'You should be thankful to us- its only because of us that anyone is talking about the environment or the fishermen. Otherwise who is interested? The Ram Sethu is about Lord Ram not fish, not fishermen'

He's a BJP activist - reminding me of the pecking order in the list of priorities in the political mind space. I am still dazed that I am here, in Rameswaram. Last evening I was in Bangalore on another assignment trying to catch a trader selling ivory- when I get a call from my editor- please leave for Rameswaram. Its a story which is going to hog the political limelight for the coming few months.

My first stop -a fishing village near the coast. The first person I interview is a 45-year-old Muslim fisherman. He's rotund with a crop of white hair and a white beard. He boasts he's swum from Sri Lanka to India in his younger days He claims he's seen the corals at the bottom of Adams bridge - or Ram Sethu. I stare at him disbelievingly- maybe he's just trying to show off to a media team. It seems impossible that this man with greying hair could have swum through the strong currents to Sri Lanka. Next day - when the same man dives in- to the water to collect seaweeds from the bottom of the ocean- I realise it maybe possible and the fact that Sri Lanka is just a few kilometres away.

Next day- at the crack of dawn we set sail- for the Gulf of Mannar. To the uninitiated the sea just appears as a rough, blue surface. Its at the bottom - there's a virtual rainforest. Sammi our fisherman guide for the day and I can barely converse- because of his limited knowledge of Hindi and my zero language skills in Tamil- conversation is reduced to sign language. And yet I am able to laugh when he gestures to his fishing gear and chuckles- my uniform! His uniform consists of a nylon net, which he has tied around his waist, two blue round plastic plates with elastic attached at the back. I soon realise the purpose- once underwater he collects sea cucumber and seaweeds in this- its like a vegetable basket. And the plastic plates are the most ingenious devices I have seen. Walking on corals can be harsh on the feet- these plastic plates or his diving shoes are a protective gear for that underwater dive. Sammi with his gear could put to shame many divers with their sophisticated equipment.

A two- hour boat ride into the Gulf of Mannar- the sea has become choppy. As we ride the waves- I am relieved that I am not seasick. Suddenly the sea has become calmer- there are no waves crashing against the boats- and we can see what we had set out for. As I peer into the water- I can see a mosaic of white, green and purple. It's the corals! And there's more. Sammi has now adorned his gear- the goggles, the diving shoes strapped and the net tied around his waist. Hes ready to go down under...

As he swims underwater after a few minutes he resurfaces on the other side. And he has in his hands- clumps of seaweeds. These are sold by the fishermen and get him an additional income ... each time he pops up from the water Sammi has some new marine resource in his hands- showing us what rich productive waters these are. Next in his hands are sea cucumbers- just recently the government has put a ban on their harvest- these shiny black objects were once exported by the fishermen for their medicinal properties... I shake my head to Sammi- it's a banned item and I do not want to encourage anything illegal.

It seems ironic that countries like Australia protect the Great Barrier Reef and take great pride in being endowed with this miracle of nature. And yet the corals here in Rameswaram are being seen as impediments to development that are to be blasted and removed. ...Enough has been said about the pros and cons of the project... which I don't want to get into- MY task was to get the pulse of the local people and how they feel...As -when the media attention is gone - it's the people of Rameswaram whose lives would have changed. Will the Sethu project bring prosperity to the region?

I ask these questions at a meeting of women from the fisher folk community. There are Hindu, Muslim and Christian women present. All our united in their scepticism towards the Shipping channel project. I speak to Mukammal an elderly lady - her gold earrings hang so heavily from her ear lobes that the lobes are stretched below her chin. She's the most vocal. She's shouting and reaches out to a fishing net- to show me the nets that had been destroyed from the dredging vessels of the Sethu project. It's a group of around 50 women. They are all gabbling- I have asked the translator to stop now. I can get a drift of what they are saying. And there is a lot of anger and frustration here. They are all from different religions. But they are united in their opposition to the Sethusamudram project. Is Adams Bridge the Ram Sethu? - It's an irrelevant question. For the fishermen there are other anxieties- with the corals dredged will fish catches decline? And will the dredged up sand not have a disastrous impact on the marine ecology? Already five whales have been beached since the dredging started.

Suddenly one turns to me and asks for my name. Then they point to a vaccination mark on my left arm. They all thrust their arms forward to show me that they too have the same marks as well. Suddenly a vaccination mark has bridged the gap between us- and everyone bursts out laughing. I laugh with them. It's a light moment- the first on this stressful trip.

As I return to Delhi- a political storm is raging. The Shipping Minister is now giving a holier than thou appearance-saying if he had changed the alignment of the project.... it would have been an ecological disaster. The environment suddenly is a convenient boggy. But it's a story, which was a good reminder for me. The battle for Ram Sethu lie elsewhere- Money talks. Dredging contracts talk... So does religion. The environment, the fishermen, whales and corals- these are only causes to be espoused by the jholawallahs! Strangely though this time - the so-called Jholawallahs, the Left too are in support of the project. And silent on what will happen to the livelihood of the thousands of fishermen who will be impacted. In the battle to save the environment from destruction- Ram has hijacked all other issues. Hey Ram! Is all I can say.