resources available to tap for sports.
Hockey Citizen Group on its probe mission last month found an ideal setting for hockey to be seeded and grown – infrastructure and human resource.
Whoever we met from Principals, coaches and government officers, all proved to be our assets. Everyone of them wanted us to come and contribute.
Some of school heads are also actively involved in the state's sports administration.
So, he is Puducherry which in local Tamil language means 'new dwelling place'. Hope hockey comes home here and start living 'new'