On a Shoestring to Coorg
Page 30
Several attempts were made to board our train by ‘ticketless persons’, who are always suspect though they may genuinely only want a free ride. One nasty incident involved a youngish, ragged man with a tangled beard and a not unpleasant expression. He tried to jump on as we were moving out of a small station and I happened to be sitting by an open window beside the locked door with which he was struggling. Then a guard came along and, instead of merely forcing him to drop off, opened the door, dragged him on board and beat him up so savagely with a truncheon that he fell unconscious outside the lavatory door – and lay there for three hours, with a bleeding head. He had not long come to when the train stopped in the middle of nowhere (as it not infrequently did, for reasons of its own) and the guard again unlocked the door and thrust the man out into a hot, barren, rocky wilderness.
In Delhi we were invited to spend the night at Crystal Rogers’ Animals’ Shelter. This institution consists of an enormous, dusty compound, containing many comfortable enclosures for animals and one acutely uncomfortable bungalow for humans – or at least that is the theory. In practice the bungalow might belong to Dr Dolittle; it is so full of dogs, cats, guinea-pigs, rabbits, monkeys, mice, parrots and mynahs that we had to sleep in the compound on charpoys. Rachel was ecstatic to find herself having supper in a room where two tame monkeys were playing ball and within moments of our arrival a pack of puppies had eaten through three of the most vital straps on my rucksack. Half an hour later, as I straightened up after trying to wash myself with a quart of water in a hip bath, I almost split my skull on the sharp end of a cage that hung over the bath and contained two foul-mouthed parrots. At meal times ravening cats attempted to intercept one’s food between plate and mouth, and in the compound were countless other cats and dogs, and several injured bulls, bullocks and horses lying around looking contented. Spacious wired-in enclosures are provided for badly maimed or seriously ill large animals, whose eyes would otherwise be picked out by carrion crows. Some patients have to be put down every week, but any with a chance of recovery are given the best treatment. Moreover, each animal, from a colossal white humped bull to a diminutive white mouse is loved individually and reacts accordingly; and the whole of this extraordinary institution is run on funds raised through Miss Rogers’ own efforts.*
On 13 March, a few hours before we were due to catch our train to Bombay, I discovered that our return air tickets were missing: perhaps a monkey or a mouse had devoured them. This looked like being a major disaster, since our cheap-rate concession expired on 15 March. Most appropriately, however, we were rescued by a Coorg – P. M. Ayyappa, one of the Machiahs’ three sons, who is an Air India pilot and was then living in Bombay. His parents had arranged for us to spend our last Indian night in his flat and when he drove us to the airport, to catch a plane for which we had no tickets, he took enormous trouble to contact London and use his influence to get confirmation of our right to board the 9.30 a.m. British Airways flight from Bombay.
As we took off I glanced at Rachel, who was peering down at the ‘shattered’ environs of Bombay, and it struck me that 5-year-olds are scarcely less enigmatic than Hindus. What had the past months meant to her I only knew that from my point of view she had been the best of travelling companions – interested, adaptable and uncomplaining. Then suddenly she turned to me and said sorrowfully, ‘I don’t really like leaving India!’ And with that comment I was content.
Select Bibliography
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The Myth of the Mystic East. R. H. Elliot (Blackwoods: 1934).
The Legacy of India. G. T. Garratt (O.U.P.: 1937).
India of the Princes. Rosita Forbes (The Book Club: 1939).
The Discovery of India. Jawaharlal Nehru (London: 1946).
Religion and Society Among the Coorgs of South India. M. N. Srinivas (O.U.P.: 1952).
The Other Mind: A Study of Dance in South India. Beryl de Zoete (Gollancz: 1953).
Just Half a World Away. Jean Lyon (Hutchinson: 1955).
A History of South India. Nilakanta Sastri (O.U.P.: 1955).
India. Madeleine Biardeau (Vista Books: 1960).
Hinduism. K. M. Sen (Penguin Books: 1961).
Caste in India. J. H. Hutton (O.U.P.: 1963).
Marriage and Family in India. K. M. Kapadia (O.U.P.: 1963).
India. Taya Zinkin (Thames & Hudson: 1965).
The Continent of Circe. N. C. Chaudhuri (Chatto & Windus: 1965).
The Crisis of India. Ronald Segal (Cape: 1965).
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A History of India (2 vols.). Romila Thapar and Percival Spear (Pelican Books: 1966).
The Kodavas. B. D. Ganapathy (Privately published, Mangalore 1967).
