Return of Poirot

It was around seven in the evening, near the French Memorial, a number of tourists were taking pictures. One man stood out in the crowd. He was a portly man in his sixties, wearing waist coat, overcoat and loose-fitting trousers, who had much resemblance to a penguin and looked completely out of place. Even more strange were his upwardly curled moustache and many a tourist thronged to take selfies with him. The man rudely brushed them aside and walked into the huge French Consulate with the guard standing at the gate giving him a tight salute. The gentleman went straight to his room and dialed a number…

Yes, I have reached Puducherry and I shall be here for the next two days. Hopefully it would be enough to solve the death of Francois Martin, a French citizen, who had come here on a vacation. I shall keep you posted with the developments and now I must take leave for my dinner.

Thank you, Monsieur Poirot…said the voice on the other side…let me just give you a brief about the place and the incident about which the local police have been informed and they will give you full cooperation in the case.

Ok, please go ahead but keep the brief, very brief.

You see Monsieur, Puducherry, as the locals now call Pondicherry, comprises of the erstwhile French colonies of Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam. While Puducherry and Karaikal regions are in Tamil Nadu, Mahe is in Kerala and Yanam is in Andhra Pradesh. The foundation of present-day Pondicherry was laid in the year 1673 after the “La Compagnie française des Indes orientales” (French East India Company) successfully obtained farman from the Qiladar of Valikondapurarm under the Sultan of Bijapur. During the French Revolution in the year 1793 the British East India Company took control of the region but returned it to the French East India Company in 1814. When India gained independence in 1947, Pondicherry remained a French enclave. On a de facto basis, the local bureaucracy had been united with India’s on 1 November 1954 and the de jure union of French India with the Indian Union took place in the year 1963. Puducherry is the Tamil interpretation of "new town" and mainly derives from "Poduke", the name of the marketplace or "port town" for Roman trade in the 1st century AD.

Merci, my friend, I have had enough history for a single day. Now am off to meet the cops.

Poirot walked into the police station nearby. He was shown the post mortem report which clearly showed Francois Martin had been knifed by multiple people. Poirot had a good look at the shapes and sizes of the cuts inflicted, he agreed with the police that at least there were four people if not more who were involved in this brutal murder of a French nobleman. He then checked the plastic bag containing some knives and other items recovered by the cops for a long time and then a smile appeared on his face.

Merci…I am hungry now. The investigation can wait but not my food.

The man once again took to his feet and walked through the heavily crowded boulevard next to the Rock Beach, saw the statues of Gandhi and Nehru, before entering the Coromandel Café at La Maison Rose.This pink-coloured villa on Romain Rolland Street was once the home of a French judge. Poirot had heard a lot about this exotic place and wanted to enjoy some good food, some Indian and some French, with the finest wine. He spoke to one of the waiters and ordered a crispy prawn starter and fillet steaks and beef tenderloin for the main course. He loved the ambience and the food and the wine collection truly surprised him. No wonder this place ranked among the best restaurants of the world. He spoke to the person serving for some time, tipped him handsomely before leaving for the consulate.

Next morning Monsieur Poirot woke up early, got into his comfortable running shoes and clothes and refused to eat the food served at the consulate. Instead, he checked his map and started following the narrow streets of the French town before reaching 123 Bussy Street where he looked up at the board and smiled...Baker Street, French Delicacies Concept Store. He looked at the counter with varieties of croissants, cakes and pastries kept tastefully. The man could not hide his happiness as he started chatting with the man behind the counter in French. By the time the talk ended, the man had put strawberry pie, chocolate eclairs, baguette, muffin and quiche on a tray before ordering for cold coffee. A swipe of the credit card was all he needed before relishing the delicacies. The other people in the store were all looking at the strange man who seemed to have an insatiable appetite and was relishing every morsel.

Aurobindo Ashram

With his tank full, Poirot now explored the French town, the colourful houses, carved doors and narrow streets. The paintings on the walls of the houses were eye catching. He stopped at various points to read the names of houses, streets, public buildings, banks written in French- Petit Palais, Bibliotheque Publique, Pompiers de Puducherry, Rue Dumas, Banque de l’Inde- the detective smiled and said to himself c’est incroyable!  His first stop was the famed Aurobindo Ashram where he reluctantly took off his shoes and switched off his mobile before entering the sacred space. Under a big tree was a floral decoration on what appeared to be the final resting place of Shree Aurobindo. He saw a number of people going down on their knees, and with closed eyes and folded hands saying their prayers. After taking a round of the cemetery, a large section of people would go and find a place nearby to sit down and meditate. Poirot, too, sat like the others but soon realized that his mind was busy thinking about Martin’s murder, the plot and the perpetrators. He stood up and walked around the book store before going out of the ashram. The ashram appeared huge from the exterior but only a very small part was kept open for visitors, which Poirot found slightly disappointing.

Notre Dame Des Anges- 1738

After walking around the place that was crowded with tourists, most of whom were either making videos, taking pictures of themselves standing before the doors and wall motifs of the heritage houses or were busy chatting on their mobiles continuously. In search for some peace, Poirot went to the Rock Beach again and he stood there for a long time admiring the white sands and the blue sea. He wanted to go to the place where the waves crashed against the rocks but the policemen stationed were very alert and started blowing their whistle like the referee on a football pitch…. that’s a foul…stop!

