Category Archives: badaga

It is with the saddest sense of grief and sorrow I record the passing away of my mother, Mrs.Idyammal Bellie Gowder, on 13-7-2011 at the age of 99. Mom, you gave me everything and what I am today is only due to you.

It was a train journey after forty years. On 27/06/2011. First time with my better half. And it was worth it.

Nilgiri Mountain Railway [NMR] – running from  Ooty to Mettupalayam – is an unique UN heritage  railway system built during the British time and with which two greatest Badaga Leaders [Known as Nakku Betta ‘Rajas’ during their time] Rao Bahadur Bellie Gowder and Rao Bahadur Ari Gowder, were closely connected – Rao Bahadur Bellie Gowder in fact built it [surprisingly no mention about them has been made in many references about NMR – either by default or deliberate design]. They had the great privilege of stopping the train by show of hands. See photos in the ‘rare photos’ page.

And guess what, this ‘toy train’ which is a must travel agenda in every tourist’s itinerary, is so cheap to travel from Ooty to Coonoor or vice versa, that you tend to think that there is some BIG MISTAKE. yes, it costs all of Rs.3. You heard me correct ONLY Rupees THREE. in second class. Fist class costs Rs.76/- But  the reservation charges are much higher. By the way, the fare from Coonoor to Mettupalayam is Rs.4/-.See the pictures [click on them for enlargement].

Less than a cup of ‘chai’ in any roadside  tea shop. Surely this must find a mention in Guinness World Records.

This train is the ‘lifeline’ for many students [living around Lovedale, Ketti, Aravankadu, Wellington and Coonoor] studying in Ooty Govt. Arts College and for those working in Ooty.

My memory goes back to the time when I was a regular of this train from Aravankadu to Ooty [when I did my pre university in Ooty College during 1964-65] and after my Engineering studies in 1971 when I was with the Ooty PWD.

And here are some snaps of the train and Coonoor railway station.

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I have strong religious feelings. Born as a HINDU as most Badagas are, I am very proud being a Hindu. But I respect other religions and some of my best friends are Muslims, Christians and Sikhs [courtesy Air Force].

But I am against any conversion from one religion to another by means of compulsion, force or inducement. Of late, it has become a ‘fashion’ for some Badagas to convert to Christianity for no rhyme or reason. But, many have done this, now I understand, due to inducement of money.

Worst is, when some of these ‘converts’ claim sole right to some very old Badaga Traditions and Customs. One such is, the funeral prayer – Karu Haruchodhu which forms an important part of funeral rites. It is claimed by an IDIOT called HN Devaraj of Otti Mora Hosahatty to be part of Bible. His booklet called ‘Pappa Parigaara Aagili’ is given to me by a concerned Hindu Badaga. Outrageous !

Will educated and knowledgeable elders among the Badaga Christians care to correct this offending practice?

RaviChandran Balraj has sent the following link

 http://www.tamilhindu.com/2011/06/nilgiris-baduga-struggle-against-conversion/

image from http://www.tamilhindu.com

To the ‘Tamil Hindu’ website owner : You have used some  photos which are copyright from my websites http://badaga.in and www.badaga.co without my permission. Pl give proper credit and mention the image source to avoid any legal action – Wg Cdr JP

