Taking on the monumental task of piecing together the remarkable story of the Ram Setu bridge that connects the southernmost and northernmost tips of India and Sri Lanka, respectively, Arup Chatterjee in Ram Setu: The Memoirs of an Enchanted Bridge takes the reader on a multidisciplinary journey that combines scientific, historical, sacred, and symbolic discourses on this contentious causeway. The book attempts to answer a simple question: Was Ram Setu, first described in Valmiki’s Ramayana, built by Lord Rama and his Vanara allies, or is it one of those mysterious and miraculous creations attributed to Mother Nature? Like all truly good questions, it leads only to more questions of increasing perplexity rather than providing a conclusive answer, which is just as it should be.
According to legend, the bridge was designed by Nala, believed to be the offspring of Vishwakarma, and built by King Sugriva’s Vanara army so that Rama could cross the sea and rescue his wife, Sita, who had been kidnapped by Ravana. Drawing on Valmiki’s immortal verses, colonial history, politics, court proceedings, satellite imagery, documentaries, and ecological concerns, Chatterjee attempts to lay bare the heart of the matter with penetrating insights.
To date, there is no consensus on whether the blessed bridge is natural or created by human intervention. Scientific evidence exists in favour of both viewpoints. Conflicting theories abound about the bridge’s supernatural properties. It was first raised in the Treta yuga by divine intervention and, some believe, continues to be a benevolent protector of humankind — fitting for a gift of Rama, Vishnu’s avatar.
Chatterjee also addresses the concerns of poor Tamil fisherfolk. They have been sacrificial pawns in the political one-upmanship between India and Sri Lanka. Many have faced ruinous fines, imprisonment, and even death at the hands of the Lankan navy. As he writes, the Palk Bay conflict “had turned the Sethusamudram region into the killing waters of the Indian Ocean.”
The book also turns to the dilemmas of the Anthropocene. Chatterjee raises concerns about aggressive coral harvesting and calls for reconstruction of the coralline bed. He points to islands like Tuticorin’s Vaan Island in need of revival. “A major finding from the Vaan experience is that the reduction of human interference in the environment can control macro- and meso-plastic pollutants and refine the quality of piscine life.” In the end, Ram Setu emerges as more than a structure. “It embodies the hope of peace, reason, harmony, solidarity, truth, and above all, trust in the infinite capacity of humankind to rise above its earthly digressions in the spirit of enormously large-hearted sacrifices and unprejudiced loyalties.”