Badagas of the Blue Mountains

Our hearts bleed for the ‘brave hearts’ of B.Manihatti .

The first conversion of Badagas to Christianity took place in 1854 when some German missionaries mislead a couple of Badagas in Ketti (Santhoor) with the lure of monetary compensation and false promise of ‘education’ for the children. The seeds of disharmony among these peace loving and innocent people who believed in unity and community living (all the hatti people acted as one) were sown.

Unfortunately, the biggest curse of our people is the disunity combined with jealousy, that is all pervasive. The so called leaders of the community found shelter in politics and corruption with the active support of ‘self appointed Gowdas’ who could be ‘purchased’.

The saddest point is that we do not have a selfless Nakku Betta leader after Rao Bahadur Ari Gowder [who passed away in 1971] who can galvanise our people with true leadership qualities.

This is Hethe Habba time. The ALL Mighty Mother Goddess Hethe has saved us from many a disaster. SHE will save us this time also. Let us be united.

In UNITY lies our STRENGTH.

Mani.B writes : Welcome to my village ( BERAGANI )  HETHAI HABBA

MSK writes : Welcome to my village ( NUNTHALA ) HETHAI HABBA

  – Badagas taking out a procession in Ooty on Saturday. Photo:M.Sathyamoorthy [The Hindu]

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 44,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 16 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

A couple of decades ago, there was hardly any info available about BADAGA – both people and language.

Now, On ‘Google’ when ‘badaga’ is typed, what comes out as information is mind boggling.

• Everything – 323,000
• Images – 35,100
• blogs – 4500
• Videos – 3960
• Discussion – 3550
• Books – 452

Of course, on a deeper analysis, whatever is listed is NOT completely BADAGA. That apart, there are many websites, blogs and discussions and [YouTube] Videos that can make you cringe. There are plenty of ‘cut and paste’ jobs or more regrettably  plain copy posts. As you can guess, no credit to the original ‘creators’ given by these copy cats.

Worst, there are many videos in the name of ‘Badaga Dance’ that are downright amateurish,  ‘cheap’ and and not Badaga dance at all.

But then, there is plenty of ‘good’ information if you really prepared to spend some time to ‘see what you want – Look beyond what you see!

The biggest satisfaction is that there is interest among youngsters to know all about Badagas…the history, origin, traditions, customs and culture.

Attempts are being made to ‘create a written script’ for Badaga by Anand and others. Badagas themselves are carrying out research to learn about our past history and record them in their books.  J.B.Balasubramaniam is about to bring out a second edition of ‘PAAME’ a highly laudable effort. ‘Badaga Samuthayam’ by Sivaji Raman [of Jakkanarai] is a treasure trove.

Badagas spread all over the world are bringing laurels to Badaga Community with their pioneering work. Vinitha Rajkumar in UK is  running a successful ‘Bharatanatyam’ school.Students like Sumathi Halan, who is doing her higher studies in Canada, is a source of information on India in the local community. Both Vinitha and sumathi are invited to give speeches in the town hall meetings.

Melur Village, a small Badaga hatti, is a ‘smoke free’ hamlet. BMW is not about the high end car or ‘Behen Maya Wati’ but’ Blue Mountain Warriers’  consisting of  Badagas who are concerned about the environment degradation in the Nilgiris and doing their bit to help out the society.

The slogan ‘Proud to be a Badaga’  coined by yours truly has become an universal cry of all Badagas. What started as a hobby but now a passion, this website ‘Badagas of the Blue Mountains’ has become a reference point to many. More than 100 visitors every day. That gives motivation to do more.

Much more is needed to be done on an urgent basis to declare ‘all is well’;

to hold our heads high and declare

‘Proud to be an Indian and Proud to be a Badaga‘.

Happy New Year!

Wing Commander Bellie Jayaprakash

(to my mom who left this world on 13 -7-2011:- without  you or your inspiration, I am nothing. You gave me everything and always blessed me with – ‘ollithay agili’.

Thank you mom, wherever YOU are!)

A lot of youngsters are looking out for the ‘right alliance’.  Contradictory it may appear but there are , sadly, a large number  educated Badagas choosing not to marry or postpone the idea of getting married itself. Is the delay due to social compulsions and  ‘fear’ of  early divorces [‘puduchodhu’] in many cases? Is it an universal phenomena?

[Though, the following article is based on the study in the USA, it could be true about many educated Badagas. Source : http://www.newswise.com ]

With the share of married adults at an all-time low in the United States, new research by demographers at Cornell University and the University of Central Oklahoma unveils clues why couples don’t get married – they fear divorce. Among cohabitating couples, more than two-thirds of the study’s respondents admitted to concerns about dealing with the social, legal, emotional and economic consequences of a possible divorce….

Roughly 67 percent of the study’s respondents shared their worries about divorce. Despite the concerns, middle-class subjects spoke more favorably about tying the knot and viewed cohabitation as a natural stepping stone to marriage compared to their working-class counterparts. Lower-income women, in particular, disproportionately expressed doubts about the “trap” of marriage, fearing that it could be hard to exit if things go wrong or it would lead to additional domestic responsibilities but few benefits.
The study also found working-class cohabitating couples were more apt to view marriage as “just a piece of paper,” nearly identical to their existing relationship. They were twice as likely to admit fears about being stuck in marriage with no way out once they were relying on their partners’ share of income to get by.

[Complete article here – > : http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/584138/?sc=dwhn]

There are some highly disturbing reports in ‘The Hindu’ and ‘Dinamalar’ (14 Dec11, issue) titled ” Villagers oppose construction of church ” and mentioning about lorry loads of B.Manihatti villagers staging a demonstration at the Collectorate[Ooty] and submitting a memorandum that the activities of some persons – to construct a church in the village – are threatening the unity of the village.

As correctly pointed out by these villagers, this move to construct a church and the reported forced religious conversion is bound to affect not only the Badaga Culture but the very fabric of this unique community that has striven to safe guard its traditions, customs and rituals for centuries as well as the peaceful atmosphere in every hatti.

We all stand by the Villagers of B.Manihatti and offer our complete cooperation and solidarity and appeal to the authorities to stop this construction.

When will these ‘traitors’  of Badaga Traditions, who are on the pay rolls of some of these Pastors and Impostors learn to respect the great Badaga sensivity ?