Kodava script

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KODAVA SCRIPT

-ॐKODAGHÉ, KODAVA, BHOLIYADHÉ.

The first edition of this book was released on the 29th of December 2019 at Hotel “The Roost”, Mysore.

First edition-2019 Pages-52 Copies-2000

Second edition-2020 Pages-45 Web version

Written and Published by the Author Appaneravanda Kiran Subbaiah Ph: 0821-2494245- Mob: 9740369852 Website: www.akssculptures.com E-mail: [email protected] Facebook: www.facebook.com/Appaneravanda Kiran Subbaiah www.facebook.com/The Kodava Script 1

With Best wishes & Compliments From: 1. Appaneravanda Swathi Kiran 2. Appaneravanda Shanthi Achappa 3. Mr.& Mrs. Cheppudira T. Muthanna and Family 4. Mr.& Mrs. Chimmanda P. Ponnanna (Vipin) and Family 5. Mr.& Mrs. Chimmanamada M. Neethi and Family 6. Mr.& Mrs. Kuppanda S. Nanjappa (Dalu)and Family 7. Mr.& Mrs. Pandanda Naresh and Family 8. Mrs. Pandanda Muthamma Joyappa 9. Dr. Kattera Kashi, Dr.Rekha Kashi and Family 10. Special compliments from Shilpa, Chitra, Kalpana, Vanshikha, Arjun, Aarna & Vidyut

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This book is published and dedicated to the memory of my sweet and loving grand mother Late SEETHAVVAYA (Mukkatira) and to my grandfather, unfortunately whom I have never met Late Mr.KOTERA UTHAIAH Who I believe, was a great, sincere, dedicated, efficient and a compassionate lawyer, a trait which is very difficult to find these days.

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z Surya Deva (Sun God)

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Guru Karanha (First Ancestor)

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Goddess Cauveramma - She can bless as well as destroy. (depicted by blessing on one hand and oddi kathi on the other) 6

Kodava Jewellery 1. Kokkay Thathi – Represents half moon 2. Pathakk – Represents the star

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Foreword Hope Kodava Sahitya Academy and the general Kodava public wakes up from its hibernation before the Kodava Language becomes kannadised and totally loses its identity by the continuous use of Kannada script wherein more of Kannada words will be used. Moreover, many Kodava words cannot be written by preserving its correct phonetical sounds and the Kodava language in due course will slowly disintegrate and vanish. It needs a far thinking, dedicated and shrewd intellect to realize and visualize the necessity to have our ‘OWN SCRIPT’, wherein our unique sounding Kodava words can be written by preserving its unique phonetical sounds. Only if a language has its own script, it will have its own status, individuality, uniqueness and pride, which in future will be a catalyst for further development, improvement and enrichment of the language.

A new script cannot be learnt in a day. It takes its own time.

BUT The pride will always be there, that Kodavas have their own script!

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Tit Bits  I was one of the MAIN FOUNDER member of the Kodagu ‘Original Inhabitants Rights Protection Committee’ (K.O.I.R.P.C) (Kodagu Moola Nivasigala Hakku Samrakshana Samithi) which was formed on the 8th of March 1982  But the committee consisting of eight members could not get a suitable, proper, dedicated and selfless person to head the committee. Since the committee was not functioning in a proper desired way that I had virtualized, I left the organization in anger, disgust, sadness and disappointment. Eventually, the organization just faded away.  Apart from writing poems, in the year 1981-82, I had introduced a new form of style in writing ‘JHODD BHODI’ and ‘JHODD THAKK’ to enrichen the Kodava Language literature. This was being published in a Kodava weekly newspaper every week until 1982. Kodava Sahitya Academy and Kodava writers Association who are supposed to encourage new forms of writing to enrichen Kodava literature are silent about it.

