objectification and social aesthetics: memoranda and the celebration of "badaga day"

7/24/2019 Objectification and Social Aesthetics: Memoranda and the Celebration of "Badaga Day"

1/20

Nanzan Universityis collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Asian Ethnology.

http://www.jstor.org

anzan University

Objectification and Social Aesthetics: Memoranda and the Celebration of "Badaga Day"Author(s): Frank HeidemannSource: Asian Ethnology, Vol. 73, No. 1/2, Special Issue: The Bison and the Horn: Indigeneity,Performance, and the Sate of India (2014), pp. 91-109Published by: Nanzan University

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/43150505Accessed: 25-06-2015 18:41 UTC

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of contentin a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship.For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

This content downloaded from 200.5.224.104 on Thu, 25 Jun 2015 18:41:20 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=afshttp://www.jstor.org/stable/43150505http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/43150505http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=afshttp://www.jstor.org/


2/20

Frank

Heidemann

Universityf Munich

Objectification

and

Social Aesthetics

Memoranda and the Celebration of

"Badaga Day"

On

15

May

1989,

he

Badaga,

hedominant

easant ommunity

n the

Nilgiri

Hills,

rganized huge rally

nd handed

ver memorandumo the

govern-

ment.

On

thebasis f their ulture

hey

emanded ribal

tatus,

guaranteed

price

for heir

griculturalroducts,

nd

other

privileges.

shall

rgue

hat

the medium f a memorandum ith ts textual nd material orm equires

and fosters he

process

f cultural

bjectification.

Culture"

s turned nto

an

object

and becomes form f

currency

n

the

political rocess.

Later,

5

May

was named

Badaga Day,"

n annual ontext or

elf-representation.

er-

formativects ike

hoisting

he

Badaga flag, inging

he

Badaga hymn,

nd

worshipping

hebust f H. B.

Ari

Gowder ontributeo

an

overall

ocial es-

thetics.

ounds, colors,

proximity,

nd other

culturally atterned

ensory

experience[s]"

MacDougall

2006,

98)

contribute

o the

feeling

f "one-

ness" nd underline

he

demand

or ultural

utonomy.

keywords:

Objectification

fculture social esthetics

Badaga

political erformance

South ndia

Asian

Ethnology

olume

3,

Numbers

-2

2014,

91-109

Nanzan nstitute or

Religion

nd Culture

This content downloaded from 200.5.224.104 on Thu, 25 Jun 2015 18:41:20 UTC

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


3/20

In

locations

India,

indigenous

in

smalltowns

claims

or district

are

expressed

headquarters.

in

the

public

It is rather

sphere,

common

usually

n

for

central

tribal

ocations

n

smalltowns

or district

eadquarters.

t is rather ommon

for ribal

people

to walk

n

quite

large groups

to a

government

ffice nd hand over

a

peti-

tion or a memorandum. eaders address he

gathering

nd the ocal

pressreports

on the event

on such

occasions,

culturalforms

re

expressed

to a

larger

udi-

ence.

The activists electritual

orms,

lay

music,

perform

ances,

or

worship

heir

own

gods.

In

doing

so cultural

ractices

re

displayed,

nd

performances

re trans-

formed

o new contexts.

his cultural

isplay

dentifies

roups,highlights

ultural

markers,

nd underlines

political

claims. Culture s externalized nd becomes

a

thing

hat

an be sensed.

In this

process

ulture s

experienced

s a

currency. eing recognized

s "tribal"

is more than

a

label;

it is a

material

ommodity.

ike the

currency

f the stateor

possession f and,theownership fa "tribal ulture"becomes an object.The cre-

ation

of

ndigenouspolities

s

supported

by

this

currency.

rjunAppadurai

writes

on this

process

n

more

general

erms:

It is this ort

fmobilization

hat

characterized.. as

culturalist,

hich s to

say,

as

involving

thnicities

obilized

by

or

in

relation

o the

practices

f the

mod-

ern

nation-state.

ultumlism

uggests

omething

morethan ither

thnicity

r

culture,

oth of

whichterms

artake

f the

sense of the

natural,

he uncon-

scious,

nd the tacit

n-group

dentity.

When

dentities

re

produced

n a field

of

classification,

ass

mediation,

mobilization,

nd entitlement

ominated

y

politics t the evelofthenation-state,owever,hey ake ultural ifferencess

their onscious

bject.

(Appadurai

1996,

146-47)

In

the

ast

twenty ears

herehas

been a shift

n

theoretical

rientation,

nd the

concept

f

objectification

eeds

to be revised.

avid

Kertzer

(1988) argued quar-

ter

f a

century go

that

oliticians

se a

variety

f media

o create

ymbols

nd

social

facts hat

otherwise

would not

exist.

He states

hat

ymbolic

orms

re essential

o

communicate

omplex

messages.

n

addition,

ymbols

elate

o

multiple

emantic

fields nd

have

the

capacity

o unite

antagonistic

actions.

