The Bridge Over Bay of Bengal

Tamil Nadu's politics and its politicians provide great entertainment, wonderful excuses for endless lacha and prophesying doom for anyone of the forward community of Hindus and good reason to shift base to US ("Who will live in this sick place?"). One of the latest issues to crop up is the Rama Sethu Samudram Project - the dream project of Anna which due to various bottlenecks hasn't materialized for 40 years.

The Sethu Samudram Shipping Channel Project proposes to link the Palk Strait and Gulf of Mannar through a Shipping Channel. It plans to cut through the Rama Sethu (or "Adam's Bridge" as T.R. Balu would have it). The benefits include reduction in distance between the ports of TN and Srilanka, reduced time for ships and development of ports.

But the picture is not that rosy. Some environmentalists have predicted destruction of the ecosystem in the region. Shipping experts feel that the project is viable only for ships carrying less than 30000 tonne, while the current trend in the industry is ships carrying anywhere between 60000 to 150000 tonnes. Also it seems the project wont really benefit ships economically in a major way, and would have negligible benefits for ships from far away Africa or Europe. Politically, the shipping canal would end in Jaffna, a territory under LTTE control. So any new port that develops there might benefit the Tigers more than the Sri Lankan Govt. Also it also provides and easy way for Tigers and refugees to come to India, which again bothers Sri Lanka.

But the highlight of the controversy is the religious angle thrown in as the Project proposes to break parts of the bridge built by Rama and the Vanaras and Bears that formed his army.
Subramania Swamy had challenged the government's decision to carry out the project in the Supreme Court citing the above reasons and many. The govt in its reply produced documents from the Archaeological Survey of India which stated "There is no proof that Rama existed or that the Adam's Bridge was man-made". This snowballed into a controversy with parties like BJP trying to get maximum mileage out of the issue.

But the thing that shocked me most was TN CM Karunanidhi's statements which showed total lack of sensitivity towards religion and culture. Karunanidhi openly questioned the belief in the "Aryan God" Rama and claimed that "Valmiki called Rama a drunkard". Truly, only in TN can you get away with such statements. The people of TN, with a history of being ruled for 40 years by atheistic Dravidian parties who came to power by beating Rama's idols with slippers and adorning Ganesha with garlands of slippers just watched as though nothing happened. Maybe 40 years is time enough to numb any religious fervor. Or maybe as Challa puts it, Rama being an "Aryan God" was alien to the TN culture. Maybe a statement about Lord Muruga would have elicited a more ferocious response. But whatever said and done, Karunanidhi's statements were totally unwarranted and betrayed any illusions about his political maturity.

On one of the numerous Lachas on this topic, AP pointed out that as the project promises economic benefits, it should be carried out regardless of other issues as it would benefit the people. I feel it's a very one-dimensional way of looking at things. Economic Betterment should not be the only criterion by which our government runs. The country is more like a home, not some shop looking for profits. Things like culture and religion are something to be proud of and cherished. What religion does basically is that it keeps a check on your activities by imposing concepts like self-conscience, Karma and inspiring stories of Good -Vs-Evil in which Good eventually triumphs after facing tumultuous obstacles on the way. The story of Rama is one such. Religion promotes altruism in today's self-centered world. It assumes even greater significance in today's world where money assumes the central objective of man's life.

We all want our children to grow up to be good men and women. So we tell them all these stories of Good-Vs-Evil etc. All the places of religious significance like Rameshwaram offer a proof before their eyes that the events in the stories really happened. It reinforces belief in the stories in the children's mind - not only the stories but also in all the good values that are packaged in it. The Rama Sethu is one such monument which you can point at and show to your children that Rama existed. If they grow up to be good men, they would find more happiness than they could get from money and the world would be a better and safer place to live in.

Thus, it is not a question of whether Lord Rama existed or not, it is a question of what the belief in his existence can do for the world. Weighing the options is not too difficult. Hope the self professed leaders of the "Rationalist Thinkers' Movement" of Tamil Nadu realize this.