Wow. You Probably don't know about this.
In 1973 I was the Junior Engineer in Charge of the Pamban Bridge Construction. At that stage my job was to form the two approach roads to the Bridge. I do not see why we need a third railway Bridge to Dhanushkodi in 2020. Waste of Tax payer's money as we already have a rail bridge and a road bridge. All that was required was to extend the train line from Rameswaram to Dhanushkodi.
I ran away from Rameswaram, as my Boss a Divisional Engineer was very corrupt and I said over my dead body I was going to help him get rich. So he sent hired local Gunda's (mercenary Thugs) who put a knife to my throat and told me "do what you are told or else we will kill you and throw your body to the sharks. You will not get another warning".
I stood firm and strong and then one night my God sends, my Peon Muniayya a big strong man, Watchman Muthiah an Old man and Road Inspector Madaswamy came and had biriyani with me and some beer and found some silly excuse to spend the night in my place all sleeping on the raised platform (called Thinnai in Tamil) outside the main house and at 4.00am they came upstairs to my room and packed all my things in bags and escorted me to catch the first train that departed from Rameswaram at 5.30am. They would not tell me anything until the train reached Ramnad District where we got off and they put me on an express bus to Madras., Before the bus started they told me there was a plan to kill me and they had to protect me. This was 1974.
In 1994, 20 long years later, I went to Rameswaran after my nieces wedding and we had lunch at the Govt guest house where we stayed. When I was paying the Bill I started to talk to the young cashier and told him I was there when the guest house was constructed as Junior Engineer in Tamil Nadu Highways and mentioned watchman Muthayya's Name.
What happened next was unexpected.
The Young Man stood up and Touched my Feet and told me my father always talks about you Sir, how good a man you were and how they saved your life.
I wanted to see Muthaiya straight away and could not but that night the young man came and told me my dad wants me to invite you and your family and friends to our home for Breakfast. I said that is not fair as we are eight of us a huge crowd to entertain. He said "Sir you do not know how excited my dad is please do not disappoint him".
So all of us attended the breakfast the next morning niot far from the guest house. He was living in a hut as always, "a hut that was a palace of LOVE". We both hugged and Cried like Babies and thanked God for reuniting us one more time.
As for breakfast the poorer you are the bigger the heart., We had Idlis, Pooris, Dosas, Uppuma, and a tonne of sweets and the best filter coffee one could find in Rameswaram.
We chatted like two old women and before I realise it was time to catch out train back to Madras and Muniayya and his son escorted all of us to the railway station and Muthiah my peon was there to greet me. Another tearful reunion. We crossed the Pamban Bridge and stopped at Mandabam station and Road Inspector Madaswamy was there to greet me more hugging and crying.
I have never cried like that ever with joy. Both of them accompanied me and family to Ramnad District where we all had lunch at the best Airconditioned Udupi Hotel and it was time to say good bye to the people I adored people I owe my life to. Probably the sweetest memory of My life
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Comments & Interactions with close friends:-
RS says: Whatta reunion..nostalgic and destiny has its way.
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EA wrote: Really fascinating. Please write your autobiography. I'll proof read
Me: you already have my auto biography. my blogs remember
EA: No write a proper book.
Me: And my son would say Dad who is going to read your book and that is why my book became Reflections by IITians. All I need to do is cut and paste my blog into a cohesive document, have it edited and make it a pdf and we have a book
EA: So just do it.
ME: OK Boss Take it as done
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H: Wow Ram! Truly heart warming. Did you know that I was born in Panaikulam, Ramnad District? Left India with my parents when I was 4.
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R: very touching. No one ever tried to save me that much!
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AR: That is so beautiful uncle ram. And what an adventure
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Log: Ram Until Today, I did not know that there were corrupt murdering Engineers in H&RW dept, as early as 1974. God saved and blessed a better life for you on leaving the Dept. 👍🙏
Me: Log How would you know as you stayed in the CE's office all the time. You know when the fight started? . The day I reported for duty even before I joined the AE wanted me to sign a bill he had prepared for demolishing a house on the approach road worth Rs 87000. I told him I have not even joined and if you demolished it you sign the Bill. Had I been scared and signed the Bill it would have been used to blackmail me. This was the first time I was on a bridge site and I did not even know how to prepare a bill. God gave me the strength. When I got to know Pamban well I was looking for the spot where the house was demolished. There was no such house so it was a trap to blackmail me. From Day one the bastard Divn Engineer Kaliyaperumal tried all sorts of things to bully me into submission and I knew every card the bugger was playing.