Anthropological

work

on

resistance

rom

elow,

usually

ollowing

ames

cott

(1987;

for

work

n India

see Karlsson and Subba 2006) and on indigeneity as includedsymbolic orms

but

considered

hem

s a means

to

an end

or as

a

part

of

a

strategy.

n

myopinion,

92

I

Asian

Ethnology

olume

3,

Numbers

-2

2014




4/20

heidemann: celebrating "bagada

day"

I

93

aesthetic

orms xist

n

their wn

right

nd mustbe considered

s

fully

ocial facts

(Mauss 1966).

Aesthetic orms

ppear

n

a

variety

f contexts

nd media and offer

meaning

o

people.

To describend discuss his roader heme would ike o refer o

David

MacDougall,

who coined

the term social aesthetics"

o refer o a

"culturally

patterned

ensory

xperience"

MacDougall

2006,

98),

which s likeBourdieu's

habitus structured nd

structuring

Bourdieu

1990,

52),

"but also

exists all

around us

concretely,

n

the

disposition

f

time,

pace,

material

bjects,

nd social

activities"

MacDougall

2006,

99).

Social aesthetics s not about

beauty

n

the

Kantian ense but about

everyday

xperience.

he shift rom he

symbol,

material

object

oaded with

meanings,

o a shared

ensory

xperience

ffers wider

pectrum,

because mmaterial

bjects, pecific

ensations,

nd emotions re

explicitly

ncluded.

In the political arena, indigeneity s inseparablefromthe officialpolicyof

including

ocial and

culturalminorities n the listof scheduled tribes.This list s

a

political product;

t creates

opportunities

nd

the

self-perception

f

marginal-

ized communities.

eing

labeled "backward"

or

"tribal"

or

referred

o as a "most

primitive

ribe"has an

impact

n those affected

roups.

The creation f

categories

and named

communities,

he

politics

of

ethnonyms,

nd the allocation of

public

resources s one

side

of the coin. In the

past,

he main

protagonists

ere

associated

with the state: the creationof communities

by

means of census

reports,

district

manuals,

nd

compilations

f "castes and tribes"

n

colonial times

Dirks 2001)

and the creationof tribal ists

fter

ndependence

were based on decisions made

at

administrators'esks.

n

contemporary

ndia,

culturalminorities

pproach

the

government,

nform

he

media,

and seek

public

attention.

In

the

following

shall ntroducethe

Badaga community y

describing

heir

way

of

expressing

laims s

indigenous

people.

In

the

ast

quarter

f

a

century hey

have

appropriated

he

dea

of

ndigeneity

n their wn

terms.As

they

re a South

Indian

community,

heir eadershave not been

among

the

representatives

f cen-

tral

nd North

Indian

indigenous

groups

who

were invited o Geneva

and

who

had direct

ccess to

political

ircles n

the central

overnment.

adaga

leaderswere

familiar ith

politics

n

the

state

of

Tamil

Nadu and had a few ndirect

onnections

to administrativendpolitical fficesnNew Delhi and in Calcutta.Theyhad less

knowledge

bout the

claimsof

Aborigines,

Maoris,

or

the FirstNations of

North

America

nd more

about the

movements nd

demands of tribal

groups

n

India.

The

struggle

or

ecognition

eemsto be more

nformed

y

common ndian

politi-

cal

practice

nd showsmore

parallels

o the

agitation

f

obbyists

rom

aste

groups.

Badaga

indigeneity

s a local

move

toward ultural

oots or a

cultural ucleus

with

political

nds.

This

process

creates

wareness

bout themselves

nd

communicates

objectified

messages

to

outsiders.

A

plurality

f

arenas such as

teashops,

football

stadiums,

nd virtual

pace

on

the

nternet re

used to claim

ndigenous

ights.

The entrynWikipediareads: "The Badagas are an indigenouspeople inhabit-

ing

the

Nilgiri

Hills of

Tamil

Nadu,

southern

ndia." There

can be no

doubt

about

the

unique

features f

their

ulture.For

centuries

hey

have

lived as

peasants

n

the

hills

nd

worshipped

heir

wn

gods,

Hette

and

Hireodeya Hockings

2013).

Their

village

festivalsnd

their

ife-cycle

eremonies re

celebrated

n

a

grand

man-




5/20

94

I

Asian

Ethnology

3/1-2

2014

ner

Heidemann

2006).

They

ive

n

almost

exclusively adaga villages

cattered

over the

Nilgiri

Plateau,

but

many

families ave moved to local

townships,

ave

migrated

o South Indian

cities,

orwork overseas. The

Badagas speak

their wn

language;

the

introduction f

a

Badaga script

was even discussed for

ome time.

Badaga

associations

produce

cassettes nd CDs

with

Badaga songs

and

organize

Badaga

dance

performances

n

Chennai and other outh

Indian cities.The

Badaga

language

and their ommitment

o their ultureare clear ndicators

f

identity.

