Badagas of the Blue Mountains

How education came to the Badagas 160 years ago !

Dharmalingam Venugopal
[Nilgiris Documentation Centre, Kotagiri]

160 years ago an enthusiastic Tahsildar took the initiative to educate the Badagas. He recommended four schools in different villages of  the Nilgiris as the Badaga children could not  travel to Ooty to join school. The then Government of the Madras Presidency made a special recommendation as such a proposal was outside the prevailing educational policy of the country. The Government of India made an exception to its general educational policy to sanction four schools. The decision which had to travel over a distance of more than 250 kms from Ooty to Madras to Delhi and back was made within 6 months !!!.

25th April, 1856 : Mr. M. Soondra Moodelly, Tahsildar of Neilgherry Talook writes to Mr.E.B.Thomas, Collector of Coimbatore rcommending starting of schools in Tuneri, Adhikarati and Kaligherry(?).

The monigars and respectable inhabitants of the various villages of Todanad, Parungnad and Maiknad report to me that their children are illiterate and ignorant from want of schools to teach them in their villages….It appears to me that the want of any schools in the Burgher villages in the chief cause of the ignorance of the Burgher monigars and of the children of the all the Burghers in general; and it is therefore highly desirable that such charitable institutions should be established on these hills and three efficient teachers appointed on a pay of about 7 to 10 rupees each. The Burghers are now ignorant of any written characters and are unable to speak anything but ‘Canarese’. They are desirous of learning Tamil, the vernacular language of the whole district and I hope that by imparting to them Tamil language they will improve themselves. I request that the application for the establishment of schools may be sanctioned. Continue reading →

Dharmalingam Venugopal contested the recently held TN Assembly elections-2016 from Ooty (Udhagamandalam) constituency as an independent candidate. Many contestants were Badagas representing various political parties including two independants. Mr.Ganesh of Congress won the elections.

The following comments of Dharmalingam Venugopal amply explains about the problems posed by independents in INDEPENDANT INDIA  however great their personal credentials may be. After the great Badaga leader Rao Bahadur HB ARI Gowder’s  victory in the elections  of 1957, no other person has won as a independent from the Nilgiris.

The so called powerful institution of Election Commission of India may not be as powerful/effective as we may hope to believe. The malaise of money and muscle  power has corrupted the system considerably if not completely. Like it or lump it. But, that is the bitter truth! – Wg Cdr JP

Dear Friends,
The elections are over. Like every candidate I am required to give an explanation for how I have fared. Readers can decide if what I have to say is an excuse or an acceptable fact.
1. Election is unkind to Independents. While others have months to canvass, Independents get only the last ten days to campaign because symbols to Independents are allotted just 10 days before polling.
2. Then again, the electoral procedures are disproportionately a heavy burden on Independents who cannot afford various agents like the parties. Even in the voting  machine my name was posted at the end of 11 contestants though I had a legitimate  case for mentioning my name as ‘Dharmalingam Venugopal’.  
3. Independents count on press and media for support but in reality press and media have absolutely no support for Independents. But such dailies carry scholarly articles by leading writers extolling the virtues of voting for committed Independents. Sheer hypocrisy.
4. Leading Tamil and English dailies not only denied me coverage despite the fact that they have been reporting my news for more than 30 years; they also refused to carry my advertisements worth Rs.50,000.
5. In the last few days of election, Independents like me were never mentioned in the news. Dinamalar published photos and feedback of all the candidates except the two Independents including myself. Some people even called me to enquire whether I had withdrawn my candidature. It did not matter to the press that I have been contributing substantially for the good of Ooty for the past 30 years. The same press that reported my contributions for the past 30 years failed to mention a line about my candidature at the time of elections. That is our press responsibility today!!
6. Of course currency notes and bogus votes were freely distributed by the leading political parties. Even I was offered my ‘share’ of Rs. 500 in open day light. The innocent lady who distributed the case did not even understand when I explained to her how wrong her action was.
7. Bogus votes were liberally cast in the election. In one booth, during Scrutiny, I challenged about 500 votes cast with only the thumb impression, evidently of the same person. In the inquiry, all those concerned, mostly women broke down. I knew I could only punish the poor teachers who were deputed to the polling booth but cannot touch the culprits who cast the bogus votes. I magnanimously excused the polling staff and closed the matter. 
I have 40 pages of such votes photographed in my mobile but cannot publish any of them for obvious reasons.
8. This time all the contestants in Ooty were Badagas. Badaga voters generally vote according to their loyalty to their village, family and region. Being born and brought up in Ooty I had no such advantage.
9. I was mainly counting on Ooty votes from the informed and knowledgeable voters. Because, they have been the biggest sufferers of neglect of Ooty. But surprisingly very few turned out to vote. I suspect most of them did not even vote. This is the basic problem. There is no point in cribbing and complaining if you are not prepared to act.
10. What is the future of Vote for Ooty? It will continue as a Think Tank and an Action Point for the rehabilitation and promotion of Ooty which will be 200 years in just seven years.

A matter of concern is that we still do not have accurate information about our hattis.

Like, the geographical/location of the village, the number of households, in a hatti – how many Nattaru, the marriage relations with other hattis etc. Even in our page on Hattis / villages, I have tried to give details known/available.

The good news is that Prof.Paul Hockings and Christiane Pilot-Raichoor are in the process of updating  their book/encyclopedia  A Badaga – English Dictionary in which they have not only given the names of Badaga Hamlets [hattis] but elaborated them with lot of information.