Indira Gandhi came to inaugurate the Pamban Bridge. The AE prepared a Bogus Bill in which one tipper truck carried 75 loads of sand to the site. In fact it did only 6 trips. The Divisional accountant a corrupt brahmin chap, Asst engineer and Div Engineer tried to force me to sign the Bill. I refused and it was signed by another corrupt JE Sakti Vel.
What the Chaps did not know was that Mahadevan who was the Chief Engineer for the Bridge was my IIT Classmates Hariharan's father,. This was a Trump card I had hidden in me but I never told Mahadevan I was Hari's classmate to the end.
After reaching Madras I went and saw the CE and instead of helping me he said he was going to charge me for leaving my post without any authority. So I said Bugger you and then Ummi Phoned Health Minister Anbalhalagans Daughter Senthi who was always in our house studying medicine with Ummi. She told me Chander not to worry Appa knows you very well and he siad not to worry he would get me a posting in Designs cell in Adayar. Next day in the afternoon CE's peon comes and tells me CE wants me to see him " NOW. So I went up and he said "why did you not tell me you knew the health minister and I told him you are the CE and I told you about the corruption and the attempt to murder me and all you said was you were going to charge me for abandoning my job. You left me no choice". It was then I told him I was his sons best friend and his Jaw dropped. You mean you studied at IIT ? I said so what and walked out of his room and My orders to join Designs came next day and the PA gave it to me.
Log: What a painful experience you had undergone, Ram? Now I can understand why not even a single IITian join any govt service. In a short period of time you had learned all the wicked ways of the crooked elements in H&RW , in the execution side.
God blessed you with the best life after undergoing such a torture in H&RW initially. Perhaps that willpower to fight the evils in life helped you to go abroad and study further and make you a successful businessman ,Ram. This is yet another strong proof of existence of God who always supports the right. I have a good memory of the ex.CE, Mahadevan, who was spoken a straightforward person. Perhaps he was biased by those culprits at site. Sorry about all the bad things that happened to you in the dept in a short period of your service. Happy that you overcame all and well settled abroad .
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LP: I could visualise your memory as I was reading Mamathatha. Truly Inspiring
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MM: Great 👍 remembered all but did not know you are civil engineer .
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MG: Most beautiful piece of writing that I have ever read in my life. You should have told me before exactly how amazingly moving it was , then I could have got ready for what I was to read..and could have sent with this message some hankies and tissues to wipe off the tears that crept down my cheeks as I read and the tears came rollin down.
These are the tears not of pain but tears that well up in your eyes when you stand face to face with something beautiful .., something capable of moving you, touching you with infinite enormity.
Me: I don't like watching trailers or being told the story by people who had seen the movie. Takes all the excitement away. Glad you liked it. It is not a story but a true event. Now I have been asked by two friends to write my auto biography
MG: I know. It’s a true story and thai why so beautiful Baki gulo peyechho? Dekho toh Rana da bolchhen ota ki cash e psid? Paid ,? Olpo taka
Me: Are yiou trying to pay me for penning this article ???
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AS: This is incredible!!!.. Your best. Please do send in such, as it reinstates good values in me
Thanks uncle Ram
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KCK: Nice to read about this amazing reunion. God bless them
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MG: Good, very touching memorable story.
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RJ: 👍👍👍. Fantastic story! Grateful for their help.
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CM: This is an absolutely amazing story. Made my day and plan to share 🔥❤️
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PK: How come you always get into such situations? At hostel Mess and Class. Good you left India. Where else did you work in India before leaving?
Me: PK no one was going to f<>k with me. Bloody Prof Venkatraman had me failed by 1 mark in 3rd year in Fluid mechanics. You know why ? because I caught him stealing provisions from the hostel mess as warden. Heaps of provisions supplied each month to his family and our mess bill was going up all the time. Ofcourse I had inside information from good honest workers in the mess. Kurian Raphael the Gen Secretary and I the Mess secretary failed that year. You know why at he meeting in the common room that night some seniors from the back yelled out and called the Prof "a Thieving bastard"..
