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A KODAVA (COORG) LADY WANTED AN INSTANT REPLY: GUESS HOW I WRIGGLED OUT!

By P.T. Bopanna

I received a phone call yesterday from a Kodava lady by name Ligiet. She told me she runs a group to promote paddy cultivation in Kodagu (Coorg) district in Karnataka.

Further, she told me that they had posted a photo on social media of Kodava women engaged in transplantation of paddy seedlings (nati pani) where the women wore headgear made of areca nut trees. And she told me that they were trolled for using such headgear because it was mostly used in Dakshina Kannada district.

Ligiet wanted to know the right headgear to be worn by Kodava women while doing paddy transplantation in the monsoon.  

I was busy outside the house doing a bit of shopping. And the phone line was not clear. Moreover, I was confused. Though I may write on Kodagu matters, I do not consider myself well-versed in Kodava customs and rituals. I am more of an ‘ideas person’ rather than a ‘culture person’. I am not someone like writer Bacharanianda Appanna, who is an authority on Kodava culture.

But Ligiet wanted an answer immediately and she was in no mood to accept my suggestion for sending me a message on the issue.

Frankly, I was not happy with the headgear made from areca tree because I have not seen any Kodava woman using them during my childhood days spent in my ancestral village of Kadangamurur near Virajpet in Kodagu.

Moreover, many decades ago, it used to rain heavily and the only way to cover the body from the pouring rain was to use what is called ‘kori kode’, a rain gear made out of bamboo splints or reed, layered with wild cane and broad leaves (courtesy as in this Kodava movie poster). I recommended kori kode to Ligiet. I felt satisfied that I was able to take a stand on a ‘complex’ subject.

I wish to add a little more information on the matter. A few decades ago in Kodagu, women never engaged in transplantation of paddy seedlings. Their area was confined to the paddy nursery where they made bundles of seedlings that were carried by men for transplantation.

While on the topic, it is pertinent to note that most of the paddy fields in Kodagu have now been converted into coffee plantation because paddy does not fetch remunerative price.

Moreover, the rainfall pattern has changed because of climate change. It hardly rains in the right season. And when it rains, it pours.

I compliment Ligiet and her tribe for promoting paddy cultivation, as the paddy fields help in keeping the groundwater level high. The only way to solve drought conditions in Kodagu is to revive paddy.