Rameshwaram, 1942

The train now

I met an old uncle. He’s an ex-cop and ever since I got arrested in Hambantota he’s been amused by my stories. His stories are better. He told me about Rameshwaram, 1942. They took the ferry from Mannar, one hour to India. The Indians customs officers had the uniforms but no shoes. You could get a fine breakfast of two eggs, bread and a quarter pound of butter for 50 cents. They were on their way to a training camp somewhere round Mandapam, I think.

The image that sticks in my head is one of children diving for coins. He said the train passed by the sea at one point and that children bobbed out of the water, opened and then pointed at their empty mouths. Then people would through coins in the water and the kids would dive for them. That they were desperately poor. I kept thinking about that image, of the beggar mermaids.

Uncle had some court papers on his desk. Seemed like an interesting story, but I can’t deal with it right now. I took my leave and went home, thinking about the ferry in 1942.

6 Comments

how come you got arrested in Hambantota ?

I haven’t travelled, but been to the ferry with my uncle, a customs officer, in 1980 or 81. They had classes. I only remember third class passengers, mostly Indian Tamil laborers, sitting on the deck. It was fully packed.

Some other memories of the trip:

Ferry also brought contraband. Some of the stuff were good. We still use a large plastic bucket bought for Rs. 30, sizable amount then.

Talai Mannar had two stations, at town and pier. Station master at Talai Mannar pier refused issuing tickets for our warrants saying they were addressed to his counterpart in other station. Had to pay for them.

Night mail starts at Talai Mannar at 8 pm and reaches Colombo Fort only around 9 am the next morning. It was a slow train which had an inevitable stop for one and half hours somewhere near Medawachchiya till the express from Jaffna passes.

My Dad’s first trip overseas was to India via train to Mannar and then by boat.
There was demand for foreign items in India then. My dad and his friend took enough Horlicks bottles and Thermos flasks and got their spending money by selling these.