Notice

There will be no updates on Kodagu Community blog until further notice.

- Moderator

What the heck

Dear Readers,

I convinced myself that ‘Kodagu Community’ blog will attract some sort of community interactions among the people of Kodagu all this while. But I was wrong. The 10-month old blog is more of a one-way communication tool which defeats the purpose of starting this blog.

Although there were some promising emails, nothing concrete emerged from the readers in terms of contributions or discussions. I have provided a platform for you to discuss Kodagu, and it is left to your discretion whether to use it or ignore it.

I have noticed that Kodagu folks are more interested in chatting in a particular forum than indulging themselves in some fruitful discussions which may be of some use to community members. When people of Mangalore/coastal Karnataka are patronizing websites like http://www.daijiworld.com and http://www.mangalorean.com, what ails people of Kodagu? Are we so self-centric? Or is it more of a ‘we don’t care’ approach?

I spoke to a gentleman from Bangalore who is running a successful website on Kodagu, and he was saying that he is running the website for the sake of ‘outsiders’ (tourists) who are more interested to know about Kodagu than native people of Kodagu who don’t show any enthusiasm. This blog gets enough and more hits daily from tourists in India and world over. My patience is running out, and one fine day I might re-launch this blog for the tourists only. By doing that, I will start earning decent revenue by way of online advertisements. It’s a win-win for me anyday.

The ball is in your court.

Sincerely,

Cariz,
Moderator of this blog

BJP at helm: Will it be advantage Kodagu or status quo?

KISHOR CARIAPPA writes: The newly formed BJP government in Karnataka under BS Yeddyurappa has ignored Kodagu in the formation of cabinet. None of the two elected representatives – Appachu Ranjan of Madikeri and KG Bopaiah of Virajpet – have been included in the first set of ministry, which took oath last week. The chances of the duo making it to the second round of expansion looks very remote as leaders from other districts are going great guns by exerting pressure on the party high command by way of rasta rokos, burning of buses, mass protests, etc by their supporters. Kodagu MLAs have not indulged in any of these, and the party supporters have behaved the Gandhian way only to make matters easy for the likes of Yeddyurappa and state BJP chief Sadananda Gowda. What people of Kodagu must realize is that only crying babies get milk in today’s scenario.

It is a know fact that Appachu Rajan, who has been a MLA for several times, is a close confidante of Yeddyurappa. What went wrong at the last minute is anybody’s guess. Unlike the Reddy brothers of Bellary, Appachu Ranjan and Bopaiah have neither the money power nor the muscle power to make high command take notice of their ‘strength’. Also the caste equations are not in their favour too. The net result: no representation for Kodagu in the BJP government.

It is interesting to see if Yeddyurappa will keep his promise of solving the ‘Jamma Bane’ issue at the earliest as per his pre-poll assurance. Kodagu is bereft with infrastructure problems like bad roads, drinking water woes and many more. It will be interesting to see how Appachu Ranjan and Bopaiah will tackle drinking water problem in Madikeri and Virajpet towns respectively. Earlier they had the habit of blaming the partisan Congress and Janata Dal governments at the helm for step motherly treatment of Kodagu. Now with their own party forming the government, it will be interesting to see if MLAs can work in tandem to carry out development projects in Kodagu. People have voted for a change, and whether the change is for good or bad only time will tell.

Karona therey

Karona therey (therey is an art form of appeasing gods and ancestors) and Murthy therey were conducted by Ammatanda family in Kiggal near Murnad recently. Theses rituals are conducted once in five years. Therey in Kodagu is akin to theyyam of North Malabar region were the performances are accompanied by rhythmic beats of chende (drums).

Vishnu Murthy therey.

Vishnu Murthy therey.

Chaundi (Chamundeshwari) therey.

Ajjappa therey.

Beera therey. (Pics: Cariz)