நீலகிரியில் மதமாற்ற வைரஸ் – குமுறும் படுகர் சமுதாயம்

15 Jun 2011 | 

அண்மையில் ஜூனியர் விகடன் இதழில் வந்த ஒரு செய்தி கவனத்தை ஈர்த்தது.
அடிக்கிற வெயிலுக்கு ஆளாளுக்கு ஊட்டி யைத் தேடி ஓட… அங்கேயோ அதைவிட உஷ்ணமான விவகாரம் ஒன்று சுழன்று கொண்டு இருக்கிறது. அது, படுகர்கள்  நடத்தும் மத மாற்றத்துக்கு எதிரான போராட்டம்!
நீலகிரியின் மண்ணின் மைந்தர்களான படுகர் சமுதாய மக்கள், கட்டுப்பாடான வாழ்க்கை முறை, கலாசாரத்துடன், ‘எங்க வழி தனி வழி’ என்று வாழ்பவர்கள். அவர்களை, கிறிஸ்துவ மதத்தினர் கட்டாய மதமாற்றம் செய்வதாகத் தகவல்கள் பரவவே, சலசலப்பு எழுந்துள்ளது. இது தொடர்பாக, கடந்தமே 25-ம் தேதி நீலகிரி மாவட்ட ஆட்சியர் அலுவலகம் முன்பு,‘நாக்குபெட்டா படுகர் குல பாதுகாப்பு சங்கம்’ கண்டன ஆர்ப்பாட்டம் நடத்தியது……

read the full article here




On this day, 40 years ago, the greatest leader in the history of Badagas, Rao Bahadur Ari Gowder, departed from this world, after dedicating his life to the upliftment of Badagas and other suppressed people.

Even today, 40 years later, we remember him with gratitude.

[Read all about Ari Gowder here]

Having been a defence services officer [ I took voluntary retirement after 20 years of service], I have always nurtured the hope that there will be a General [Army], Admiral [Navy] or Air Chief Marshal [IAF]- the highest rank, from among the Badagas in the not so distant future. Mind you, it takes about 35 years  to reach the top as a commissioned officer.

Kodavas – Coorgis have had many who reached the very top – who can forget Field Marshal Cariappa?

And then, there was an email from shibu khadan who writes to ask “I want to join the defence,so can you give me some tips about ssb(PPDT)..” and hence this post.

Hello Shibu,

Thanks for your email. I am glad to know that you want to join the defence forces. I am giving the link below for career options in Indian Air Force.
http://careerairforce.nic.in/home.html

Pl do let me know your qualification so that I can give more info.

The basic quality you need to get through in SSB is self confidence. There is a huge shortage of officers, both men and women, in all the three arms of the defence services [Army, Navy and Air Force], so it is not very difficult to get through if you prepare a bit. Go through the SSB guides – plenty available in the book stores.

Pl do not hesitate to contact me for more guidance.

With best wishes,

Wg Cdr JP

BADAGAS – ON FLORA AND FAUNA

It is not well known that Badagas had attached a lot of importance to flora and fauna.

In fact most of the names of Badaga Hattis (Villages) are based on ‘Nature’.

For example , the name ‘ Hubbathalai ‘ ( a village near Aravankadu Railway Station) is based on a plant ‘HUBBE THALE ‘ or ‘ Bikka mora hatti ‘ (another village) gets the name after the tree BIKKE (a kind of olive?) MORA (tree)
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Bird or Flower ??

[The beautiful flower bird]

Badaga folklore is full of glory about Nature and their home land the Nilgiri Hills are endowed with rich flora and fauna, a true gift of mother NATURE. Of the many wild flowers, this particular one which grows on a short  trees near many villages, has always fascinated me. It appears that mother Nature created a bird as a flower….or… is it, a flower as a bird ? !

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[‘ A miniature pet ‘]

Another instance of Nature at its best. A catterpillar [-‘Kambli Poochi’] at our residence at Coonoor. The day after I took this snap, I was desperately trying to locate it again, but……it has just vanished !!

Another catterpillar -I call it ‘Lioness’ – captured in May 2011 at Coonoor

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One of the enchanting aspects of Badaga Language is its disarming simplicity. But though the sentences are swathed in sweetness of simple words, it can contain deep expressions of emotions conveyed in the proper usage of rhymes [holla – alla] or pair words [huttu – nattu] apart from other attributes. When the sweetness of this language is combined to carry the human expressions in the form of a poetry, it is a great pleasure to indulge oneself in a world of sheer bliss.

