Not quite a towering inferno...

We were told to be ready for dinner by 6 p.m., so we had one and a half hours to kill before gathering at the lobby. My varsity mates and I, fourteen of us, on our regular bromance outing, had decided to embark on a six-day tour around Sri Lanka. Colombo was our last stop.

                                     

https://borderlessjournal.com/2025/01/14/not-quite-a-towering-inferno/

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Is it man-made?

Ram Setu (2022)

Director: Abhishek Sharma

If I tell you today is Thursday, how do you really know that today is indeed Thursday? It is not good enough because yesterday was Wednesday, and tomorrow is Friday, as today is no different from any day. As we know, during the era of Pope Gregory, the Church realised it was missing a few days. It had overlooked the leap years and had to erase 10 days in 1752. So, for all you know, Thursday today could be a Monday.

Well, the Hindus have the bragging rights to say their calendar says we are in the year 12,000, and they did not have to correct for errors and had had remarkable ways of calculating events. Even when the world was scared of venturing too far off on sea as they thought they would slip off at the edge of a flat earth, Hindu scriptures knew the planets were spherical structures. Scriptures say that Varaha, Vishnu's avatar, saved Earth from massive floods by placing the spherical planet on its snout.

When it comes to stating events in the ancient scriptures, the scribes have been quite precise with their descriptions. They have referenced events to planetary and astronomical positions to the tilt. Take Rama and Krishna's date of birth, for example. Rama, being a prince, his time of birth and his astrological chart is recorded precisely. Krishna's hush-hush delivery within the confines of prison walls, too, is noted duly. 

With the knowledge of modern astronomy and the help of planetarium software, we can predict precisely when such a constellation occurred aeons ago. Scientists have determined that Rama and Krishna lived around 7000 and 5000 years ago, respectively. (January 10, 5114 BCE  and July 21, 3228 BCE). From Valmiki's Ramayana, we know that Rama's date of birth is January 10, 5114 BCE, between 12 noon and 1pm in Ayodhya, Shukla Paksha in Chaitra month. Due to equinox precision calculation, a day is adjusted every 72 years. That explains why Ram Jayanthi is celebrated in March or April now. 

The critical question now is whether the story of Rama is a myth or part of history. Most landmarks mentioned about Rama and his father's kingdom have disappeared into the abyss of time. Ram Sethu remains the only relic to claim a stake in his existence. Descriptions of King Rama, his expedition to fight King Ravana in Lanka and the Vanara army is mentioned in many writings, even outside India. But can these writing be proof of historicity? Valmiki's Ramayana, unlike its other versions, like Tulsidas', Kalidas' or Kambar's, is referred to as itihasa (meaning 'thus it happened') because of its extensive descriptions. The others are labelled great poetical works (kavya).

There is a pressing need to clarify this issue now more than ever. There have been plans for a long time of dredging through the shoals to deepen the Palk Straits to allow ocean liners to skirt around the Indian peninsula. That would mean much ecological damage and possible destruction of an ancient engineering marvel, Ram Sethu or Nala Sethu, after Rama's chief engineer who conceived the idea when Rama's Army wanted access to Lanka.

Present-day engineers have proposed a possible prototype ancient builders may have used with the material available to build the bridge between India and Sri Lanka.

As early as the 18th century, the idea of deepening the sea bed between Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar was mooted. Many electoral promises were made to increase between the two countries and avoid the need for big vessels to circumvent Sri Lanka to get to the East coast of India. After many feasibility studies, the Government of India, in 2005, decided to get serious. It met resistance from religious and environmental groups. 

Some plans showed the need to drill through sacred areas, while others may pose an environmental nightmare.

The Government of India and the concerned parties have an ongoing legal battle. The opposition to the project wants the area to be declared a national heritage. Most parties agree that the construction of such a structure would not make any business sense. The amount of fuel saved by the distance is offset by the time taken by pilots navigating through the narrow strait. Detractors accuse the proponents of simply erasing any remnant trace of the rich culture and marvellous engineering feats the ancient Hindu civilisation could showcase. It is in their vested interest.

This 2022 movie which did not really make an impact at the box office, shows the diversity of Indian moviemaking. Deviating from their usual dance, music, romance and melodrama fare, they are venturing into other genres. This one must have had a cue from 'Indiana Jones' or 'The Mummy'. In cahoots with governmental officials, a private enterprise wants to develop Palk Straits. An atheist archaeologist who initially thought that Ram Setu is a natural occurrence is now convinced that it is indeed a man-made structure. He has to race against time to convince the Supreme Court of his findings before the greedy entrepreneurs usurp the land for their selfish needs.  

[There are veiled references in this movie. Aryan, the archaeologist, is the learned man. Aryan means learned in Sanskrit, not Northerners, as coined by Max Müller introduced in his now-debunked Aryan Migration Theory. The floating lab is named Pushpak with obvious reference to Pushpak Vimana, a flying vehicle owned by Kubera and used by Rama and his entourage after the tour-de-mission in Lanka. Anjaneya is another name for Hanuman. Here, the mysterious character who helps Dr Aryan is Anjaneya. There is a hint that he appeared out of thin air and disappeared mysteriously. Legend has it that Hanuman, being a true Ramaa devotee, received the boon of immortality. He sometimes manifests in various forms to help people in distress, so believe the reciters of Hanuman Chalisa.]

The Catholic Church, living under a rock, all these while imprisoning people like Galileo and Copernicus, realised under the leadership of Pope Gregory of their follies. Scientists of that era were summoned to recalculate the calender for modern consumption. The modern calendar, however, was not immediately practised by everyone at once.

