On last saturday morning, Fishing Boat no. 404, after getting essential clearance from the Indian Navy at the Rameswaram Jetty, was speeding past the Palk Bay waves. I was on it. The owner and driver of the boat, Sudalai Kasi, was an excited man. With over thirty years of fishing experience in the Palk Bay, he had seen the island many times but never could set his foot upon its shores in the last two decades. “Earlier, only a thatched shed was there as a chapel. Then in the 1970s, the tile-roof structure was built. Thousands of people from India and Sri Lanka would meet there every year. There will be exchange of goods and gifts,” Sudalai Kasi reminisced about the old times.
C. R. Senthil, another co–passenger of the boat actually had his relatives living in northern Sri Lanka. “We used to write letters to them saying what we would bring for them. They would also write to us stating what they needed from India,” he says. Senthil’s relatives, no longer live in Sri Lanka. The war made sure they were displaced and ended up as refugees in India.
Kittur Chennamma, an Indian Coast Guard boat, guided us past the international maritime border. After three hours of travel, we were near the shores of Kachatheevu. The Sri Lankan Navy boats were busy in transporting people to the shore as the fishing boats could not go near the land due to rocks in the water. We waited for three hours and a country boat transported us to the shores.
Kachatheevu is a rocky piece of land with some small palmira trees and bushes. The church is on the shore. It is in a dilapidated condition but was decorated for the festival. In all, 2,910 people from India and 600 from Sri Lanka came for the event. All came with tents, food and water. Few Sri Lankan Tamils had put up some shops too where they accepted Indian money. Around the church, there was a small clearing made for the gathering. Between the trees and bushes, people erected their tents and were busy cooking.
In the evening, the prayers started. Catholic priests from Jaffna, Delft Island in Sri Lanka and Rameswaram and Ramanathapuram in india presided over the ceremonies. The area was well lit with generators. Kathiresan, Gramsevak from Delft Island, told TSI that the Sri Lankan government had made the arrangements but they did not expect such a huge crowd from India.
C. R. Senthil, another co–passenger of the boat actually had his relatives living in northern Sri Lanka. “We used to write letters to them saying what we would bring for them. They would also write to us stating what they needed from India,” he says. Senthil’s relatives, no longer live in Sri Lanka. The war made sure they were displaced and ended up as refugees in India.
Kittur Chennamma, an Indian Coast Guard boat, guided us past the international maritime border. After three hours of travel, we were near the shores of Kachatheevu. The Sri Lankan Navy boats were busy in transporting people to the shore as the fishing boats could not go near the land due to rocks in the water. We waited for three hours and a country boat transported us to the shores.
Kachatheevu is a rocky piece of land with some small palmira trees and bushes. The church is on the shore. It is in a dilapidated condition but was decorated for the festival. In all, 2,910 people from India and 600 from Sri Lanka came for the event. All came with tents, food and water. Few Sri Lankan Tamils had put up some shops too where they accepted Indian money. Around the church, there was a small clearing made for the gathering. Between the trees and bushes, people erected their tents and were busy cooking.
In the evening, the prayers started. Catholic priests from Jaffna, Delft Island in Sri Lanka and Rameswaram and Ramanathapuram in india presided over the ceremonies. The area was well lit with generators. Kathiresan, Gramsevak from Delft Island, told TSI that the Sri Lankan government had made the arrangements but they did not expect such a huge crowd from India.
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