When I came across the following poem, my first reaction was, ‘how beautifully the love of a mother has been brought out’. That set me thinking that there may be many other ‘unsung’ poets among ourselves. How nice if their poems in BADAGA could find a wider audience? I am not talking about some KAVITHAI in Tamil or a poetry in English. BUT ONLY BADAGA POEMS. By the way what is the word in Badaga for poem & poetry? I am sure it is not kavithai or kavi . Cannot be kadhe (song) too. Then……..??

This poem titled ‘My Mother’ by Mohan( hope he reads this and sends more of his creations) beautifully describes the filial bond and eternal love a mother has for her son even in very adverse, trying and difficult situations. She could not find any fault nor found anything demeaning, in the one whom she had brought into this world,nurtured, carried on her hips, cared for and brought up even when the rest of world rejected and rediculed him. I have attempted an English translation and hope I have captured the essence of the deep feelings expressed in the poem.The author has really ‘ played’ with the rhyming Badaga words and forcefully brought out not only the sadness and silent suffering of a son but also the uncompromised love of a mother.

Read the complete poem here Enna Awai (My Mother)

Prof: Paul Hockings has sent the following comments:

Am glad to say that my book “Ancient Hindu Refugees” will be out in a year or so in A MUCH REVISED AND EXPANDED EDITION. It presents new evidence for a move from Mysore villages in the late 16th century, and brings the story completely up to date. Several people have been enquiring about how many hattis there are: well, in our Dictionary of Badagu (1992) we already gave the complete list of 468 hattis divided between a number of u:ru. That has not changed, although some of those hattis were abandoned.

Badaga Proverbs – Doddharu SHLOKA

One of the fascinating and interesting aspects of Badaga [both people & language] is the free use of delightful but deep meaning proverbs called “ DODDARU SHLOKA”. When you engage an elderly Badaga into any conversation, you are sure to hear a lot of these proverbs thrown in to make / emphasis a point.

Prof. Paul Hockings, probably the most authentic researcher on and of Badaga lists more than a thousand Badaga proverbs, 1730 to be precise. May be he had extensively borrowed these from the unpublished manuscript of M.K.Bellie Gowder. He feels that 1730 could be a complete figure containing all the proverbs . See his book,’Counsel from the Ancients: Study of Badaga Proverbs, Prayers, Omens and Curses’. He has given the meaning in English as well thus making it easy to understand in a beautiful manner.

Though I find his collection extremely interesting and educative, I do not agree with some of the conclusions he draws on certain proverbs. For example, on the proverb, ‘Odhidhama Niddhana, Oddidhama Erandina’ [ஓதிதம நித்தன ஓடிதம எரிண்டின] .

Prof.Hockings interpretation is quite different to what I feel is the correct meaning. I think ‘a person who spends time learning and pondering (over a problem) is better than the one who runs away (in a hurry) and thus trips over. [Odhidhama – learned one , Niddhana – stops to ponder over[think] a problem, Oddidhama – one who runs away or is in a hurry, Erandina – trips over.

It is common practice for Badaga mothers to tell their young children ‘Oda beda , Erandiray’ – Donot run, you will trip over (a stone or any obstruction). That is ‘ do not be in a hurry and take a hasty decision’.

Another one is ‘Michidhavaga Morande Kolu Bangara’. The lady who does not listen to her husband /elders (Michidha Hemmathi) is bound to land up as a widow (when ‘Morande Kolu – a small stick of morende tree – replaces her jewellery (bangara) during the Ole Kattuva ritual of husband’s death / funeral ceremony). Prof.Hockings feels Mechidhavaga (see the difference between michidhava [மிச்சி தவ] – – one who does not listen and mechidhava [மெச்சிதவ] –  one who is appreciated by all – even a morende kolu is enough as jewellery.

Actual proverb could have been, ‘Michi Moranday kolu Bangara Beda, Mechi Morenday Kolu Bangara bay-kku’

Is it a case of beautiful wordplay (pun) by our ancestors??

I have listed a few of the proverbs here and hope to add more in future.