PONDICHERRY MASALA: A tale within a trail by Laure Verniere and Anne Garde There are travelogues that are inviolable examples of non-fiction. And there are stories that befall those who travel and become stranger than fiction. This is a story that emerged out of the travels of two intrepid wayfarers in the South Indian port town of Pondicherry, that erstwhile French colony, which is changing even as it remains redolent with flavours of the past. A rich cast of characters is encountered by the authors of this story, as they meld together politics and history, film stars and ersatz leaders, to locate a missing fugitive. The genre, spilling over with all the visual elements of a potboiler, is cinematic in its interpretation of a journey.