Visit to Coorg

The drive from Beykal to Coorg and the climb into the Western Ghats was picturesque alright but also nerve-wracking, particularly negotiating the steep turns or “hair pin” bends, as they are quaintly called!  Few vehicles ever yield and it was a relief to reach Madikeri intact!  Ramesh, who did all the driving, was remarkably cool and so was Sudha, his wife. 

Coorg (now called Kodagu, with Madikeri as headquarters) is a hilly district in Karnataka state located in the Western Ghats. The average elevation is about 3,000 feet. Compared to the Kerala Coast from where we came, Coorg is much cooler and the humidity is low. At Madikeri, we stopped by Raja’s Seat, the lookout point, and the 17th century fort captured from the Hindu ruler and rebuilt by Tippu Sultan before it was taken over by the British. The CSI church inside the fort is now a museum. 

Starry Skies!

When we arrived at the Bamboo Club in Pollibetta, in the pitch dark, we had a rare treat: a sky full of some of the brightest stars I’ve ever seen that looked almost unreal in their clarity and nearness!  I thought I could even distinguish Ursa Major or was it Ursa Minor?  Coming from the haze, dust, humidity, and pollution of the city, this was a very welcome sight. It helped that the electric lights at the Club were switched off, adding to the starlight! 

Coffee Plantation

Kittu (Monappa Guddanda) and his wife, Padmini, own a coffee plantation, about 7 clicks from the Bamboo Club, near the Margolly Estate where they have lived for over 50 years. His father, once a revenue official, bought the plantation in the 1960s. 

After a delicious brunch consisting of a wide variety of Coorg food, Kittu took us on a plantation tour. We saw mostly robusta (and a few arabica) coffee plants laden with swollen red berries as well as peppercorn vines, orange and lime trees, and silver oak. Workers collected the coffee berries: they spread a sheet on the ground just below the plants and stripped the berries from the branches with their bare hands. 

The berries are later dried in the sun. After drying and bagging, the beans are sent for processing which includes curing or husking. Other plantations pulp the berries, releasing an overpowering musky scent.

A coffee plant can yield as much as 10 kilograms (kg) of coffee; altogether, Kittu’s 40 acre plantation can yield 80,000 kg, if the crop is good. About 70 years ago, only rice was cultivated in this region. Coffee is a fairly recent introduction, courtesy of the British. 

Labor 

Planters hire migrant workers, many of whom are Kerala Muslims. They are paid a daily wage of Rs. 325 for women and Rs. 400 for men. If they pick coffee, they are paid by weight: an average of Rs. 3 per kg. Daily remuneration per worker could reach about Rs. 600 per day (less than $10)!

We were told that the state government provides free rations, school education, housing and other kinds of allowances to the workers.  Kittu said he needs to “treat them like friends!”  If they are scolded, they get offended and might not come back the next day! 

Samadhi 

We saw the “samadhi” of Kittu’s parents, G.C. Cariappa (who died in 1977 at the age of 82) and his wife G.C. Nanjamma (who died 20 years later in 1997 at 94). A small portion of the ashes of the dead are interred in a special plot with memorial stones, known as a “samadhi,” similar to Rajput cenotaphs in Rajasthan. 

Padmini, a former teacher, was a very kind and gracious hostess. About 10 years ago, Sudha and Padmini taught together at Lourdes School, a local high school run by Carmelite nuns that catered to the children of plantation workers. 

Wild Elephants

Wild elephants are a constant problem for coffee growers. They slide down slopes, trampling the plants and frightening away workers. They also come around to people’s homes following the smell of ripening jackfruit (or papaya or banana) but don’t usually attack humans unless they are harassed. Last night we saw road signs and wild elephant alerts, warning drivers about their presence in the area. 

As humans encroach into their habitat or their food sources (such as bamboo trees) dry up or diminish, elephants roam the plantations looking for food. They are intelligent animals and have figured out how to access electrical fences that are erected to keep them out. They pick up stone poles (connecting the wires) and throw them aside or hang them on trees. If they mistakenly touch the wires they scream out in pain at the electric shock, Sudha said. Stronger members of the herd usually help the weaker ones. 

Lazy Elephants!