 In the year 2000-2001, I had set up a Museum for the display of my stone sculptures known as “KS Museum of Sculptures”. It is the FIRST MUSEUM in the world to display and exhibit more than 200 multisided sculptures (2 in 1, 3 in 1, 4 in 1 and 5 in 1) with a total count of nearly 560 sculptures. 9

Random Thoughts  Firstly, when the states reorganizing act of 1956 was implemented by the central government, the then CM of Coorg state and his supporters had meekly agreed to merge with Mysore (Karnataka) and were rewarded by the Government of Karnataka with good posts in the ministry. If the CM and his supporters were not interested in destroying the separate Coorg Statehood, they should have revolted, resigned from politics and refused to accept ministerial posts. But they did not! Even today, many Kodava leaders and politicians, for a piece of bread and a post in the administration are willing to further destroy Kodagu of its pristine forests including ‘Devara Kaadus’ and Jamma Bhoomi. Kodagu (Coorg) had its own unique flavor, class and dignity with its pristine forests, plenty of wildlife etc. before it merged with Karnataka. But today is a very sad story. It is totally ill treated and neglected by the Government. Before the merger, while entering Kodagu, one would know with eyes closed that you have entered this heavenly place as the air itself was so pure. But now, the air quality and weather has deteriorated and changed over a period. Now the weather between Mysore and Madikeri cannot be distinguished. Is the government not aware of it or is it only making money selling timber and destroying its forest wealth by bending down to the whims and fancies of the timber lobby?

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 Recently, the power grid corporation of India laid high-tension transmission cables for 400 kV between Mysore and Kozhikode in Kerala through many private coffee estates and the virgin reserve forests in Kodagu without any thought on disturbing the wildlife habitat. They had cleared and felled lakhs of trees through the reserve forest about 25-30 feet wide. The reason being, if any fault occurs in the transmission lines, the department need to take their vehicles along the route to periodically check faults. What happened to the lakhs of matured tress that were felled, which were worth crores of rupees? Also, how much money did the Government, Forest department, politicians and middlemen get? A thorough probe should be done! Will anyone do it? Moreover, since a road now exists through the reserve forest, what is the guarantee that the Timer Mafia from Kerala will not enter the forest with ease and smuggle trees from the forest with support of the forest department and politicians? The Timber Mafia, Forest Department and the Politicians are only bothered about making more and more money and they do not have any concern or compassion, nor do they bother about destruction of forests like this. Where will all the Wild life go? They end up entering human territory and finally causing humananimal conflicts. 11

Also, if they keep destroying forests like this, will it not have an adverse effect on the weather of Kodagu? It affects rainfall in Kodagu, River Cauvery will go dry and there would be no water for agriculture, irrigation and drinking water to the neighboring cities.  Kodagu does not have the need for a Railway line at all. What for? To destroy more coffee estates and forests? Are the Government, Politicians and leaders of Kodagu not concerned about maintaining the ecological balance, its wildlife and nature? Or is it because they all want to make more money from the Timer Mafia? And apart from the Railway line, the brainless government and political leaders of Kodagu plan to make 3 or 4 lane roads in Kodagu so that more tourists can visit and travel easily making Kodagu more congested and a dirty place. Doing so they can cut more trees to accommodate these tourists and the Timber Mafia will be very happy and further reward them. This needs to be addressed at the earliest and only then, the people of Kodagu will prosper and the flora and fauna flourish.

 Kodavas should come out wholeheartedly and help fellow Kodavas when in distress, agony or in need of support. By doing so, we as a community can achieve great heights and remain united.

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More often it is seen that instead of helping out, rejoicing, applauding and feeling proud about the achievements and success of fellow Kodava’s or Kodavathi’s in the field of sports, art, literature, holding of high positions etc. people tend to look down on their positives and highlight only their negatives and talk negative about their ancestors, Mannay pay’dha etc. Many are jealous and have hatred towards successful Kodavas and tend to treat them with malice. It is high time such Kodavas develop a sense of maturity and learn to appreciate, if not try to overtake them by working hard and showing their worth.  Because of Mannay Pay’dhas, I feel there are so many disagreements, disharmony, disunity among Kodavas which is being exploited by others to split, ruin and destroy Kodavas. The different Mannay Pay’dhas are unique and convenient to differentiate between different Kodava families but herein lies a problem. Some Mannay Pay’dhakara think and behave like they are far more superior, royal and of a higher class and tend to look down upon others. To be frank, no one is superior, royal or of a higher class because Kodagu never had a ‘Kodava King’. So, all Mannay Pay’dhakaras are equal. They are all one and the same. i.e. “KODAVAS”.

