Monthly Archives: March 2010

Sendil Halan has sent this info

The publishers of “The Indian” magazine, based in Hong Kong, have identified 100 people out of this vast population and released the second edition of a book entitled “100 Global Indians” which has three sections: The Leading Luminaries (30), The Entrepreneurs (40) and The Achievers (30).

The criteria used to identify the “100 Global Indians” were based on a set of objectives not overwhelmingly dependent on success in the business world alone

[http://www.voxy.co.nz/national/rotorua-scientist-recognised-community-work/5/42596]

And as per Sashikumar N.C ‘s wish, Dr.Guna Mageshan has been added to ‘First Badaga’ list

I am from Bangalore. I am a non Badaga girl. I have a couple of Badaga friends, have heard a lot about your community from them. This site is really wonderful. Your love for your community and the time that you have dedicated to put together so much information on this site is very commendable. All the very best.

Thank you Veena.When a non Badaga appreciates my website, I feel very happy and satisfied. Thanks once again – Wg Cdr JP

Kavitha Dineshkumar [Chennai] writes :- “I love Badaga community but I’m not a Badaga. My ganda (husband) is a Badaga. I am very proud to join this community. I will do something good for our community. Be proud of Badagas”.

Kavitha, we welcome your sentiments and hope, you are accepted into Badaga community with all joy and happiness. Though, there is some resistance among a section of Badagas for marriages from outside the community, personally, I feel after marriage the girl, if willing, should be accepted into community without any reservation. When I say, [the girl] willing, I mean, the girl should be prepared to accept all  the customs and traditions of Badagas and be a good ‘sosay’ [daughter in law]. As mlle.Sumathi Halan mentioned somewhere else, ‘Let us accept that the society is changing and for us [Badagas] to progress, we have to be part of that change’  – Wg Cdr JP

I know that a lot of posts need updating, or…. rather, more material and info need to be added.

Here is more pictures of Badaga Jewellery from my wife’s collection who went hunting for original Badaga Bangara in Ooty and Kotagiri recently.

The surprise is that you can get Badaga Jewellery with some exclusive designers in Bangalore, also [made to order].

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A hundred thousand thanks !

Any event in our life is generally valued in terms of numbers. First birthday, tenth year, Silver (25) / golden (50) / platinum (75) Jubilees, a century in cricket, thousand pillars in a temple, Lachathipathi (a lac) etc etc.

Similarly, to a website, the importance or rather the encouragement is in terms of the number of visitors to that site. In that sense, the number, a hundred thousand, 100,000 is very significant. To achieve that land mark for a website that focuses on a small tribal community with great traditions, confined within the four geographical boundaries called ‘Seemay/ Naadu’ in the beautiful blue mountains [the Nilgiris], also known as  ‘four’ mountains [Naakku Betta] in Badaga, is a matter of great pride and honour.

A few years back, when you were craving for a website on or about Badaga, the only one was USA based Rabin’s http://www.badaga.com . The website made me wonder why not start a website or rather a blog on, of and about the Badagas of the Blue Mountains. To give more info on Badaga, the language and people.

What started as a hobby and urge to give accurate, authentic and unknown information as a ‘pay back’ to the community I belong to and be proud of, has grown into an ambition and obsession. The more I dig into our history, origin, customs, culture, language and traditions the more is the motivation and the determination to give gleamed information to the youth of the community in particular and to the public in general.

Needless to say the journey is one heck of an unknown but highly interesting and satisfying one. The motivation and encouragement comes from the constant stream of comments that I receive every day.

More than anything else, the ‘nasha’ comes when I look at the number of visitors. More than a hundred visitors for so many days, months and years! Simply AMAZING !! There must be something right and interesting in what appears in my website www.badaga.in or rather, my weblog www.badaga.wordpress.com if I can boast of a hundred thousand visitors, nay honourable guests and friends so far. Special thanks to badaga.com for being the original trigger of the ambition that has been largely fulfilled.

All I can say, with hands folded and head bowed, THANK YOU ALL from the bottom of my heart.

Wing Commander Bellie Jayaprakash

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These are the cricket crazy days. Life comes to a standstill when a ‘live’ match comes on the TV, that too when a twenty 20 match involving India is played everything else is forgotten.

But do you know that ancient Badagas played this game in a slightly different format called ‘Sendu Hoovadhu [Hitting the ball]’?

One of the important festivals in olden days was “Dodda Habba [Big Festival]” which was celebrated as a homage to and in remembrance of the ancestors. An important item of the festival was ‘Sendu Hoovadhu’ or hitting the ball. A ball made out of old cloth or the hay/husk is tossed up and hit by a ‘flatish’ stick by a ‘batter’ towards the ‘fielders’ a little distance away. If the ball is caught, he is ‘out’ and the ‘catcher’ gets to ‘bat’. Something akin to the ‘catching practice’ of these days.

Before the ball is hit, the ‘batter’ asks the filders ‘Haakkaakka [shall I hit?]’ and the fielders reply in unison ‘Haakku [hit]’. The honour of starting the game as the ‘opening batsman’ goes to the Poojari [priest] of the village temple followed by the Gowda [headman] and an elder.[info from Sivaji Raman’s ‘Badaga Samudhayam‘]

Kerban Bella Gowder has immortalised this ‘game’ in one of the songs of Berada Bellie ballad as ” Appa hoodha sendu, endu halla maduna buddhu hadadhay [the ball hit by father has fallen on the bank of the river]”

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By the way, a visitor Martin Parker (mlp9870817@yahoo.com), from the USA, writes : –
I was wondering someone might be able to tell me how one would say “I love you” in Badaga .

I am clean bowled. That is an interesting question. The exact translation for ‘love’ is a little tricky, it could be ‘gava’ [ more of a context for loving the children, elders , relatives etc. ‘priya’ is more for liking than I suppose for loving.

If you have to tell your lover, it could be, in my opinion, ‘Na ninna Virumbinay – I like you ‘, ‘Nee enaga hidithra – you are liked by me’.

Closest could be, ‘Naa ninna PRIYA maadinay‘ [Naa – I, Ninna – You, Priya – love, Maadinay – doing] – Wg Cdr JP

Martin Parker replies :-
Thank you very much for your reply.
I am from the United States, but I have long been fascinated by how many different languages there are around the world, and I enjoy collecting phrases and trying to understand how different languages are put together, so your explanations were very interesting. Thanks again…Martin