A Special India. James Halliday (Chatto & Windus: 1968).
India from Curzon to Nehru and After. Durga Das (Collins: 1969).
The British Image of India. Allen Greenberger (O.U.P.: 1969).
Life Without Birth. Stanley Johnson (Heinemann: 1970).
Basic Writings of S. Radhakrishnan (E. P. Dutton: 1970).
Portrait of India. Ved Mehta (Weidenfeld & Nicolson: 1970).
The Speaking Tree. Richard Lannoy (O.U.P.: 1971).
Delusions and Discoveries. Benita Parry (Allen Lane: 1972).
Witness to an Era. Frank Moraes (Weidenfeld & Nicolson: 1973).
Journey to Gorakhpur. John Moffit (Sheldon Press: 1973).
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The Penguin Bhagavad Gita, translated by Juan Mascaro.
Index
Ackerley, J. R., 78
aggressiveness, Indian, 73
Ain Mane, 174, 181–2
Aiyar, Sir C. P. Ramaswami, 119
Alberoni, Sister Dr, 253
Ammathi, 247
Anaimudi, Mt, 163
Andanipura Farm, see Kudige
Appayya, K. C., 81–90 passim, 91
— Shanti, 82, 85, 88
Asrani, Dr 170, 171, 215
Ayyappa, Lt-Col and Mrs, 191, 210, 220, 250
— P.M., 256
Ballupet, 57–62
Bandipur, 169
Bhatkal, 47
Biardeau, Madeleine, 75
birth control, 29–30
Tibetans and, 37
Bombay, 5–13, 255–6
brinjarries, 242–3
British imperialism, 56, 61, 67, 68
women under, 88
British-Indian relations, 79
bus travel, 63–4
Byerley Stud, see Ballupet
Bylekuppa Tibetan Settlement, 64–5
Byrambada, 225
Cape Comorin, 4, 120–4
Cariappa, Gen. K. M., 251
‘Casey’, see Appayya
caste system, 45, 48, 70
Coorgs and 84
and marriage, 88
in Kerala, 109–10, 111–12
in Coorg, 193–8
Chamundi Hill, 72–7
Chaudhuri, N. C., 73
Chengappa, Dr and Mrs, 173, 174, 176, 185, 205, 209–10, 217, 218, 244, 245, 250
children, treatment of, 144–5
rearing of, 208–9
Chinappa, Jagi, 203, 204, 248
Cochin, 107–17 passim
Coimbatore, 165–7
Colva Beach, 17, 19, 20–5
Communist parties, Indian, 120
Coorg, Lingayat rulers of, 54–5, 182
annexation of, 55, 183–4
agricultural holdings in, 83
geography of, 83
race and origins, 83–4
social structure, 87<
br />
Civil Law in, 87, 89
family and inheritance, 89–90
hospitality in, 95, 204
recent history, 184–5
Prohibition in, 188–9
caste in, 193–8
ancestor-veneration in, 206
marriage and divorce, 232
Coorgs, 173, 174, 175, 176, 179–80, 181, 182, 184, 185–6, 187, 206
Crystal Rogers’s Animal Shelter, 255
da Gama, Vasco, 113
Dalai Lama, 32, 35, 36, 39, 40, 43
Devan, P. K., 114–16
Devangeri, 173–252 passim
Dewan Bopu, 58
Dharma, 77
Easy Raj Yoga, 76
Edwardes, Thomas, 79
Elamkulam Manakal Sankaran Namboodiripad, 120
Ernakulam, 110
Ezhavas, 105, 109–10, 114, 118
Fontainhas, 19
Forster, E. M., 72
Foster, Fred and Shelagh, 57, 59, 60
Fraser, Lt-Col J. S., 55, 58
Gandhi, Mahatma, 73, 79, 114, 194
Goa, 17–25, 26
Godly Museums, 75, 76
Good Shepherd Order, 247
Green Hills, see Virajpet
Gundlipet, 168
Guru Gopala Paniker, 115
Harijans, 86, 102, 114, 119, 150, 186, 193, 195, 197, 209–10, 222
Heras, Fr Henry, 84
Hindu priests, 74–5
Hinduism as a religion, 72, 75, 77
Hippies, 14, 19–20, 24
Hughes, Jane, 170, 171
Ibn Batuta, 118
Indian character, 73
Ittamozhi, 126, 129–31, 147–50
Iype, Joseph, 163
John Company, 68
Joseph, Ernest, 126, 128–9, 130–1, 150
Juhu, 11–12
Karnataka, 50–9, 69–104, 168–252 passim
