God is great

Rama,Sethu and Mr. Karunanidhi

I agree with Mr.Karunanidhi that Rama is not an historical character but the story of Ramayana is the cultural history of India. It is about the cultural integration of this country called Bharath. A prince born in Ayodhya is exiled to the forest and he travels all over India bringing to his fraternal fold all kinds of people, boatmen, aborigines and also even his enemy's sibling. This inimitable story has so much influenced this country of multi-cultural dimensions that there is no region in India without its own version of Ramayana re- told in varied literary and folk forms. Is not Rama the intrinsic part of the cultural psyche of all of us living in this country from time immemorial speaking different languages? If this is not history, what else is this?
As a Tamilian I am proud of inheriting the best among the Ramayanas out of those written in various Indian languages, composed by own our incomparable Kamban. Does Mr.Karunanidhi want to disown this heritage and cultural history?
What is history but myth sans metaphor? Is not 'myth the collective unconscious of the human race' as beautifully summed up by Carl Jung? No modern mind would dismiss myths as being devoid of history. It is unfortunate Mr.Karunanidhi has been influenced all along by the half-baked theories of the colonial historians who had this agenda of dividing this country on ethnic lines.
We also need faith to believe in history or else how can we claim that Valmiki wrote Ramayana, or Vyasa wrote Mahabharata or Thiruvalluvar wrote Thirukkural? Is the authorship of these works corroborated by archaeological or inscriptional evidences? Valmiki and Vyasa appear as characters in their own creative works and do we question the authenticity of such situations? 'A willing suspension of disbelief' is needed to make our life worthy of enjoyment.
There is no 'historical' evidence ('history' as what it is in Mr.Karunanidhi's conception) to prove that Karikala, the great Chola king eulogised by the Sangam works and 'Cilappadikaram' ever lived. But I strongly believe that he ruled the Chola country and built that famous dam 'Kallanai' or else I would feel a cultural vacuum within myself.
All these like whether Rama was an historical character or not are not relevant to the Sethu Samudhram issue. If there are people who believe that the formation found to connect India and Sri Lanka is a bridge built by Rama and his army, why should we question their faith if we could find some other way to solve the problem? It is as irrelevant as Mr.Karunanidhi's contention that Rama was a drunkard.