Once they get used to easier to reach food sources in plantations, herds abandon their traditional food, even when bamboo is plentiful and water is available - rather like tigers after they become man-eaters, as per Jim Corbett’s book “Man-Eaters of Kumaon!”  

Besides getting lazy, elephants also get angry when they are chased out by village folk beating drums and lighting fire crackers. When that happens, a lone animal could get separated from the herd and turn rogue, going after and sometimes trampling villagers.

Protected Species

Elephants are a protected species in the region as are wild boar and tigers. Kittu said (only half jokingly!) that it was easier to get bail if one killed a human being - but killing an elephant was an “unbailable offense!” The law protects animals rather than humans, he wryly observed! 

I asked about tigers. Apparently cattle had been killed by a tiger a few miles away from the plantation. The incident had the village residents and workers on edge. Panthers had also been sighted. Monkeys, however, were the biggest nuisance to the planters, we were told, because they destroyed fruit plants and trees, including guava, banana, chicoo, and avocado. Planters are at their wits’ end trying to deal with the monkey menace!  

Bamboo Club

We stayed at the very elegant Bamboo Club, built in the 1880s. This southern part of Coorg was once known as the Bamboo District, from where the club got its name. It was started by British coffee planters in keeping with their tradition of setting up clubs wherever they lived in Africa, Asia, and so on. 

The names of the chairmen, presidents, and honorary secretaries on the Club’s board go back to 1884. There are British names until 1956: Ball, Bell, Davies, Parsons, Lambert, Scott, Tipping, etc. giving way in 1956 to Rao Bahadur, Cariappa, Muthamma, Belliappa, Ayappa, and Apaiah. (The latter have a certain ring, don’t they?)

Indians weren’t allowed membership here during the British Raj - in keeping with similar snobby establishments in Delhi (the Golf Club and the Gymkhana, for instance), as well as clubs in Calcutta, Bangalore, and Madras. 

The Bamboo Club continues to be popular and well-maintained with large donations from companies like Tata’s that have business interests in the region. It’s all very “pucca” and “brown sahib” with a strict dress code, a card room, badminton trophies on display, as well as mounted bison and tiger heads that are probably more than a century old! I felt as if I should be wearing a solar topi, clicking my heels, and saluting!  

Famous Coorgs!

The earliest inhabitants of Coorg were the Kodavas, a warrior community. It was ruled by Nayakas, then Hyder Ali and Tippu Sultan; after the Anglo-Mysore Wars and the death of Tippu, Coorg was taken over by the British. At the time of India's independence, Coorg was a separate state until it was merged into Mysore State, now called Karnataka. 

Though the Coorgs are a small community, they’ve had famous people!  Every Indian knows (or should know) of Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa, the first Indian Commander in Chief; General K.M. Thimayya, the head of the Indian Army (who also headed the UN Peacekeeping force); and C.B. Muthamma, the first woman officer in the Indian Foreign Service. 

Heritage Bungalows

We visited the Cottabetta homestay bungalow, a former estate manager’s home now converted into a luxurious homestay (hotel) run by Ama (the Tata Group). Once occupied by British coffee planters, Coorg has many such 100 year old heritage bungalows with picture postcard views of the Madikeri Hills. They are built on an elevation, overlooking the mountains so that British planters could live like sahibs, waited upon by khansamahs, bearers, ayahs, and maalis (that’s Urdu for cooks, waiters, nannies, and gardeners)!  Many years later, managers of the Tata Group occupied these bungalows until they converted them into homestays. Tata is the largest owner of coffee estates in the area. 

On the way back there were more elephant warnings. I also thought I could smell elephant dung! What fun it would have been to glimpse elephants - perhaps, next time!  

Ludi Joseph

Bamboo Club

Pollibetta, Coorg

January 24, 2020

Kittu and Padmini, Coffee Planters in Coorg

Coffee Plant with Ripe Berries

Ramesh & Kittu in front of Drying Coffee Berries

Peppercorn Vine

Padmini’s Garden

Samadhi (Memorial) for Kittu’s Parents

Flowers on the Estate

Sudha and I at the Bamboo Club

Elephant Alert

CSI Church Outside Bamboo Club 

Ramesh and Sudha at the Bamboo Club

Elephant Crossing

Bamboo Club List of Honorary Secretaries

Bamboo Club

Bamboo Club Verandah