The French East India Company set up one of their strongest colonies in Pondicherry, on the Coromandel Coast, during the 18th century. Over time, Pondicherry became the capital of French settlements in India and developed a distinct cultural identity. As per Sahapedia's Ananya Jahanara Kabir, even after India gained independence in 1947, Pondicherry remained under French control until it was officially transferred to India in 1954. Both countries through the Treaty of Cession agreed to preserve the French culture of Pondicherry. For example, French was continued to be taught in schools as the official language and locals could follow the French calendar. Even today, the French influence is felt deeply in the region through its pastel colonial buildings and grid like streets.

On the other hand, at around the same time, around 6000 kilometres away another French colony was formed. Due to the trade relationship formed in the 17th century, through Chirstian missionaries and merchants, Vietnam was under French colonisation for almost 60 years. This left a lasting impact on Vietnamese on not just Vietnamese architecture but also local food habits. The French introduced the Vietnamese to the baguette, a long bread roll and it transformed into  Vietnam’s most popular sandwich: the bánh mì, made with stuffing roasted meats, cucumbers, herbs and other such ingredients into a bread roll. The French left Vietnam in 1954 after losing the battle of Dien Bien Phu but their cultural imprint remained.

This distinctly French connection is what connects these two places, that seemingly don’t have any ties to each other. Trade networks connected these two key imperial hubs, which led to migration from Pondicherry to French Indo-China (Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia), forming a creole culture that is less explored and talked about. This diaspora of bureaucrats, teachers, merchants and even soldiers led to a culture that was an amalgamation of both the regions. Members of this diaspora spoke both Tamil and Vietnamese, along with French. Even their cuisines were heavily inspired by this confluence, with Vietnamese influences and dishes seeping into their daily lives. This migration also led to interracial marriages forming mixed-race families. Like famous Bollywood stunt director, Peter Hein who has a Vietnamese mother and an Indian father, has worked on movies like Ghajini (2008) and Bahubali (2017 & 2019). 

With diasporas like these, it becomes surprisingly easy for one half of a person’s heritage to fade into the background — especially when histories are unevenly documented and remembered. As Ananya Jahanara Kabir also notes in her paper ‘Creolizing Archipelagic Intimacies: Remembering India and Vietnam via Pondicherry’, this erasure is not always overt, but often subtle and cumulative. Other prominent personalities with this hybrid cultural identity are Julie Quang, an Indo-Vietnamese pop-star from the 70s, Mohiniattam dancer, Thomas Vo Van Tao and even French serial killer Charles Shobhraj, on whom the Netflix series Serpent is based off of.

Even though this connection and its influences cannot be seen overtly in Pondicherry and Vietnam, they live on through this small community and the families that form it. Seen through the lens of Global Asia, an approach that understands Asia not as a collection of isolated nations, but as a deeply interconnected region shaped by centuries of movement and exchange, these stories remind us that Asia’s histories have never been contained within national borders. These are not always histories that make it into textbooks or public memory, but they persist in a community’s everyday life. 

If you enjoyed reading this, here’s more from Homegrown:

3 Indian Non-Fiction Books That Can Help Us Better Understand Our Own Origins

From Riz Ahmed's Hamlet To Gulzar's Angoor: Why Shakespeare Finds Resonance In South Asia

In Defence of The 'Mango Diaspora’: Why Diasporic Writers Succumb To South Asian Clichés