Sethu Samudram Project - An Alternative Plan: Ramar Island. The Love Story – The Happy End…

Chapter 8

Raman got up very late next morning and went to the hall. Geetha was sitting there with her grandmother and said good morning to him.
“It is going to be 9 a.m. and what is your programme?” she asked.
“I make myself ready, we drink coffee and after that we go to Sri Meenakshiamman Temple, all of us including grandmother”, he answered. They were inside the temple for more than two hours and Geetha was absolutely happy.

When they reached home, the post man came with a telegram.
“Ms. A. Geetha”, asked the postman. She went and took the telegram and with shivering hands she opened it and saw only one word in it, CONGRATULATIONS. It was from her Papa and her parents blessed her and she felt the blissfulness in every part of her body.

“What is it”, asked the grandmother.
“It’s from papa” was her casual answer.

Geetha and Raman talked about their studies and their wishes and aims in their life and both were grateful to Singapore. It was 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. he has to leave to the railway station.

“Would you like to have your own Singapore?” he asked her.
“If you present me one during my life time, why not?” she replied. He opened his suit case and took the papers and gave to her.
“Here is your Singapore, read it carefully and till you finish reading it don’t ask any questions”, he said.
She remembered his writing on that morning in Chennai and started to read. In the first page she could read only “dedicated to Geetha” and she started reading. He has written some 20 pages and she took two hours to read, understand and enjoy this paper.

“Send this to our former President Dr. Kalam, he is from Ramanathapuram, his house is in Rameswaram and surely he will help”, she said in a soft tone.
“Not only our former President Dr. Kalam, but all the Indians living in this earth should be for this”, was his reply.

“The canal should be named after Mahatma Gandhi,” the voice of Geetha and Raman came at the same time. Their endless joy is to be seen clearly from their young, beautiful faces.

Geetha got up slowly, went to Raman, hugged him and whispered him, “I love you”. Raman felt the warmth of her breath and body and replied “I too love you and Ramar Island is my present to you. It will be a symbol of our love forever”.

Sethu Samudram Project - An Alternative Plan: Ramar Island. The Love Story - Chapter 7– in would be Ramar Island…

Chapter 7

It was 7 a.m. in the morning Geetha was ready, but Raman was sleeping still or dreaming and his smile was also still in his lips. She took her pillow and with that she touched his nose. He opened his eyes and in front of him he saw the beautiful face of Geetha.
“The hotel has got your ticket and at 11:30 a.m. we must fly to Madurai” she said.
He looked at her and said “Good morning, Geetha, go for the breakfast alone and I have to finish some important work”, he told.
“Is it more important than me?” asked she and he nodded. She was disappointed but without telling a word she left the room.

“She is angry”, he thought, “but I could explain her everything tomorrow”, he consoled himself.

As Geetha went to the breakfast room she could not understand why he was not interested to take the breakfast with her. The men had always important work if they wanted to avoid something. Raman was no exception, she thought.

Raman took the paper from his suit case and started to write about his dream. He wanted to write every small detail on the paper and was afraid whether he could forget something. He was writing and writing and suddenly Geetha was standing in front of him.
“What are you writing?” she asked.
“It’s just about something which I should not forget”, he replied.
“I want to see it now”, she whispered.
“No, you have to wait till tomorrow or day after tomorrow”, he replied with a smile. For the first time she was angry with him and without talking further she made her suit case ready for the journey. He finished his writing, put the papers in his suit case, closed and locked it very carefully and went to take the shower.

Raman did not take the breakfast on that day and she could not understand anything from his behaviour. The plane landed safely in Madurai Airport and they took a taxi to her grandmother. The grandmother was very happy to receive them and she had already the news from her son, Arunachalam. She was asking both something without a break.

After the meals Raman told Geetha that tomorrow morning he would like to go to Ramanathapuram and Rameswaram. It was an unexpected and pleasant surprise to her and she thought of the wonderful temple in Rameswaram. She agreed without hesitation. “Grandmother, come with us” she asked, but grandmother was not willing to travel the whole day.
“Make a good picnic with Raman and I prepare everything”, she told with an unexplainable smile in her lips.

Raman and Geetha started next day in a Taxi and the driver is from Kilakarai. “I know the whole area” said the driver, “what is your wish, sir?” he asked.
“We want to have a ride through Kilakarai, Muthupettai, Ramanathapuram, Mandapam, Irumeni, Panalkkulam, Devipattinam and finally to Pampan and Rameswaram, just want to look the area”, was his answer.
“Okay”, said the driver. Geetha had not understood all what he told and was asking to her why he wanted to see all these places? I could get the answer in course of the day or at least in the night when we have returned to Madurai. Everything looked like a mystery to her and in Raman she saw a miracle man who was planning something great or also not.

It was a good day and they sat in the car almost the whole day. It was a hard day and they have seen all the places, Raman ate his groundnut sweets, Geetha ate one banana, they drank two or three tender coconuts and the driver drank many teas.
“Now I have an idea, it is a wonderful place for a mighty country”, he said.
“What do you mean exactly and I don’t understand all these things”, she told.
“Wait for a day and then I explain you everything in detail”, he said casually. She had no other alternative than to wait. She could have scratched his face with her nails, but somehow or other she had no idea to hurt him.
“How could I scratch his handsome face?” she thought. Raman told the driver to go to Pampan first and then to Rameswaram Temple. They went till the car could go, it was almost empty and there were lot of scope to make the forests denser and what not he thought. It would be a deserving place to become Ramar Island which he has already dedicated to Geetha. He did not want to tell her about this in Rameswaram and Madurai could be the best place to tell, he decided. I would tell her before I go to the railway station.

