Hmmm... If you do a bit of reading, a lot if questions will be answered. All these places were with French, and hence never "got" their independence from British in 1947. One thing unique you might find in Pondicherry is that some of the olden day structures will have a different feel, simply because the French had a slightly different style as compared to English for construction.French remains an official language in the districts of Pondicherry itself and Karaikal. It was NOT an optional language, till a decade ago. Not sure now.