This weather beaten former French colony has a fallen off the map feel. Nevertheless Pondicherry, two hours from Madras, should be a promising place for a year end holiday. Ring in the New Year at one of the quaint Gaelic cafes or on a deserted beach.
Pondicherry was a French dependency till just 50 years ago and the French colonised this corner of lush Tamil Nadu back in the 1700s, along with a few other outposts on the southeastern coast of India. Pondicherry's absorption into independent India was a peaceful affair. Today a mildly Frenchie flavour still hangs in the air of Pondicherry's old town -- it haunts the cafes and wide sun-baked avenues of whitewashed buildings and pervades the sleepy churches.