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       India is a country of contrasts, on each scale : human, geographical, or also spiritual. My approach is different. The study of inhabitants habits and behavior forced me to step back and to get out of this machine which, at the first sight, never stops and waits for none. However, this mechanism works as it worked for ever, thanks to his pace and his peace.

   Population growth, fragile dynamism of agriculture,  extreme weakness of infrastructure, conservation of traditional social structures and poverty resulting of these elements' combination are the cause of a major rural exodus. Learning to live together, is a non-sense question in India. In town, people adopt the same lifestyle, and the commuting phenomenon has never been more obvious. While leaving the countryside for the city alters habits, finding his family after each working day is unwavering.

   Monday to Sunday, at fixed hours, the streets, shops and public places come alive and emptied. The sounds and smells are fading, neutral neons supersede natural light. Only animals, invisible and forgotten the day (re)conquer their territory. Such a wheel to this gearing, they occupy squared wards, and, I guess, also have their habits.

   Main counter of « La Compagnie des Indes », I lingered in Pondicherry, day and night, to make these photographs. Its unique architecture inherited from the mix of identities that have succeeded  in its walls, and its multifaceted colonial past. Almost invisible from days, lost in the daily tumult, monuments are  both emblems of Tamil and French heritage and landmarks for  each passerby.  Irradiated by this same white light, they are frozen and appear to be the last remnants of a deserted city, where dogs make a new law. The contrast is so strong, that to accept such a change of state becomes a memory game.