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It is high time that the Kodavas treat one another as equals, the Mannay Pay’dhas as secondary and fight jointly for the rights and development of Kodagu and Kodavas.  I feel that some sort of ‘Kodava Trust’ must be formed to facilitate or purchase the estates/lands which some Kodavas sell because of reasons like old age, difficulty in managing the estate on their own as their children are settled outside etc. Also because of fragmentation of lands, their estate holdings become smaller and sometimes difficult to maintain and sustain with a smaller income. So, each one starts selling their share of property. It’s okay if they sell it to their own kith and kin but becomes a problem when it is sold to non-Kodavas. It is at that time, the sale of such estates to third parties should be curbed as much as possible and the ‘Kodava Trust’ should buy those estates. If not, in a few years’ time, you may hardly find any Kodavas in Kodagu. And to get funds for the ‘Kodava Trust’, try to get donations from broadminded people and make every Kodava Samaja donate a fixed amount every year to this ‘Kodava Trust’. At least then, let the Kodava Samajas be of some major help and render a yeomen service to save Kodagu, its plantations and lands from going into the hands of non-Kodavas. Else, it would be good to change the name of ‘Kodava Samaja’ to ‘Kodava Kalyana Mantapa’. Only if all Kodavas join hands together they can make the ‘Kodava Trust’ work towards preserving the lands of Kodagu. 14

Vanished and Vanishing Customs and Traditions of Kodavas  Firstly, the joint family system wherein all brothers/sons and their families lived together and cultivated lands unitedly, broke up, ending the harmonious unity of Kodava families. And after the bifurcation and division of lands, each member started their own cultivation or taking up jobs elsewhere which further led to disunity and competition between family members.  Every Kodava house was built facing towards the EAST and every morning when opening the front door, one would offer prayers to the rising sun (Sun God) and then start doing their daily chores.  Welcoming any guest home would first be with a pot of water to wash their feet.  Thukk Bolcha hung in the main hall of every Kodava house was being lit and prayers offered every morning and evening.  Paying reverence and respect to ‘Guru Karanhas’ during festivals conducted at their ancestral homes is slowly being forgotten by Kodavas who have settled outside.  Kodava women traditionally wore long sleeved, close collared blouses with vasthra.

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 According to Kodava Padhathi, a man should get his ears pierced and wear a Kaduk (a type of earing) without which he could not sit in the marriage hall nor was he allowed to get married.  In day to day life a man would wear a red checkered vasthra, which now has almost vanished and of course for attending weddings and other important functions, they wear the Mande Thuni, Kuppia Chalay and Peechay Kathi, which to a great extent is still being followed.  As it is, Kodava Community is a minority and most Kodavas having only one or two children has further added to the reduction. Many Kodava boys and girls are marrying non-Kodavas and are forgetting Kodagu by living in the style of their non-Kodava partners. Are the parents of such youngsters to be blamed OR is getting married in Kodava style become an expensive affair and hence parents encourage it OR is it that Kodava youngsters are not being responsible OR is it because they don’t find a suitable Kodava partner OR is it because they are being too choosy?  Many parents and even grand parents talk to their children only in English, thereby depriving them from learning Kodava Thakk. It is fine to speak in English as it will help them in schools and colleges, but the elderly should encourage their children to speak in Kodava Thakk as well in order to keep it alive. If not, in due course Kodava Thakk will disappear and eventually they will have to tell their children and grand children that even Kodavas had a language of their own. 16

Altered and Modified “Kannada Script” I had enriched and modified the Kannada script with an addition of a few simple existing Kannada Symbols to create 135 new phonetical sounds to fully accommodate the different phonetical sounds of Kodava Language in the year 1983. Also, with this enriched Kannada script, many scientific words, English words and various other languages can be phonetically written. This is beneficial to both Kodavas and Kannadigas. But now, even after 36 long years Kodava, nor Kodava Academies or Sanghas have come forward to discuss this. If the same work was done by an influential person, there would have been a lot of hue and cry, debates, discussions about it with a grand acceptance. Some short sighted Kodavas and those without self-respect, desire and ambition to enrichen the Kodava language shamelessly insist on using the borrowed Kannada language to write Kodava thakk.

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Other Kodava Scripts

With an urge to develop a script for Kodava Language, It started off with Dr. Coravanda Appaiah in the year 1887 and later by Dr. I.M. Muthanna and much later by German Dr.Gregg Cox. In my opinion, though all these people, with all sincerity and dedication have developed scripts, their forms cannot represent all the unique phonetical sounds of the Kodava Language. Much thought has not been given towards the unique phonetics of the Kodava language. The script I have formulated can easily be understood by common man and also the unique phonetical sounds of the Kodava Language can be easily written and represented. Moreover, with this script many technical, medical and other words of English and many other languages can also be written correctly and phonetically.

