Badagas of the Blue Mountains

 

 

Needless to add, the motivation and encouragement comes when I receive email comments with words of praise. Given below are a couple of them received recently

 

 

Shri   [srdv5344@gmail.com] prakash rangapp	Submitted on 2011/11/27 at 11:50 pm Hats off to you. This website will be very informative to the younger generation to know about our precious culture and also about our origin. Thank you very much for maintaining this wonderful website.     Submitted on 2011/11/28 at 1:32 am superb information, really proud of this…….

 

WELCOME TO THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF BADAGAS - Baarivi, Nodivi, Oridivi & Odhivi! [Come, See, Listen and Read!] பாரிவி, நோடிவி, ஓதிவி & ஓரிடிவி

Maanasi.R.Sridhar writes :

Sir, firstly congratulations on putting together such an insightful and organized website about the Badaga community. Your work has definitely enriched my knowledge of the finer nuances of our culture.

As I was going through your work , I was pleasantly surprised to come cross a mention of my grandfather A. Dharmalingam ,in your 'first badaga' category. However , I felt just the mere mention of his name didn't do justice to his identity. So, I felt it was my duty to provide the following information. Hope you will find it useful for your website. Thank you very much! First Badaga Journalist - ANDI GOWDER DHARMALINGAM ( Kanerimukku Village) Married to N.Thangamma from Dhimhatty He was a reporter for the 'Madras Mail' and later for 'The Hindu' from the late 1940's until 1973. After his retirement from 'The Hindu', he continued to work as a journalist for the news agency, UNI (United News of India) till his death.

During his illustrious career he rubbed shoulders with personalities such as K.Kamaraj and M.Bhaktavatsalam (former Chief Minister of the State).He also had the privilege of meeting and interacting with leaders of colonial India like Lord Monutbatten and also our first Prime Minister Nehru and Indira Gandhi. Through such interesting anecdotes from his life, his legacy as a journalist still lives on, inspiring generations of writers in our family.

Thank you very much Maanasi Sridhar, for your words of encouragement on this website. On 'First Badaga', this is preciously the type of feed back I was hoping for from relatives and friends, to give greater details about those great "First" Badagas, who have done our community proud by their deeds and words. I am aware that your grandfather Dharmalingam was also closely associated with Rao Bahadur Ari Gowder.

Can you send a photo of your grandfather for publication.

I can see from your 'words' that you are also very good with writing. Surely, it runs in the family. Thanks once again.

Wg Cdr JP

Narmu  writes : "I am new to this site. I am very proud to be a Badaga girl. Our people are very loving, caring and are with humanity to a great extent except when it comes to inter caste marriage. They even accept when our boy marries a non-Badaga girl, but they really don't accept when our girl marries with a non-Badaga boy. My view is that the parents ego plays a vital role. In today's trends both the men and women are matured enough to choose their spouse. Any one who comes across this post, dont mistake me, its just my views".

 

(Please note:  This website encourages all shades of opinions from viewers. You may agree or NOT agree with the views of some  but  harsh comments/ posts will not be approved/published. Editing or deletion of comments is at the discretion of the author/editor- Wg Cdr JP)

This topic, in my opinion, needs our urgent attention. There is plenty of truth in what Narmu says. Do we, especially the elders in the community, need to change our mind set? Is it not time to change with the 'changing times'?? - Wg Cdr JP

Have you visited www.badaga.co?

In this website,  www.badaga.co , you can 'see and hear' a lot more 'media' as javascript is enabled.

WELCOME TO THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF BADAGAS

 Baarivi, Nodivi, Oridivi & Odhivi!

[Come, See, Listen and Read!]

பாரிவி, நோடிவி, ஓதிவி & ஓரிடிவி

copyright©Bellie Jayaprakash 

It is very sad but true. Many marriages among Badagas are breaking and ending in divorce 'buduchodhu'.

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' but for good. She was forced by her parents and those of the groom's when she refused to get married in the 'first place' that lot was at stake. 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 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 educated?

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

[Reproduced]

Now, Nive, writes to protest :
Do you think love is fake when it comes to a non Badaga partner..... even if not all, few know the difference btwn Love and Infatuation. Am I not right? So what you try to say is that love between badagas is true ,but between a Badaga and other is fake?

Hello Nive,I am surprised that you completely missed the point. Read my comments/opinion again. Love, by definition, is 'blind'. Infatuation, on the other hand, is a temporary phenomena. I am aware of lot many successful LOVE marriages between Badagas and non Badagas. I am also aware, that there is nothing known as 'love by design or default'. Thanks for the comments, anyway, it tells me that my words need to be put in proper way. The larger point, I am trying to make out is "why are so many Badaga marriages breaking ? Is 'morey' the single most reason that prevents young Badagas seeking or falling in 'love' with another Badagas? - Wg Cdr JP

Sofia Joghee comments :

"Marriages break in all communities. Its not just confined to Badagas. But the positive note is that, remarriage is not a problem in our community, because every one I believe is broad minded enough to understand that marriages could go wrong. What I have seen is in other communities, people have some horoscope match findings on top of the general points to think, to minimize the breakage. Yet, they happen, its just fate of some due to karmas. But looking into the percentages, we might be more, because of the smaller size in communities.

