Online literary activities keep Kodavas busy during lockdown

‘Kodava Sahitya Changole’ crosses 3,000 recordings; aims to touch 5,000 and more

By B.C. Thimmaiah

Mysore/Mysuru: The experience of lockdown with all the accompanying emotions of fear, loneliness and uncertainty may have resulted in the birth of a new genre — lockdown literature. Isolation in times of Coronavirus pandemic has made some people depressed while others have turned it into a sabbatical to learn new things and experiment with new things.

The Bangalore Kodava Samaja Youth Council has just done that. Experimenting. And the result is a tremendous success. The Youth Council started ‘Kodava Sahitya Changole’ (a string of Kodava literature or a series) during lockdown where Kodava people, crossing geographical boundaries, had to record pieces from Kodava literature and post it on social media. So popular the ‘Changole’ is that it has crossed 3,000 episodes now and well on its way to reach 5,000.

In the ‘Changole’ Kodava youth, children, women and elders are getting together in the virtual world to save their rich heritage and culture. The culture, literature, festival, folk and practices that were hidden in books, pamphlets and in the minds of the community elders have now come in the open and it is there for everyone to see and learn through videos posted in various social media platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram. 

Aspects of tradition highlighted

Apart from individuals, there are families that have taken part in the ‘Changole’ where family elders are literally searching books and literature for suitable pieces to be shared among the community. Interestingly, brevity is a hallmark of all the episodes in the ‘Changole’ as people do not have the time or patience to see the entire video.

People have recorded interesting tales of their village, family elders, Kodava clan, Kodava Vaalaga, Kodava dance, rituals, Kodava marriage, child-naming, traditions, customs and also practices and more importantly festivals of villages. Each village in Kodagu has a deity and festivals are held every year to appease the deity and pray for the welfare of the villagers. This unique aspect was highlighted in many videos.

Crossing geographical barriers

Apart from community members living in Kodagu who have shot the videos in the background of their houses, gardens, coffee estates, fields and mountains, many people living in cities and abroad too have made videos and have circulated. Even Kodava youth from the Armed Forces have recorded and posted videos.

The initiative was started by Bangalore Kodava Samaja Youth Council President Chokanda Sooraj Somaiah during the end of March when the lockdown was announced. After recording his piece of literature, he nominated three members who in turn nominated nine members (three each) and the popularity spread. Like that, the ‘Changole’ has now crossed 3,000 episodes and is on the way to touch 5,000.

Suggestions to the community

Not only reciting or reading pieces of select literature taken from the novels, short stories, plays and Kodava theatre, Kodava songs and poetry collections, many community members, especially the Kodava youths who are involved in social work and community-building activities took the opportunity to give advice to the community to practice Kodava customs and pass them on to the younger generations.

Suggestions were given on maintaining the cultural and linguistic spirit and to further the cause of ‘Kodavaaame’ (Kodava pride and community well-being) without individually targeting anyone. Those were general pieces of advice which would help the community to grow and prosper and at the same time maintain the cultural and community spirit.

“We have got tremendous response from toddlers to nonagenarians (from a year-old baby to 94-year old men and women). Before the ‘Kodava Sahitya Changole’, we came up with something called ‘Kodava Arivole’ or Kodava dictionary where words and proverbs were explained and shared. Next came ‘Nangada Shammi Bavo’ (our brother-in-law Shammi) where an attempt was made to further the literary cause with appealing caricature,” says Chokanda Sooraj Somaiah.

Promoting language, culture

“The initiative was to kill boredom and have some activity that will promote the language, culture, literary giants of Kodagu and also village festival. It was aimed at developing a bond between the community members and family members. Many of the videos show youths narrating stories about their families, their family members served or serving in Defence Forces and their family members who have attained national and international fame,” he told ‘Star of Mysore.’ 

“Kodava culture and literature can grow with such initiatives and will bring to light the forgotten community heroes. We Kodavas have unique culture which is distinct. Unfortunately, this is forgotten, neglected or kept aside by our own people. The Youth Council has made an attempt to reach out to the community and through ‘Kodava Sahitya Changole’, we have sent a message on preserving our culture, family ties and community bonding,” Sooraj said and added that all the videos would be recorded and documented for future reference.

Catches C.T. Ravi’s attention

Interestingly, these videos and its immense popularity has caught the attention of Kannada and Culture Minister C.T. Ravi and the Minister too has joined the bandwagon by reciting a poem by Haradasa Appacha Kavi. Even former Minister Shobha Karandlaje has recited a literary piece. Like this, many non-Kodava scholars and researchers have appreciated the initiative and spoken highly about Kodava literature, men in the Armed Forces and the ubiquity of Kodava hockey players.

“The Bangalore Kodava Samaja President Mukkatira T. Nanaiah, Vice- President Mallengada Meera Jalaja Kumar, Secretary Chiriyapanda S. Suresh Nanjappa, Joint Secretary Kokkalera T. Kuttappa, all other office-bearers and committee members have helped and supported the ‘Changole’ initiative,” Sooraj added.