Family Man 2, which premiered on Amazon has been making waves for its screenplay and narrative around the Indo-Sri Lanka-Eelam Conflict. Lets get to know some of the places being talked about in the war conflict zone where native Tamil speakers reside. It's a brilliant series shot well, gripping to the T, showcases some amazing places.
As much as the web-series (Family Man 2) is a work of fiction, it is based on real life incidents that happened in India and Sri Lanka. The series is shown as being based in London, Mumbai, Chennai, Northern Sri Lanka and Southern Tamil Nadu.
We will focus our attention on Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka for this article/video
1) Northern Sri Lanka- Jaffna, Point Pedro and Vaelvettithurai
2) Southern TamilNadu- Vedaranyam, Point Calimere, Rameswaram
The Indian landmass is closest to Sri Lanka at a couple of places. Those places have a distance of 30-40 kms separating India and Sri Lanka. One point is the Talaimannar-Rameswaram side, and the other side is the Vedaranyam/Point Calimere-Point Pedro Side which is the side shown in Family Man 2.
1) Vedaranyam
Vedaranyam is a town in the Nagapattinam district in Tamil Nadu's edgy coastline that takes a near 90 degree turn. It is named after the presiding deity of the town 'Vedaranyeswarar'. For some reason, it is referred to as Veeraranyam in 'Family Man-2', but in essence it is the same place that is connected by a quick sea jaunt to Sri Lanka's northern most point Point Pedro
If you come here, the beach is all yours! The sea is muddy and there are not too many waves this side. The other attraction in this town is the majestic Vedaranyeswarar Temple which is said to be the place where Vedas (Hindu Scriptures) originated
2) Point Calimere
Adjacent to Vedaranyam, you have the Point Calimere national park and a lighthouse in this area. These are sensitive areas and you need permission to enter the forest, but the sea side land is free to visit. This place is also called as Kodiakkarai. I have gone there driving my Tata Nexon, feeling a sense of accomplishment to take my car to an international sea border
3) Jaffna
Jaffna or Yazhpanam is Sri Lanka's northernmost district in the Tamil heartland. Large parts of Jaffna province was under control of the Tamil Eeelam. Frequent seizures of lust/power by the Sinhala Sri Lankan goverment, led to them systematically annihilating the Tamils from their heartland.
The Tamil Eelam was formed in Jaffna as a freedom fighting unit to get their basic rights denied by the Sinhalas. This led to a rebellion and a Civil war that lasted 3 decades. Sri Lanka used India's army might to quell the Tamil Uprising, creating a situation of alarming war crimes. India's interest was fuelled by China's presence in Sri Lanka's ports. The Tamil Eeelam was a party funded by various political factions(AIADMK) in Tamil Nadu for arms, military warfare. Beyond a point, with rising pressure the Eelam movement lost direction and it was a mad quest for power that led to Jaffna being a death trap.
With the Civil war ending in 2009, it took about 5-6 years for Sri Lanka to open up Jaffna to the world. I had been in 2019 to Jaffna to meet a Sri Lankan Tamil friend (who was my neighbour in Chennai in the early 90's). I used the time to find out about Sri Lanka's past and hoped that the future generations would be able to leave a normal life, after being denied basic rights for the last so many years.
The video below should give you an idea of how Jaffna is and what are the points of interest around Jaffna and how you could reach Jaffna. It is totally safe to travel to Jaffna now. You should be mindful about filming in certain protected areas in Jaffna, which a local will tell you on what to avoid, since the army is monitoring developments carefully on that border
4) Point Pedro and VaelVettiThurai
Point Pedro is Sri Lanka's northern most point, and one of the points from where smuggling happens with Tamil Nadu due to the closer border with Point Calimere. Vaelvettithurai is a port town that trades cotton, but is more famously known as the hometown/village of LTTE supremo Captain Vellupillai Prabhakaran. You can know more about the place which is captured as a vlog.