R.Venkataraman (arewe1946@gmail.com)

comments about our website http://www.badaga.co

‘All the efforts you had taken have started giving fruits. Yeomen service not only to this society, but the outsider also starts knowing about Badagas & their culture’

Thank you very much for your comments. It is highly encouraging words like yours that give the motivation to do more.

The surprising fact is that many aspects of daily life and times of Badagas in the good old days of hundred of years back still remain to be unearthed and properly documented.

I have no hesitation to accept the fact that Badagas are one of the original and indigenous  tribes of the Nilgiri hills.

French researcher on Badaga Christiane Pilot Raichoor says with authority that Badaga language is not a derivative/dialect of Kannada recently. Many Badagas are not even aware of this fact.

– Wg Cdr JP

Vote for Ooty Nomination  

Public Meeting Notice & Invitation

Monday, April 25, 2016 at 4-00pm, Independence Park,

Near Old ATC Theatre, Ooty

Dharmalingam Venugopal

Independent Candidate

My dear Voters of Ooty,

I will be filing my nomination for the Ooty constituency on Monday,  April 25, 2016. Last two months I have been going around the entire constituency carrying the message of ‘Vote for Ooty’.  The response has been both heart rending (at the utter neglect of Ooty and surroundings) and heartwarming (at the support for my humble effort to rally the local people to stem this unbearable rot).

I have made bold to contest the coming elections not for any pleasure but out of pain. By doing this I have only given expression to the urge that has been simmering in the hearts of most citizens of Ooty and Ooty constituency.

Mere intentions cannot bring about a change. Everyone must be prepared to play his or part. Intentions become movements when the first few dare to come out into the open to endorse the righteousness of the intentions.

I appeal to the young and old, men and women, rich and poor,  farmers and traders, professionals, hoteliers, tourism operators and everyone to come to the Public Meeting at 4- 00 pm at Independence Park (near old ATC Theatre) on Monday the 25^th of April,2016.  Your small gesture to be with us on that day will matter a lot to the future of OOty.

I shall announce  the Ooty Manifesto at the meeting. All participants are welcome to speak at the meeting to add, amend or improve the manifesto.

The crying need of this country, especially our state Tamil Nadu, is for some honest, upright and uncorrupt independent persons to get elected to the state assemblies. Since these individuals will have no constraints of a political party and hence  are not expected to keep their mouths closed both inside and outside these ‘law making institutions’, we can hope to hear the voice for development.

Venugopal is a man of courage and conviction.  The very fact that he has taken the bold step of contesting the forth coming elections on his own , speaks volumes about his commitment.

I whole heartedly support his candidature and appeal to all voters of Ooty constituency to work, vote and elect Dharmalingam VENUGOPAL as THE M.L.A.

Wing Commander Bellie Jayaprakash  (www.badaga.co)

Have been following the election scenario in our Nilgiris District with interest and concern. More concern than interest, in fact.

 With these m.ks [pun intended] – so called munnetra kazhagams, our blessed state, once proudly called Madras Presidence, has turned all of us into corrupt disgusting, spineless, feet licking weirdos.

 

Unfortunately, with their money and muzzle power, they have made this state such  a corrupt one where self respecting, service minded people may find it extremely difficult to get elected as independent individuals in the elections.

 

With Badagas, so thoroughly divided on party lines, we can safely assume that there will not be any unity among the community. [YBA is a ‘living’ example of how personal interests can suffocate social services]

 

Wg Cdr JP

Arise! Awake!! Young Badaga Association
I venture to make the following representation on the basis of five qualifications:
1) I am a Badaga of 60 plus years

Continue reading →

Benign Goddess ‘Maasi Hethe’

by

Dr.R.K.Haldorai,
(haldoraitamil@gmail.com)

1. Beacon-light

We have all come here with pure mind Let us sing in praise of Hethe
We are presented clothes, water and food
Hethai is reputed for Her magnanimity
She is the foremost among noble women
She is the beacon light of our race.

2. Glory

Glory to You, Oh ‘Maasi Hethe’
We are singing Your praise
To unburden our ego
Your zeal towards Your devotees
Is so well renounced
Your glory defies our comprehension
Glory to You Oh ‘Maasi Hethe’

3. Contentment

When we sing the glory of Maasi Hethe
We shall not indulge in gossip
Nor perform actions which are taboo
Of alms and gifts, we shall give liberally
We shall follow the path of a life
Of contentment and happiness
We sing the glory of Maasi Hethe

Continue reading →

I have always been saying that what we know about Badaga is much less than what we DO NOT know about Badaga, both people and language. That is true of not only the past but the present too.

I have come across this catchy Badaga song, ‘HOLAYYA’  on the youtube, which the singer cum producer PRANESH RAGUNATH describes as a new era Badaga song. This is part of the album “HATTI KOOSU”.

Hatti Koosu – means a village boy and the song Holayya gives a subtle but necessary social message to a Badaga girl, ‘why you should marry a Badaga boy’.

The title ‘Holayya’ is misunderstood by some. Holayya simply means an outsider and was freely used by Badagas in earlier days. Though now, a politically correct word like ‘naadu jena’ is used more often.

For a Badaga, there are only two types of people. Either a Badaga [native] or a Holayya [outsider – that included everybody from a brahim to a dalit]. The word is definitely not meant to be racist. It just identifies a Badaga from others.

Listen to this modern, or rather New Era Badaga song here.