It all began when the East Coast Road (ECR) from Chennai to Pondicherry was under construction. On the left side is the beach and all the theme parks and on the right side are villages – some 32 villages from Thirvanmayur & Thambaram, the outskirts of Chennai, to Pondicherry, my mother’s hometown where my father’s grave is. Many villages main occupation is salt-making. I wanted a village to do social work; but as I drove back and forth, I had no clue how to go about doing this.
The ‘divine’ compass pointed to Vittalapuram. In 2002 they had a toll booth set up with new roads. Large portions of acreage on ECR were bought by leading companies. I admired Mr. David Rajan’s evangelistic work in Poonthandalam; my role model was also Rev. George of Kalaikaveri who built a huge arts college in Trichy for the poor and outcastes. Mr. Rajan pointed to some acreage available in his neighboring village, Vittalapuram, and I felt a divine leading.
Man proposes God disposes…I signed up an agreement for 8 acres leading to the waters and paid almost all of it except the last 3 lakhs ($7000) which a neighbor friend cheated by not delivering the money in time. At the same time I got laid off with no package, no income, medical insurance, no visa, etc. etc. and was rethinking about relocating so I slacked down. In the meantime, after Tsunami the land value had shot up tremendously because it is on the other ‘unaffected’ side of the shore. The Seller jacked up the price because a big company (Hotel Savera) bought 22 acres contingent to (my) acreage near the waters. So in 2005 I was devastated when I got only 3.44 acres - that is less than half of what I was promised. So I had to give up on my plan for a huge orphanage or college. I was totally discouraged.
Finders keepers Losers weepers. Since I am not there, the village chiefs have taken advantage of the little that I own. (1) At first they said there is a snake hole so they took a portion of my land to build a small temple. There is no such snake hole and has now become an issue with the villagers (2) I donated a back road for the villagers to commute. (3) On top of this, they have been using my land for cultivation without my permission (4) for the back portion acreage that I got cheated off, they need a road, so they have taken a 20x500 feet road also without my permission. (5) Vittalapuram has a very strong Hindu community, so the trouble makers instigate villagers by creating rumors that I am going to build Christian churches. I have repeatedly assured them that mine is purely social work and arts related.
So now 5 years later, in 2007, * A gate is fixed and the entrance is called Rani’s Villa. * The main road Ahilan Saalai is named after Rani’s first son Swithin Ahilan, and the back road Elanga Saalai, after her second son, Sumithrin Elango. * Thanks to Pastor Franklin David and his wife Elizabeth for conducting the ‘boomi poojai’ the land dedication. * Mr. David Rajan’s team is helping build a brick-grill compound wall. * AIADMK MLA in Mylapore, actor-dramatist Mr. S. Ve. Shekar, has extended his political support on this venture.
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