Remember Muthu Krishnan in Soil mechanics Lab tried to mess with me and Prof Sankaran told him to apologise to the whole class or he would report the matter to then Dierctor and have him sacked.
CSK was a tough man but a good man he was the one, when we explained that I had "S grade" average in all labs in concrete and soil mechanics but my mid term report showed a "B grade". (The Bastard Muthu Krishnan, had penalised 13 of us. Anupam, Me, Chillar, Ram sitaram, Ben, Chandran Prasun Das Mohanan Nair all back benchers. I have to thank Kutty Ramamurthy for dragging me to CSK's room as I was scared. It was CSK who wrote my Recommendation letter to apply for admission in US unis. Guess what he wrote. "RamChander results do not reflect his true capabilities".
I told him how I failed in 3rd year too and he was so shocked. Interesting I got an "S" Average in the same subject when I repeated a year.
Plus I had a great letter from German Prof Rouve with whom I spent a whole Summer holiday working on Open Channel flow experiments.
My last job in India was at Designs Division of TN Highways, at Adayar.
PK, looking being failed in 3rd year, made me think of suicide as I was ashamed and had let my mother down. On Hind sight looking back guess what That was the best thing that happened in my life as I got to meet this amazing set of new batch mates including you.
Failures are in fact stepping stones to success and makes one stronger
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KK: Wow uncle, you've had a very colourful life. This story reinforces the fact that even though there are some terrible people in the world, there are equally many angels who come in different forms when you need them. I'm glad you could meet them again in 94
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SM: Wow, what a remarkable story! I wonder what you could have done to earn so much of love and respect from them.
Me: I treated them all as my equals and not like other JE's, who treated them like servants, using vada poda language. Not my style I always respect the poorer people. There is a small island more like a big sand dune between Sri Lanka and Dhanushkodi called Kutcha Theevu and each year on one day Indians and sri lankans meet on this piddly island and do barter trade exchanging lunghis and sarees made in India with even coconut oil from Srilanka. Every Year the Corrupt DE would organise a fishing boat and take his sidekicks AEs and JEs to Kutcha Theevu. I was not going go with that bastard.,. By his time news has spread by word of mouth about me being a good honest man. All, subcontractors adored me as I monitored and measured their work mostly dumping sand from sand dunes and approved bills for work done. I was told earlier the practice was to double of treble the work done and the subcontaractor was to receive the payment take the a mount for his actual work and pass the exra back to the AE, often much more than what the sub contractor got. This is where the bond & respect started. it was about RESPECT
Once at the bridge site I was supervising the work and the DE arrived like royalty in his jeep and walked up to me angry as I did not go to meet his jeep. So he yelled at me for being rude. I told him "I am doing my Job you do yours. I am not your servant". (All this in Tamil). The workers close by were all ears. Then the DE moves away and to a worker to show he was boss and told Subbiah, "Dai Kazhudhai, mannae sariyaa kottudaa, mayirandi.." ( You Donkey, spread the sand properly XYZ ). What happened next was scary. Subbiah stood up raised the shovel and told the DE "Otha Unnae in gayae Podhechiduven da. Enna Sonne Mayirandi Yaa. Ippo sollu Parkalam".
Yes to some extent I was playing MGR Role 9Afetr all I too was KRamachandran:-0) ) at the site and got the highest respect from one and all from cleaners to lorry drivers to labourers. I used to order tea for every one, once in a way and sit down and eat and drink with them.
So when "Kutcha theevu festival" came I asked the Road Inspector if he had been or Muthiah had been they said no saar we cannot afford. So I was talking to a fisherman friend who had a small shop at Pamban if he could help take me and the boys to Kutcha Theevu in his fishing boat. "Saar neenga ketta naan mudiyadhunu solla mattean saar. Neenga Kadavul mathiri etc etc."
We had one DE, 4 AEs and 8 JEs on the Bridge site working at Pamban and Mandabam site. All of the lower level staff joined me except the DE and his Crook AEs and Divisional accountant. We went early and we had a ball. (they also had Record dance there - like a cabaret ). So we had been there from 3.00pm and the DE arrived at about 6.30pm and was he angry to see all the staff there...
