By K. Vijaya Kumar, Former Jt. Director of Information & Publicity

Mysuru city has been known not only as a Royal City because of the Mysore Palace where the Rulers of Mysore Kingdom, the Wadiyar Dynasty, live but also known as ‘Pensioners Paradise.’ Naturally, it has attracted a large number of pensioners to lead peaceful life in the evening of their life. Among them was a Kodava couple Dr. Boverianda Chinnappa and his wife  Dr. Nanjamma, who after  many years in Canada, returned to their roots.

This couple lived as my neighbours at Tapovan Solace apartment, Sharadadevinagar, Mysuru, where many elderly couples live. It will be one year since Dr. Nanjamma passed away on Mar. 31, 2024. Her husband had predeceased her.

I remembered this wonderful scholar couple when I read about a book titled ‘Nanjamma Chinnappa: Chronicler of Coorg Culture’ being published about her by journalist P.T. Bopanna. Immediately I procured the book and reading through I came to know about their life and achievements, specially in studying the history and culture of Kodava community known as a unique people. They have a distinctive culture in a land known for its forests, wildlife, hills and  vales, more specially the holy River Cauvery which originates here and flows across Southern India like a lifeline to millions of farmers.

The book is well-written and full of information about Kodagu and its people. The author Bopanna tells the story of the couple in the most absorbing manner. Bopanna admits, it was this couple who guided him as an author.

The couple’s monumental work about the family houses of Kodavas in Kodagu known as ‘Ainmanes of Kodagu: Ancestral Homes of Kodagu and Their Socio-cultural Significance’ is dealt at length in the book. Probably, her last public appearance was as the chief guest at the Literary Festival hosted by Mysore Literary Association at the invitation of its President Prof. K.C. Belliappa.

She always draped herself in the ethnic Kodava style saree and used to participate in the music programmes conducted by the ladies of Tapovan apartment playing a musical instrument — harmonica.

She was given an Honorary Doctorate by the Mangalore University and was honoured as ‘Coorg Person of the Year’ in 2006 on the basis of a poll conducted by www.coorg tourisminfo.com, Kodagu’s news and tourism portal promoted by journalist and author P.T. Bopanna.

Indeed, their passing has created a void in the Kodava world and at Tapovan Solace.

e-mail: kumarkv59@gmail.com