Most of the marriages within Badagas are forced by the restrictions in our community is very much true. My friends have told me that their parents have permitted them to choose their partners as long as they are Badagas. So, there is no restriction on that point. Choosing is different than falling in love you see. One who really love each other are one in soul, thus can forgive their partner for any blunder and can not be separated for long enough. That's the strength of true love.

I strongly feel we need to change our mind set of being too restrictive to accepting other society girls as our sosay (daughter in law) and getting our daughters married to other society guys but still include them in our rituals and functions. The more we try to isolate, the community growth will anyway be small. Because, for the kind of distances the current generation is travelling, it is really difficult to restrict choices. In that case of restricting, may be we need t restrict our dressing styles to our food habits, can we really do that? We need to see evolution through adapting to changes."

Here is a [Badaga] recipe by Sofia Joghee who lives in Singapore

Here is a traditional curry from our village that will help you get rid of your entire gastric problem, and relieve your bloated stomach caused due to gastric. Some of us have issues with regular gastric problems. Making this tasty sauce (curry) part of your weekly meal, will help you relieve the problem. But remember to drink lot of water to avoid the heat feeling in stomach, which occurs while curing the issue. In case you have a sudden heat after trying this dish for first time, you may want to drink some milk to cool down. This is a very healthy and safe way to avoid and cure gastric issues.

Quick Dish, healthy food, great cure!

Serving for 2 people

Here tbsp is table spoon. You may choose a medium size spoon that we use to eat our food to help measure. Also note that this curry is slightly watery, not thick gravy. However, it can be made thick gravy if you want to.

Ingredients:

10 garlic pieces

3 small onions

5-6 tbs grated coconut

1 tbsp cumin seeds (not mandatory)

2 small onion or 1 small size big onion (chopped)

1 small tomato (don’t chop)

Red chilly powder (1 – 1.5 tbsp) as per the spice you may want

coriander powder (half of red chilly qty)

turmeric powder (a pinch – .25 tbsp)

curry leaves (not mandatory, but nice for flavor)

salt to taste

0.5 – 1 tbsp oil

mustard seeds

1 tbs tamarind juice (if you don’t like sour, you may avoid this)

Chopped coriander

Process:

Add garlic, small onion (non-chopped), grated coconut, and cumin seeds in a mixer and grind well.

Add some water to get a almost fine paste from the above mixture. Keep it aside

Heat the pan, pour oil, splatter mustard seeds, and add curry leaves and chopped onions.

Fry till the onions are golden brown.

Pour the grated mixture into the pan. Add 1 glass of water.

Put the chilly, coriander, turmeric powder, salt, and tamarind juice into the pan.

Mix well, and put the full tomato (un-chopped) into the mixture in the pan.

Cook in high till the mixture boils, then sim it and close with a lid.

When the curry starts smelling good, appetizing, check the tomato for softness.

If soft, mix it inside the mixture and taste the dish, to check if the garlic is cooked.

Add chopped coriander for flavor.

Off the gas, and keep it closed for 1-2 min.

Serve hot with rice or noodles or chapatti or dosa…anything.

I hope you try this dish to help you relieve gastric problems and quick cooking.

Bon Appetite!

Reproduced with the author's consent.

You can visit Sofia's weblog  "Learning Every Time" here

The Mouth Watering Badaga Dishes

Badagas have given a lot of importance to their food habits. The most importance, obviously, was given to healthy dishes and how they were prepared. Taste, finds equal importance.

In any festival or celebrations one of the must prepare is the sweet dish known as "Thuppidittu - Thuppadha [Clarified butter - Nei in Tamil] Hittu [Food] - also called 'Ennay Hittu - Oil [fried] Hittu'. For health and ease of preparation, what better than the wholesome meal of  Eragi Hittu. One of the longevity of life span of  elder Badaga Ayyas and Hethays [older people] is attributed to regular intake of this food for lunch. Taken with  'soppu' - greens and 'avaray' - beans curry with a touch of 'thuppa - clarified butter'.....ah..ah...as I write, my mouth is watering - 'Jollu Jorira'.

Go here to see the recipes...

One of the prominent Badagas who is involved in many developmental activities associated with Badagas is Mr.T.Rangaiah from Kothiben. He is well known and deeply involved with Tea Board. He is a quiet and unassuming person. In one of my recent meetings with him he mentioned about the Badaga dance.

