Paul Hockings books on Badaga(s)

I had written earlier that:

Prof.Paul Hockings has been the most authentic scholar/researcher whose studies on Badagas may be considered to be very comprehensive. May not agree with some of his findings especially about the Badaga origin [that Badagas migrated from the Mysore plains] but the wealth of information that he has exposed in his books is greatly appreciated. If I have to choose a single book out of many of his works, without hesitation I would go for ‘Counsel from the Ancients: A Study of Badaga Proverbs, Prayers, Omens and Curses‘. Unfortunately, this book is very expensive but you can access most of the pages online.

Prof. Paul Hockings in his email [3/3/2015] writes :

Dear J.P.,

It was really very generous of you to devote so much space to my work in your Badaga website. I do appreciate it.

I noticed that you again mentioned the high price of my two large books on the Badaga language. While the price has no doubt always been high, there is a reason for it, and it is not my profiteering. Linguistic texts like these are very difficult to get published by the most reputable publishers, because they see the market for such books as a very small group of linguistic specialists. I was thus very fortunate to be able to get the world’s top linguistic publisher, Mouton, to bring out both books. The problem however is a straightforward one: because the books were printed in Berlin, the printers had to be paid German printers’ union wages; and these are extremely high. On the positive side, the Dictionary is held y 125 research libraries worldwide, which means that data is available on the Badaga language in very many countries..

Thank you Paul for the email. Since I feel that your books, particularly, ‘Counsel from the Ancients: A Study of Badaga Proverbs, Prayers, Omens and Curses‘ must find a place in every Badaga home, I wished that it was easily available and affordable. Thanking you once again for making Badagas known to the world.- Wg Cdr JP