From the archive record
A group of western tourists dance with young South Indian lads during Pongal in Pondicherry. These South Indian boys wear their traditional dress 'lungi'. See, a white westerner also wear a 'lungi'! Today, Pondicherry still has a community of French people living in the city and French is also an official language. There are 6,500 French people registered in South India, and of these about 5,500 are in Pondicherry. The French Indians are the wealthiest group in Pondicherry, deriving much of their income from pensions , Social Security, welfare, and other programs of the French government. They are also entitled to emigrate to France, although few do so and the French government does not encourage the practice. French companies in India are present in various sectors such as energy, IT, env