By Nature I like to be extra polite to the disadvantaged meaning poorer people. I used to fight with my sister for the way she treated the servant maid and she said yes you are her lawyer and would stop talking to me for a few days. My sister died in 2011 and this girl who had worked for the family for 20 years had no work no income etc. I called her after the funeral and asked her Pushpa unakku evvalavu sambalam. She said my sister was paying her Rs 1500 a month. Asked her if she had a bank account and she said no. So I took her to State Bank in Purasawalkam and got the lady to open a new account for her and also,I authorised a monthly payment of Rs 3000 to go into her account 1st of every month. She gets paid even today, plus she earns from the work she is doing for others. Pushpa Hero worships me and I know that too..
Basically, I am a good man to a good man and a bad man to a bad man as this is what my dad taught me he said forget about showing your other cheek if some one slaps you slap the bastard harder..
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CK: Beautifully shared experience....almost cried in joy & pride and grateful to all who saved you. All of you are real heroes.
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SJ: My hometown .. from my grandfathers side .. I have nice memories of the place
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VC: By now the young man's son must be remembering this story and the man who saved money for the country, rather than let venal politicians construct useless monuments to corruption.
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Pamban Story Part II
In 1973 there was just the Railway Bridge Connecting Mandabam on the Main Land with a Fishing Village Pamban in Rameswaram Island.
There were just two trains a day that brought and returned Pilgrims. People who stayed overnight took the first train out at 5.30am. Then a Train came at 3.30pm to Pamban on its way to Rameswaram.
Pamban, the fishing village with bad stench was about 30 miles away from Rameswaram where I stayed in a rented house. This meant I had to catch the 5.30am train every morning and catch the 3.30pm Train back after a days work in the hot sun.
Yes we couldm go by road but I was not given the jeep. MY Divn Engineer kept the Jeep for his personal use and he always came to the site form inspection at 3.00pm so I could not catch my 3.30pm train back to Rameswaram. At 4.00pm he would get into his jeep and drive to Rameswaram leaving me stranded in a fishing village.
I had very few options one was to borrow a push bike and cycle all the way on a bad road which also meant I had to ride the bike back the next morning and return it to the owner. Was too tiresome
There was one other option.
This was to walk across to Mandabam side on the Railway bridge feeling safe knowing there were no trains until the next morning.
You stepped on the railway bridge and there were two rail tracks on sleepers spaced a meter apart. The sleepers rested on steel griders that spanned between the piers. You looked down and you saw the Sea between the sleepers. So We had to walk on the sleepers with nothing to hold on to.
My peon Muniayya and Road Inspector Madasamy also would join me, as they too would have missed the train plus they were locals and done this all their lives.
For me they thought I was a City boy and it was a big challenge. They did not know I was born in Port Blair and had been on voyages in ships that were caught up and storms and almost sank.I was not scared of the sea.
The only risk I did not anticipate was it was easy walk when calm but now and then there would be thus sudden gust of wind that would knock you off balance and I was a tin skinny 56 kilos then
I would have walked on the sleepers on the railway bridge a few hundred times.
At the other end of the bridge at Mandaban end (Mainland side) were old army barracks where other Junior engineers were housed. We had three junior engineers on each side of the bridge. One incharge of approach roads (me & nelson) , one incharge of lorries, jeeps tipper trucks and lorries and their maintenance and 3rd virtually the Divisional Engineers's Man friday
Fortunately for me I had my friend Roland Nelson an M.Tech from IITM who was a very good buddy and a great host. The other two chaps with him were Jairam an Ex SERC and a Sahul Hameed I think. All Bachelors, we would eat and play cards and watch some TV etc. On the Rameswaram side I did not have this company as Sivakumar was married and lived with his wife and mother down stairs and I had just one room upstairs with no staircase just a ladder and the door to the room was on the floor slab.
The funny thing is that my father would not allow me to even learn swimming as a cousin of mine drowned in a swimming misadventure at Kalahasti. Doubt if my mother would have approved my walking across the sea on a railway bride jumping from one sleeper to the next.
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11th Oct 2020 - Another Pamban Bridge Story:
