[Excerpt from] A garden party – K. JESHI in the Hindu [March 10,2011]

…….At Hotel GAD (Gateway All Day -THE GATEWAY HOTEL, UPPER COONOOR) you can choose between a buffet and a la carte from Indian, Chinese and Continental cuisines. There is the super-soft gass dhotti (rotis), made of maida, mashed potatoes and butter, a regional Badaga speciality. It is melt-in the mouth and goes well with the Nilgiri kaai curry, a traditional preparation of boiled vegetables in a mint and coriander sauce. Other local delights are avarai uthaka, made from locally-available fresh beans, and chicken ball curry (minced chicken dumplings in coconut milk)……

A sacred institution that is meant to be for life is not even lasting for a few months. I heard the shocking story, recently, that the girl returned home the same evening of the wedding not for ‘marumanay’ [part of a wedding rituals among Badagas where the bride or rather the newly married daughter returns to her parental home for the first time after marriage] but for good. She was forced by her parents and those of the groom’s to go through the wedding ceremony when she refused to get married in the ‘first place’ that a lot was at stake including the ‘pride and honour’ of both the families. Really sad ! What are the reasons?

One is surprised to see so many nice looking, educated and employed boys and girls among Badagas ready for marriage but hesitate to tie the knots since they are not sure for how long the sacred marriage would last?

Is it the ‘old mind set’ of the boys and their parents that the ‘wife – hendaru or daughter in law – sosay’ is expected to be only a second class citizen bringing water, cleaning the house, cooking and bearing children even if she is educated and can be gainfully employed?

Shockingly, it appears, the BPO driven ‘night shift’ non-performing boys, cannot carryout the fundamental principal of a marriage [that proclaims that a marriage is nothing but a public announcement of a private affair] and suffer from erectile dysfunctions and sexual deficiencies and thus cannot face their partners. Then they blame it all on the girl when they are grilled by his parents and relatives with the typical but crude Badaga sense of outrage, ‘ Ennu basaru aapillay’ya? – has she not become pregnant yet??’

Are the educated and employed girls not ready to share and enjoy life but live in a false world that they are ‘more’ than equal in most respects and forget the adage that the fundamental requirement for a successful marriage is nothing but ‘adjustment’? Do they feel being single is better than being singled out for failures??

Seeking a non – Badaga partner seems to be a fashion and passion without differentiating between love and infatuation.

Where is the problem, really?

Are we, the elders, with blinkers firmly in place, not seeing the truth in a broader perspective?

Is the insistence on ‘MORAY’ – that you cannot marry from certain villages as the boys and girls become brother- sister [relationship] – becoming the biggest stumbling block ? While one can understand and appreciate this moray system which was adopted by our ancestors due to medical and ethical reasons when there were few hattis established by brothers in the olden days, what is the ‘true’ picture now??

Are we contributing to the cause in a negative way and condemning our great community to a curse??

Have you visited these badaga websites

here or  here?

1.Nadukattuna – A love song on a  cheerful note.Your heart will beat faster listening to this love song..ah..ah

2.Moga Nodi – A sad but very melodious song of separated lovers

3.Neneppella – Another beautiful love song

(unfortunately, I do not know the names of the singers who deserve to be quoted. will somebody help please?)

4.Manessella – A beautiful song by Dr.Selvaraj that captures the ‘Badaga’ life now in the blue mountains

A tiny Badaga hamlet where everyone is a non-smoker

Shantha Thiagarajan, TNN, Feb 20, 2011( from THE TIMES OF INDIA)

UDHAGAMANDALAM: A blue mist wraps Melur, a Badaga village near Ooty, but the villagers don’t light up beedis or cigarettes to warm themselves in the cool dawn. For Melur, about 20 km from Ooty in the Nilgiris, has imposed and enforced a complete ban on smoking and chewing tobacco.
At the two entry points to the village, a signboard declares: Smoking is prohibited within the village’. The 600 men in this village of 1,000 people don’t smoke or chew tobacco inside the village. Not one of the seven village shops sells cigarettes or beedis.

“After we imposed the ban, 80% of the villagers have quit smoking. The rest leave the village if they want to smoke,” said village panchayat president MK Krishnan. “We imposed the ban a couple of years ago,” he says, adding that he is not sure of the exact date or year.

There is no penalty for violating the ban, “Till now, nobody has violated it. We just tell people about our ban and they respect it. Since we are all living in the same community and respect one another, there is no need for a penalty,” says Krishnan.

B Shivaraj, a farmer, says they noticed that young people were smoking even in front of their elders. “They had been influenced by TV and movies. Our Badaga way of living has always placed emphasis on values and respect for elders. So we thought we should do something about it and imposed the ban,” he said. Melur is the head village’ of the 33 villages in the merkunadu semai’, There are four prominent ‘semais’ (societies) in the Badaga community in the Nilgiris. “We felt we should set an example for the others,” says another resident MK Ramakrishnan. Most of the villagers are small tea growers or government employees.

Even construction labourers who come to the village for work follow the non-smoking orders. “Till a few years ago, both young people and elders would laze around all day, smoking. The village committee or the mahasabai decided to change people’s attitudes,” says R Balamurugan, the village school teacher. S Janaki, another resident, said, “I’m happy that the men have stopped smoking. Many have started working. In future, I hope the rest also give up.”

Read the article here: A tiny hamlet where everyone is a non-smoker – The Times of India

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All photos sent by Ravi Balraj

Group of Badagas

A Badaga funeral at Kalhatti

BadagaTemple near Kalhatti

Funeral - Kalhatti

Funeral - Kalhatti

Badaga women

I have mentioned many times that Ravi Chandran Balraj from Manjoor and now in Kuwait is a well wisher of this website and has always shared his thoughts and sent many rare Badaga  pictures. I am greatly indebted to this true and great Badaga for sharing these excellent pictures with us. Thank you a million times,  Ravi

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Badaga Cremation - picture sent by Ravi Balraj

Badaga Farm - picture sent by Ravi Balraj

Badaga Farmer - picture sent by Ravi Balraj

Kenda Habba (Fire Festival) - picture sent by Ravi Balraj

Badaga Funeral - picture sent by Ravi Balraj

Badaga Man - picture sent by Ravi Balraj

Badaga Priest - picture sent by Ravi Balraj

Badaga School Kateri (ketti) - picture sent by Ravi Balraj

Badaga Temple - picture sent by Ravi Balraj

Badaga Village - picture sent by Ravi Balraj

Badaga Village - picture sent by Ravi Balraj

Badaga Village - picture sent by Ravi Balraj

Ketti Temple and Badaga houses - picture sent by Ravi Balraj

Mahalinga (Badaga) Temple - picture sent by Ravi Balraj