In olden days, Badaga dance was almost always performed by the artists wearing a typical dress called 'Dodda Kuppacha' - a two piece attire in white consisting of a top 'waist coat' like what the Rajasthani rural folks wear and a bottom skirt. Since the badaga dance is based on many steps in which the dancers go around [revolving] in circles, these skirts open up making a beautiful sight.

Badagas, in their DHODDA KUPPACHA (a flowing gown like attire) dancing to Kota music. Photo drawing from : ‘Counsel from the Ancients – A study of Badaga Proverbs, Prayers, Omens and Curses’ (Prof;Paul Hockings)

Whenever, any dignitary visited the Nilgiris in those days, it was always the Badagas who would present a dance - both for welcoming the guests and for entertainment - with the Kothas providing the music called 'harakolu'.

But of late, the Kothas have adopted the Badaga dance. The Nilgiris district admin consisting of 'babus' who are reluctant to accept the fact the Badagas are one of the original inhabitants of the Nilgiris like the Todas and Kothas, have been presenting Kothas' dance much more than the original Badaga Dance.

Mr.Rangaiah also mentioned about a 'traditional door' kept in the Tea Board/UPASI complex 'museum'  in which the Badagas are NOT mentioned along with others as the tribes of the Nilgiris.

You guessed it, the door was presented  by none other than some Badagas from Kotagiri.

You would have been hundred today!

Mrs.Idyammal

Born: 02-09-1912  Died; 13-07-2011

Mom, you gave us everything. Though, born as a 'princess' - the only daughter of Rao Badadur Bellie Gowder and Nanji hethe, on 02 Sep  1912, you chose to face life with all its brutalities and harshness when you married (or rather, forced to marry) Dad, a commoner, B.K.Bellie Gowder from Bearhatty in 1927 probably due to the fact that he was one of the very few educated Badagas in those days.  You were barely fifteen and dad, a widower, was almost twenty years elder to you. Like in those days, having more children [mane thumba makka] was considered a great virtue and you gave birth to eight of us. All were born after your Dad and great Nakku Betta leader Rao Bahadur Bellie Gowda passed away in 1935.

You were sent to an elementary school in Old Aravankadu ( a challenge in those days) and studied till third/fourth class in that Tamil medium school and had to discontinue. But we know your passion for education and you made sure that all the eight of us were sent to schools and colleges; in spite of the financial difficulties of having to send so many children to schools at the same time.

You were very fond of reading and very interested in politics. And when TV came into existence, you would never miss the 8p.m news. Indra Gandhi was your favorite. You had a soft corner for the royal Family of England and always follwed any information on them both in print and TV.

We are aware of the fact that, you were very close to all your five brothers. Rao Bahadur Ari Gowder, who went on to become the undisputed Nakku Betta Leader in his own right and was the eldest and twenty years older, was your mentor and guide. He helped a lot in all possible ways. You were the uniting force of the Rao Bahadur family, popularly known as the 'Ayya Mane'.

The untimely death of your brother Raju Gowder in 1962 was a great shock. You lost your husband in 1969 but went on to shoulder the full responsibility of looking after the family single handedly   The passing away of your eldest brother Rao Bahadur Ari Gowder in 1971 made you very very sad and changed your life considerably.

The untimely murder/death of your second son and fifth child Dr. Balakrishna in Malaysia in 1975 shattered you beyond description, just a day before he was to leave for his higher studies - FRCS in London. You never really recovered from that shock. Life was not always a bed of roses and you lost three more children Suresh Kumar, Menaka [Seetha] and Ramamurthy.

The fall from the cot and the resultant hip bone fracture in late 1980s, made you bed ridden but could not take away 'the authority' or the cheer from you. You were 'fond' of the sun - besilu kaavadhu .

You never lost your sense of humour till the end and gave a lot of gen on Badagas and other matters; you had been my ideal and inspiration and to simply put, what I am today is because of you.

Mom, we planned to celebrate your 100th birthday, today, in a grand manner with a big function organised at Hubbathalai but you chose to be with the departed and dear ones in a 'different world' and left us on 13th July, 2011.

Here is wishing you a very happy 100th birthday, where ever you are. We seek your blessings. Engava Harachu !

- Mania [JP & Tara] with Radha Gowdu, Vimala Bellie [& Justice EJ Bellie],  Dr.K.M.Raju, Mrs.Mala and Chandramohan[Gagga] & Rani  also along with grand children and great grand children.

  POWER TO CHANGE

[Dedicated to my mother]

A question from Suresh of Kalhatty who had obviously seen the page on Badaga Jewellery [Badaga Bangara]
has clean bowled me. His question is why do Badagas, always, wear silver rings in pairs. Does it have any special meaning?

I have heard elders telling 'jodi (bellie) ungara ikku' - wear (silver) rings in pair but never really found out the significance. Anyone who can through some light?