How about a ‘flying visit’ to Pondicherry from Pondicherry Salai in Sholinganallur?

A mound of concrete housing a manhole is in the middle of Pondicherry Salai in Sholinganallur; motorists, particularly motorcyclists, should watch out

There are old roads whose star is ever on the ascendant. There are old roads that reluctantly make peace with the disconcerting but real idea that they have to coexist and share the spotlight with new-fangled funky Millennial roads that shot into prominence only the other night. And there are old roads that rest on their laurels, retaining names that hint at their glorious past. And in every other aspect, these roads are painfully lacklustre. 

In the third category is Pondicherry Salai (also called Pondicherry Pattai Road) in the Sholinganallur-Semmancherry area. It runs parallel to the mighty OMR and gives up the jog, panting furiously, just seconds into it. Long-time residents would note that the road, now narrower than a sub-miniature camera film, once stretched all the way to Pondicherry. The contrast between legend and reality is not only striking but glaring: the road going under the grand name Pondicherry Pattai Road now is hardly long by any definition of lengthy roadways, loses its identity quickly in a maze of interior roads. 

An ‘unusual revival’

But there is a rather unusual, probably even path-breaking effort to make good this road’s continuing claim today: that it would take its “beneficiaries” all the way to Pondicherry. This effort is signified by a massively elevated and widely spread concrete bump housing a manhole. Given its position on the road, it appears to be a manhole that is part of an underlying sewage system. This bump is located at the point of Pondicherry Salai where it meets TNHB A Road (also called TNHB Main Road). In rough navigational terms, this is a short section of Pondicherry Salai lying on what is the northern side of TNHB A Road. Much of Pondicherry Salai lies on the southern side of TNHB A Road. 

The manhole bump from another angle | Photo Credit: PRINCE FREDERICK

This mound of concrete housing the manhole is high and wide and motorists entering Pondicherry Salai or exiting it to move into TNHB A Road cannot skirt around it. It might come across as a boil in an inconvenient part of the human body, one that cannot be ignored. There is an upside to every painful aspect of human existence. This bump is so high it can launch a motorcyclist bumping into it at full pelt, all the way to Pondicherry, in a “ticket-less flight”. A flying visit to Pondicherry, if you like.