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About the New Script In the year 1980, I had developed a new script for the Kodava Language, But I am not surprised that no person from the Kodava Sahitya Academy nor the Central Institute of Indian Languages or any language lovers visited me to see and discuss about the script and the ways in which it could be used in writing. Anyway, I did not want my sweat and hard work go in vain. I started using the script by carving names of statues I sculpt and the date of completion on its base and by also painting names using the Kodava Script. I had in the meantime, further simplified the script and made a few changes, to make it easier to write and understand. In this new script, there is scope for writing and coining new words in Kodava Language with different phonetical sounds for the further development of Kodava Language. This apart, many technical words, places, medical terms etc. in English can also be written using this script, by maintaining all the phonetical sounds of each word, which even the Kannada script cannot. Though I had given a statement in the press that I would be publishing a book on this script shortly in the year 1980, I did not publish it because I was frustrated, disappointed and disgusted. In the year 2006, Kodava Writes Association had an emergency meeting to discuss about the script developed by German ‘Dr. Gregg Cox’ in the year 2004 and had decided against adopting the script. But 19

why did they not see and discuss about the script which I had developed much earlier in the year 1980 is still not clear. Because Kodavas were using the Kannada script to write Kodava language from times immemorial, Kodagu lost its ‘C’ statehood and was merged with Karnataka because Kannada script was a common factor. And in the future, there will be a time where Kodava words would be lost and replaced completely by Kannada words further leading to the deterioration of Kodava Language. Apart from all this, the trait of some Kodavas who try to put down another Kodava who is doing good for the community adds to the problem. But whatsoever, this new script is done with love and dedication by me for the few KODAVAS who are proud to be known as KODAVAS. Now, because my family and well wishers forced, convinced and motivated me to publish this book, this new script is before you all. My heartfelt gratitude, appreciation and blessings to them. In the 59th edition of ‘Mann Ki Baat’ which was held on the 25 th of November 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had spoken and encouraged Uttarakhand’s ‘Rung’ community to preserve their language which is script less and for which the 10,000-member strong community is trying to develop their own script. NOW, Kodavas by having their own script, can preserve their language and pass it on their next generation.

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Alphabetical Tree of Kodava Script:

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The Alphabets can also be written as here under:

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Secondary Roots (A)

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Secondary Roots (B)

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Branches (A) About Half Letters

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Branches (B) About Subdued Half Letters

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Branches (C)

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Branches (D)

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Branches (E)

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Branches (F)

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Branches (G)

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Branches (H)

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Branches (I)

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Branches (J)

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Numbers:

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English Alphabets:

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Mannay Pay’dha (Family Names):

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Etc… 38

Names of Kodava Women:

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Etc… 40

Names of Kodava Men:

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Etc… 42

Names of Places in Kodagu:

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Etc.. 44

For Kodavas to use and popularize this new script, they can begin by using it on name boards of their residence, estates, shops, visiting cards etc.

It will be unique, prestigious and trend setting.

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Gradually have competitions in writing using the script, your names etc. and some sentences from a book or newspaper. Good Luck!

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About the Author

A.Kiran Subbaiah was born in the year 1950. In the year 1981, he had introduced a new form of writing. i.e. JHODD BHODI and JHODD THAKK to enrichen the Kodava Literature. In the same year, he had also written a lot of revolutionary poems in the Kodava weekly paper of Kodaghé. In the Year 1982, he was the main founder member of (KOIRPC) Kodagu Original Inhabitants Rights Protection Committee (Kodagu Moola Nivasigala Hakku Samrakshana Samithi) In the year 1980, he had developed a new script for Kodava Language, which is herein published. In the year 1983, he had enriched and modified Kannada script with the addition of a few existing kannada symbols to create 135 new phonetical sounds to fully accommodate the sounds of kodava language. This was beneficial to both Kodavas and also Kannadigas. He is a sculptor by profession known for his exceptional stone art creations. He has created a new form and style of contemporary sculptures called ‘Multisided Sculptures’. His personal museum “KS Museum of Sculptures” in Mysore, India is the First Museum in the world to display and exhibit more than 200 multisided sculptures among 560 other sculptures of Traditional and Contemporary styles. He can be contacted at ‘Shilpaniketan’, #2203/61, D35, Behind ‘A.M Calappa Corner’, New Sayyaji Rao Road, Mysore-570021, Karnataka, India