“It seems you know everything, tell me about Rameswaram”, Geetha asked him.
He looked at her with a sweet smile and started, “Rameswaram is the place where Lord Rama built a bridge across the sea to rescue his wife Sita from Ravana. Here Rama worshipped Lord Shiva to wipe away the sin of killing Lanka’s Ravana. All the Hindus visit this pilgrimage and it is known as the Varanasi of the South. A pilgrimage to Banaras is incomplete without a pilgrimage to Rameshwaram. It is an island in the Gulf of Mannar at the tip of the Indian peninsula” Raman told.

Geetha looked at him in astonishment and admired his knowledge, but could not get any words to praise him.
“Are you dreaming”, he asked.
“No”, was her reply, “I thought you only dreamt hours together last night and I have observed you more than five hours”.
“Aha”, he said and was silent.

“Could you tell me about the God here”, she asked him.
He smiled at her,” The main deity is the Linga of Sri Ranganatha which is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas of India”.
“You are great”, she shouted at him, “I could marry you immediately if you ask for that”. Her face was completely red now and she turned it away from him. The Rameshwaram temple has come before he could answer. The new gopuram was mighty to look. There were people from all over India and all are busy in their work, mainly looking the temple or taking the holy bath or doing some puja. His dream city could come there which could also make India stronger in all respects, he thought. In the World Map it could get such a place that everybody wants to visit India’s Ramar Island and he was very proud now.

He was awake when he heard Geetha’s voice once again. “If you stand like this people will think that you are one of the Gods of Rameswaram”, said she in a sweet voice, “Shall we go inside now?”

He starred at her for a long time and replied in a completely different voice, “The time has not yet come for us to enter this temple, we go now, come later in our life here and at that time you can go inside”.
She has not understood what he meant and wanted to wait till tomorrow to get all details. “If I haven’t known him well in these days I could have thought that he is mad”, she thought.
She agreed, but she was hungry and they decided to eat somewhere. When they reached Madurai it was after 10 p.m. and the grandmother was happy to receive them once again. They answered all her questions and finally it was midnight when he entered the guest room. Lying in his bed, he thought about the past seven or eight days. My life could not be the same as before, he thought. But, to get Geetha as his wife he was prepared even to eat a dead rat, he thought and laughed. What to tell, when to tell or how to tell her was the biggest unsolved problem for him. This night he had no dream and he slept well.

“Tomorrow will be the important day in my life, he loves me, but he is shy”, thought she in her room and she had no patience to wait. It was a disturbed night for her once again. If he could not open his mouth I could take the initiative first, she liked this idea very much and slept well. It was 4 a.m.

Sethu Samudram Project - An Alternative Plan : Ramar Island

Rameswaram Island and Mandapam – I had been there for the first time when I did my staff training as a Research Assistant in Tamil Nadu Fisheries after my studies. That was in the beginning of 1970s. The rich flora and fauna in that area fascinated me – the coral reefs, the beautiful color fishes, the snakes in Krusadai - the Mecca of zoology students from all the universities in our world, above all the dancing dolphins, to tell a few.

When I read about the Sethu Samudram Project I thought it was wonderful to have a short sea route instead of traveling round Sri Lanka. Then I thought of the rich flora and fauna and about the Ram Setu or Ramar Bridge or Adam’s Bridge. Ramayana, we all know well and I don’t want to destroy this mythological bridge also. I always respect the religious feelings of others and this is our family tradition. I wanted to have a solution which will not hurt anybody and come good to India.

I had the idea in 2006, but there was no response at that time. In 2008 I gave this to my cousin’s son Sakthi and his wife, Vaan to read. They found the theme very interesting. Sakthi wanted me to write a book on my idea and we all have forgotten this completely. Two weeks before I left to Hamburg, Germany, i.e. 27th April 2009, Sakthi remembered me and told me that I should make it a love story so that it would be more interesting. “A love story!” I wondered. Sakthi suggested we, the young people go through it and change if it is necessary. I had to give a lecture in Virudhunagar and stayed in Sivakasi because of non-availability of a hotel room in Virdhunagar because of the marriage season. Janaki and I booked the ticket for II class A/C to Sivakasi. Sakthi was in Egmore railway station to give us send off. I was lying in my birth, closed my eyes and thought about the love story which I should write. I didn’t sleep the whole night and when we got down in Sivakasi railway station I had the idea.

The first half of the story is happening in Singapore and I wanted to visit Singapore before I write this book. In the hotel before going to our room we wanted to drink a cup of coffee and went to the breakfast room. It was around 7 a.m. in the morning. One family was sitting there. We said good morning and they replied. After that the man came to us and told that they have come here to visit their family temple. Casualy I ask him where he is from. He said we are from Singapore and he is a police inspector there. I was wondering about the coincidence to my Ram Setu love story and Singapore and I meet immediately this gentleman. We talked and I told my idea. He asked me to come there at least for one week and he would arrange me to see everything in Singapore. Later when I wanted to go he was deputed to New Zealand for five months and I didn’t go.

Back in home, in Hamburg, I enjoyed the climate and after few days started to write. The result is the book –“Sethu Samudram Project, Ramar Island”. I like this story very much and the friends who read this book were surprised and asked how could I write such a wonderful love story? Back in Chennai, India, end of July 2009 we have printed this. I want to inform all the Indians and well wishers of India to read this in my blog and help to fulfill this noble cause. Every day one chapter will be written here.

I tell you one thing. If my dream becomes a reality then it will be golden egg laying duck for the emerging Super Power India.

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