Pondicherry Memoir

I travelled 3 states, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu to reach Pondicherry by train . I had been to Pondicherry 3 years ago  for the Nationals U-7 championship which was memorable. Things haven’t changed much and  still I can feel the quiet and calmness of the  beautiful Pondicherry.

This is the 29^th Nationals U-11 Championship.This tournament was going to be a hard one as there are more than 250 people all over India. It was intense as the all the top players of U11 age category were there in both categories. CM Nihal Sarin and FM R Praggnanandhaa were the top players in the boy’s category and WFM Divya Deshmukh and Mridul Dehankar were the toppers in the girl’s  category.

The playing hall was spacious , crowded ,noisy yet comfortable. The zero-tolerance made everything even more chaotic. Nevertheless it did not dampen the spirits of the players.

Arumuga Thirumananilayam Hall

 I was upset when  Praggnanandhaa made a few draws at the start because the last time, he had been flawless. But he made a great come back and was crowned the champion. I met him just before the last round, which was a crucial round but he was totally chilled out and he was playing with his friends, something that I admire. I must tell you that there is a lot to learn from  my friend! All I can say is that “simplicity at its best”! 

Just the day before the last round, chilling out with  Praggnanandhaa, the future world champion

Mridul Dehankar came first in the championship. She made a brilliant score of 10.5 out of 11 and stood undefeated.Nihal Sarin and Divya Deshmukh missed it by a whisker and came second.

It was a wonderful tournament and I scored 5.5 and gained 17ELO points. Not a great score to boast for but had an amazing playing experience. The ninth and tenth round loss and the last round draw turned out to be the low point of the tournament. But I must say that the round number 5 game is something I relish even now. It was much appreciated by my coaches.

 Aurobindo Andhra bhavan was an old colonial house converted to simple, basic rooms and at a reasonable rate. It did not have any TVs or Wi-Fi but was very close to Goubert Avenue, which is the Marine drive of Pondicherry.It was a perfect place to relax in the evening.

Aurobindo Andhra Bhavan

Food was never a problem. In fact the delicious food was very soothing after loss.

My mother's favourite south Indian thali

But I must say one restaurant called La Pasta was where I mostly went. It is a Italian restaurant La Pasta world  owned by  Eric. He cooked amazing pasta and made me have pomodoro (Tomato, Basil) and spaghetti. Eric even told me the Italian way to eat spaghetti and a quick lesson on cooking.. He also kept me company, as I would go there on my own all alone.

The best pasta in the world by Chef Eric

There are a few tourist attractions that I would like to recommend and that I enjoyed.

·         Paradise beach is an island to which you must go by boat. It was very clean and  beatiful and good when you are with friends atleast i had lods of fun.

Paradise indeed

·         Handmade Paper Factory was very informative

·         Aurobindo Ashram is where Sri Aurobindo"s Samadhi is situated. There are also some of his books in different languages.

 

My friend Hetvi was a great company. We analysed our games, solved  tactics, played a few games against each other and we shared our ups and downs of the tournament

My chess buddy, Hetvi, busy analysing games

This trip is going to be in my memory forever. It has certainly been a good tournament with good games and good experience. I will come back stronger no matter how nuch hard work it takes. I am sure my parents and my coaches will be with me with my every step.

 

The past can hurt,but the way I see it,you can either run from it or learn from it. from'The Lion King'

 

 

 

 

My favorite book" Wonder" by R J Palacio

I like many things in my life. I like Chess, football, theaters,, games on my Xbox, rubik’s cube solving, listening to music movies and more. But books have always been a HUGE part of me. I like reading books that are adventurous, have fantasy and humor such as Harry Potter, Chronicles of Narnia, Star Wars and auto biographies The One and Only Ivan ,comics,mythology  and much, much more.

But there is one book which is my all-time-favorite atleast till date.

Wonder by R.J.Palacio is a book which is an international bestseller which I constantly read throughout the day in my pastime. It is about a boy by the name of August Pullman who is facially deformed. Oh, I forgot to mention that August (known as Auggie)’s routine is really coincidental to mine. Like, he is a ten-year-old-kid, he has an Xbox, he starts fifth grade, he loves Star Wars, he loves Halloween etc, etc. He also has a really good family just like mine: His dad Nate, his mom Isabel, His sister Olivia aka Via, and his faithful dog Daisy (Daisy’s full name is Darth Daisy). But the trouble starts when Auggie has to go to school as what his mother taught him (Auggie was homeschooled) was not enough.

And it starts due to a boy named Julian Albans.

The first three students August meets in Beecher Prep (his school’s name) are Jack Will, Charlotte Cody and Julian Albans. While Jack and Charlotte are extremely friendly, though mostly Jack was, Julian hated Auggie and asked rude questions like “What’s the deal with your face? Were you born in a fire or something?” and called him ‘Zombie kid’ and ‘freak’. To add trouble, Julian was super popular. Jack thought Julian was a jerk and he left the dark side which is Julian’s side. In the end, August becomes known throughout the school not for his deformity, but for being a really cool dude and brave and wins the High Honor Roll while Julian ends up leaving Beecher.

So why do I like this book?

It is real, simple yet mind blowing. I love the fact that the author herself tells that this is based on the real incident.It is beautifully narrated with simple language and I become very emotional while reading August’s struggle.

Not to forget the best part of this book when August says to himself

“Some people you see, whether a man in an armchair or someone who can’t talk, you can’t imagine what famous people they might become.”

Isn’t it wonderful??

 U must read it ,no matter what age you are at.

Time is running and I need to go to bed.I shall continue to tell you all about more books from my library .till then see ya!!!