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Affirmative action will always fail.

Madras Café (Hindi, 2013)
Director: Shoojit Sircar

It all started with the British and the Christian missionaries. The colonial masters decided to modernise their colonies. The British evangelists took charge of the South of Ceylon while the Americans built schools in the northern half. The American preachers, who were assigned a predominantly Tamil population, emphasised Science and Mathematics teaching. The schism started there. The people from the North were more well prepared to meet the challenges of the new world. After independence, the ruling majority from the South imposed affirmative actions to balance the scale.

In came Solomon Bandaranaike, a Singhalese with an illustrious family background which even included a knighted father and a British godfather. Solomon, an Anglophile, an Oxford graduate, was more white than Snow White. He could not speak the local lingo and did not practice Buddhism. He served in the Ceylon legal administration after his return from the UK in the mid-1920s. Ceylon became independent Sri Lanka in 1947. In the early 1950s, he entered politics at a time when Singhalese consciousness was escalating. The push for the Singhalese language was at its heights.

Solomon started donning Buddhist robes and fought for the Singhalese course. He won the 1956 elections with a landslide and became Prime Minister. Now, as the head of the country, he tried to mend bridges with the Tamil minorities. Unfortunately, his supporters looked at it as a turncoat, and the Buddhist monks got him assassinated. The affirmative action, which was set up to improve the Singhalese representation in the Sri Lankan society, only created brain drain and loathing of the Tamils against the ruling majority. As a result, hundreds of thousands of Tamil professionals from the Jaffna district seek greener pastures elsewhere.

Those Jaffnese Tamil left behind had to fight for a place in the sun. Soon came militant resistance groups in the 70s and 80s to defend their homeland in the form of LTTE.

This movie, 'Madras Café', starts a few years before Rajiv Gandhi is assassinated during his election rally in Tamil Nadu. Indian intelligence had warned the entourage about attempts on the leader's life, but protocols were breached by both the local administration and the politicians. Perhaps, there was collaboration at the State levels, as alleged by certain quarters. The Tamil Tigers perfected the art of suicide bombing and RDX plastic bombs, which escape metal detectors during routine inspections.

At the outset, the filmmakers insist that the story is a work of fiction based on intense research. However, it is as clear as day that it clearly describes the intricacies surrounding the upheaval in Sri Lanka, the political ploy of the Sri Lankan leaders, the Tamil moles, and the double-crossings by Indian intel officers. Moreover, it narrates a close to reality the events behind the scene as espionage, power wrangling, and negotiations.

The Indian Government wants a peaceful distribution of power in Sri Lanka. They want to weaken the Tamil Tigers by instigating leaders within LTTE to fight each other. Tamil Nadu government and its people are sympathetic to the Jaffna Tamils because of their common language. Hence, there are attempts of sabotage at Delhi's efforts. On top of all that, there are foreign powers who benefit from the region's continued instability.

Thirty years have gone, and the seven convicted of planning Rajiv's assassination are pleading clemency to be released after time served. Their appeal is supported by the current CM of Tamil Nadu, Mr MK Stalin.

It is a bitter lesson for nations who opt for affirmative action to modulate social engineering. In the final, the intended target group will be too laid back. The already advantaged group will fly away, and the nation will be a basket case, ruled by despot and sycophants over a broken society.

This clip is from another movie.

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It is a jungle out there!

Dheepan (Bilingual; Yaalpaanam Tamil and French; 2015)

When refugees are given space to stay in a vicinity, it is not just physical space they need. They would need social and psychological support to carry on life. After all the push factors that drove them from their comfort zone, the devastations that they had endured, the love ones that they had lost, PTSD is a real problem which needs to be handled tactfully. They do not come alone. With them come the baggage of young ones who need to be paved for a future where they can fend for themselves. There are bound to be people who are non-conformists and natural fighter-cocks who would just  rebel without a cause. Bad apples are everywhere. Crime and social disharmony amongst themselves and with other communities may strain the policing duties.

Refugees and immigrants, who are usually in the prime of the lives, will have dreams and desires, be it for the future or for carnal gratifications. Hence, sexual and reproductive concerns need to be addressed. In other words, receiving refugees is not simply processing people, quarantining them and repatriating them to other shores. It is the whole package, sometimes to grave and from cradle...

This Palme d'Or (Highest award in Cannes festival) winner the plight of three Sri Lankan Tamil refugees who try to start life afresh in France, without much success. Dheepan is a Tamil Tiger freedom fighter who lost his wife and kids in the bombing. When an international relief team comes ashore in war-torn Sri Lanka, total strangers teamed up to pose as family members to qualify for repatriation. Yalini picks up a 9 year old orphan from the street to act as her daughter while she herself lies to be Dheepan's 'wife' to get a passport to freedom. Dheepan uses a dead man's passport as his new identity!

The 'family' soon realises that the residential complex that they are placed in is no different than the war-torn zone that they escaped. Dheepan works as a janitor in a complex that houses refugees from North Africa as well. Gangs terrorise and guns are used frequently. The vibes that the environment gave was anything but safe. The 'daughter' Illayal, learns to blend with her schoolmates with a little difficulty.

Meanwhile, Dheepan and Yalini starts developing feelings. Memories of their turmoils in their hometown keep rearing the ugly head. In the course of their duties, (Yalini works as a helper to a demented Algerian man whose son is a big time thug), they get embroilled in the crossfire of a territorial feud between gangs. Things turn ugly. It is reminiscent of the clash of LTTE and the Government forces once again! The war never left them.

It is a deeply engaging movie. Characters are not so two dimensional. Even the meanest of the people have their gentle sides.