Karwar, 25–31
Kathakali Dance, 114–17
Kennett, Dr, 154
Kerala, 104–17, 155–65
Communism in, 105, 106, 109, 120
reading and literacy in, 113–14
dense population of, 118
Kudige, 81–90
Kumili, 154, 155, 161
Kushalnagar, 57, 58, 64, 81
Kusum, Mr, 246
land distribution, 82–3
Le Hardy, Capt., 57, 58
linguistic problems, Indian, 200–2
Luke, Mr, 126, 127
Macaulay’s ‘Minute’ (1835), 201
Machiah, P. A. and Mrs, 178, 179, 180, 185–6, 190, 191, 197, 210, 215, 217, 218, 220, 224, 226, 227, 236
Madurai, 151–4
Maharashtra, 14, 15
Malabar Christians, 109
Jews, 111–12
Malayalis, literacy of, 113–14
physique, 118
Manakkavala, 158–9
Manapad, 131, 144
Margao, 19
marriage, 88–9, 231–2
Mathew, Mr, 126, 127
Mattancherry, 110
Mercara, 48–57, 86, 199, 245, 251
missionaries, 79–80, 247
Mother Christine, 247–8
Mountbatten, Lord, 68
Mulavukad, 110
Mundgod Tibetan Settlement, 31–44, 64
Munnar, 162–5
Mylatpur, see Sidapur
Mysore City, 65–80
State, 60, 66–80, 169
Nehru, Pandit, 68
Nilgiri region, 166–7
Ootacamund, 166–8
Panaji, 18
Paravas, 143–4
Patel, S. V., 68
Periyar Wild Life Sanctuary, 154–61
pollution, 195ff., 217–18.
See also caste system
Ponappa, 217–22, 226, 243
population problem, 29–30
Prajapita Brahma Kumaris, 75–6
princely states, 68, 69, 70
Puranas, 84
Radhakrishnan, Dr 6, 9, 70
Ram, 7, 8
Rashtriya Swayamasevak Sang, 79–80
Ratnagiri, 15–16
Rolling Thunder, 250
Sastri Nilakanta, 132
Shanti, 175, 176
Shivaram, 114
Shri Narayana Guru, 109
Sidapur, 169, 170, 215
spitting and pollution, 146–7
sterilisation, see birth control
Subaya, 175, 186, 187, 193, 196, 244
Tala Cauvery, 228–30
Tamil Nadu, 126–68 passim
Tellicherry, 104, 107
Tethong, T. C. and Judy, 31, 34–5, 36–9, 43, 44, 64
Thekkady, 156–7, 159
Thimmiah, A. C. and Mrs, 57, 59, 62, 81, 83, 87, 91, 94, 97–9, 100, 174, 205, 213, 229–30, 242, 251
Thimmiah, Sita, 57, 92, 95, 98, 99, 205, 229, 230
Thomas the Apostle, St, 113
Tibetans, see Mundgod, Bylekuppa
Tippu Sultan, 67, 177
Tiruchendur, 134, 135, 136, 140, 144
Tirunelveli, 124, 145
Tisaiyanvilai, 129–34, 143–7
Travancore, 119
Hills, 163
Trivandrum, 118–20
Tucci, Prof., 43
Udipi, 45–9
Udumalpet, 165–6
untouchability, see caste system, Harijans
Virajpet, 91–103, 171–2, 173, 177, 180, 213–14, 230–1, 244
Vira Raja, 55–6, 58
Visvesvaraya, Dr M., 67
Vivekananda, Swami, 109
Wadeyars, 67, 68
Webb, Kay, 62, 65, 80
Western Ghats, 125
Willingdon, islands of, 110
women, rights of, 87–8
Xavier, St Francis, 113, 130, 140–1, 143
* One rupee equals 5 pence and there are 100 paise to the rupee.
* Some time later, routine malaria blood-tests incidentally revealed that we had both had brucellosis: so Rachel was lucky to have recovered within three days.
* Purify and Danger: Routledge and Kegan Paul (1966).
* Many question the ethics of expensive animal relief work in a country ravaged by human suffering and I myself cannot see the point of saving the lives of unwanted animals who could be painlessly put down. However, some of my readers may feel otherwise, so here is the address to which subscriptions to the Animals’ Shelter should be sent: Mrs P. M. Skeate, 50 Pensford Avenue, Kew Gardens, Surrey TW9 4HP.