Monsieur Poirot, Stop!

It was now almost lunch time and the detective needed another round of some special dish that Puducherry had to offer. He knew the next destination on his food voyage… Villa Shanti on Rue Suffren. The name sounded very Indian but Poirot knew the food served there was genuinely authentic French. He took the best seat in the centre of the courtyard under the shade of the trees with the sun blazing down. He was quite enjoying the sunny weather at a time when most of Europe was enveloped in a complete cover of snow. He ordered for a round of red wine and for food, as usual, he went overboard with a roasted fish with ratatouille, grilled beef tenderloin and chicken risotto. While ordering, he spoke at length with the floor manager there, possibly to give him an idea of how he preferred the dishes to be prepared. Don’t ask how, but the man devoured every bit of the food served till the last bite and the other guests and people serving were all in awe. Once again, he tipped the person well and walked out wiping his mouth with his silk handkerchief.

Villa Shanti

Poirot never slept in the afternoon and so he booked a cab and went off to see Auroville which was quite some distance away. After getting off the cab, he followed the walking trail to the golden globe like structure called the Matri Mandir which he saw from almost half a kilometre away. He felt cheated somewhat for he thought he would see a wonderful village full of people, living a peaceful life of meditation and spiritualism. Fortunately, he was given a lift to the pick-up point in a bus which saved him the trouble of doing the long walk back. On his way back, he stopped at the Aurovillie Bakery and Café for some hot coffee, croissant and cake and he also picked up a few varieties of cheese from the store nearby.

Matri Mandir

Serenity Beach

He ended the day by going to the windy Serenity Beach where he enjoyed a round of peace and tranquility as he saw the sun go down. He sat there on the black rocks, thinking about the mystery he had come to solve. He now had a clear picture of the case which meant that he could now go back to the room after another sumptuous meal and sleep well. For a change, Poirot went to a place that was on the outskirts of the heritage town and was serving drinks more than the food. This was Catamaran Brewing Co which looked quite dark and had loud music playing. He was in a celebratory mood tonight and called for the taster set of six beers…all different and unique. With that he called for two local starters, a plate of burnt garlic prawns and barbequed bacon wrapped chicken sausages. On reaching home, the happy detective sent out messages to a host of people he had met at Pondy.

Catamaran Brewing Co

Next morning, Poirot reached the Chunnambar Boat Club well in time and asked his driver and the crew of the boat he had chartered to unload and shift the champagne bottles and food packets from his car to the waiting boat. Slowly a crowd of twenty odd people arrived, all had a surprised look on their faces when the detective spoke up… Thank you all for coming at such a short notice. Since I will be flying back home later tonight, I wanted to thank you all for all the hospitality extended during my stay in this place that is ranked among the top three travel destinations by Lonely Planet. And of course, I will also tell you about the murder I had come to investigate, a case that I have now cracked.

Chunnambar River

People were startled at his last announcement and started looking at each other, who could be the murderer among them. They were even more worried that they saw in their midst a couple of cops with their funny red top including Inspector Selvan whom the locals feared. But now there was no going back and they boarded the finest boat on the jetty that Poirot had hired for the picnic and one that fluttered both Indian and French flags. As the boat started to slowly surge ahead and picked up speed, a few waiters appeared who went around handing the guests glasses of best champagne that had been flown in from France by the famous detective. With a glass in hand, Poirot now took the centre-stage and rang a bell to catch everyone’s attention.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have an announcement to make and am requesting Inspector Selvan to come beside me. I will be calling out four names, each of them should step ahead for they are responsible for my coming here. May I also warn these four people not to make any attempts at escaping as Inspector Selvan has his cop, disguised as tourists, in the other boats in the river around you.  And now here goes the list… Sukumaran from Coromandel Café, Jean of Baker Street, Jackie from Auroville Bakery and Café and Govindan from Villa Shanti…

The four men reluctantly came forward and each one of them repeatedly said that they did not know anyone called Francois Martin, leave alone murdering him. Inspector Selvan and his two men made a circle around the four named convicts with their hands, when Poirot started laughing aloud.

Don’t worry gentlemen, you are all safe. Francois Martin was the first Governor of French East India Company in 1673 and yes, he is long dead. I came here because the French chefs in Paris had complained that the chefs of Pondicherry were giving French cuisine a bad name. They connected with the local French consulate and sent me here to investigate if anyone was not cooking French food in the authentic traditional way. Those people should be warned and their establishments closed. The so-called forensic evidence bag contained nothing but items of food and cutlery from these four famous eateries here. I must, however, confess that I have tasted food in many French colonies of the world but the food the four chefs serve is amongst the best. I apologise for my hiding the true reasons of my visit and on behalf of all the Michelin Star Chefs of Paris, I am extending an invitation to Sukumaran, Jean, Jackie and Govindan on a seven-night all expenses paid stay in Paris. Congratulations and now enjoy the Paradise Beach.

Paradise Beach

SS

NB. All names used at fictitious.