There s

hardly ny

doubt as to

who

is and

is not a

Badaga.

Together

with he

Todas, Kotas,

and

Kurumbas,

who are classified s scheduled

tribes,

he

Badagas

have ived on the

plateau

since

pre-colonial

imes.

The

popula-

tion of these

groups

combined

totals ess than

five

er

cent of the

Badaga popula-

tion, nd their conomicandpoliticalpositions reaccordingly eak.Badagas are

classified

s "backward

lass";

they

mustbe considered s

the

dominant

group

as

defined

n Srinivas

1987,

96-97),

and

they

form he

single

argestgroup.

While

the

migration

f the

Todas, Kotas,

and

Kurumbas annot

be traced

by mythical

ri-

gin

or

by inguistic

vidence,

here

s no doubt

that he

origin

f the

Badagas

is

in

the

Kannada-speaking

egion

north

of the

Nilgiri.

Even the term

Badaga"

means

"northerner."

here

s no doubt that

hey

re

one of at leastfour

re-colonial

om-

munities

n the

Nilgiris,

hat

they

ived

exclusively

n the

plateau,

and that

they

constitute

distinct

ommunityinguistically,

ulturally,

nd

socially.

ince

ndepen-

dence,their andidateshavebeen successful

n

political

lections.

Their hift o

tea

cultivation

rought

onsiderable

wealth,

nd

later,

ollowing

he

1990s

pricedrop

in

the

world

markets,

onsiderable

ardship

o

many

amilies.

n

spite

of their

ocal

influence,

hey

onsider

hemselves

community

ith

minority

tatus

n a

state

level,

ince

Tamil-speaking

roups

have

questioned

heir

ocal dominance

ecently.

Badaga

leaders

have a lot

of

experience

n

dealing

with

ocal and state

govern-

ments.

Like

other

minorities

n

India,

the

political

praxis

f

the

Badagas

includes

compiling

etitions

nd

memoranda

with

which

to addressthe

state.

Delegations

have

visited

ministries

n

New

Delhi

and the

Tea Board

in Kolkata

to

present

heir

demands.

On

such

occasions,

wo

types

f

eader are

present:

traditional"

eaders

whopresideover a pre-colonial ype fcouncil,calledkuutu and "modern" ead-

ers

who

belong

to

political

arties

r are successful

ntrepreneurs.

raditional

ead-

ers have

a hold

in

the

village

nd

modern

eaders

know the

political

errain

n

the

region

and

in the state.

Decision

making

s a

complex

process.

Traditional

eaders

usually

nvite he

modern

eaders

o

their

kuutu the

former

escribing

ocal

needs

and

the atter

egal

possibilities.

n that

way,

both

gain

status

nd

influence

nd

are

able

to unite

various

ections

of

Badaga

society.

With

regard

o

political

laims,

t

seems

that

village

councils

being

relatively

utonomous

bodies

for

ocal

affairs

have become

instruments

or

new

eaders

o

reach

their udience.

Political

demands

and

the badaga

rally

On

15

May

1989,

the

largestgathering

f

the

Badaga people

in

history

took

place

in

Ooty.

On

that

morning,

he

majority

f all

Badaga people

dressed

n




6/20

heidemann: celebrating "bagada day"

I

95

traditionalwhitedress and

came to the town

n

buses and trucks.

hey gathered

at the ake and formed

line,

which was

described

by participants

s

being

ike a

long

snake

movingthrough

he

city.They

walked n an

impressive rocession

o

the collector's

office,

where

a memorandum

ddressed

to the Chief Minister f

Tamil Nadu was

presented

o the Collector

of the

Nilgiris.

rom

there

hey

went

to the football

ground

for

public meeting,

ed

by

Badaga

priests,

eadmen,

nd

representatives

f

Badaga

associations nd

of

political

arties.

The entire ventwas

considered

n enormous uccess

as most members f the

Badaga community

ol-

lowed their eaders'call for his

rally.

n that

day,

lders old me that he ast

great

Badaga gathering

was decades

ago,

when Mahatma Gandhi

visited

he

Nilgiris

n

1935.

n

times

past,

memorial eremonieswere celebrated or ach

generation,

ut

thatwasstoppedat thebeginning f the twentiethentury.Most likely,he astrit-

ual took

place

in

1936

and

also

according

o Thurston and Rangachari

[1909,

121]

n

1905).

I

was told thatonce

in

the ifetime f a

Badaga,

he

or

she should see

and

experience

he size and

strength

f the entire

ommunity

nd demonstrate o

others heir nherent

nity

nd

peacefulness.

Who were the

organizers

nd the

supporters

f these events?When

I

put

this

question

to one of the

key

ctivists wo weeks before he

rally

ook

place,

he made

it clear that t would be a

great

mistake

o

mention

pecific

names.

Every

meet-

ing

must be conducted in

the name

of

institutions,

uch as the

"Young Badaga

Association"

yba)

or the "Federationof

Badaga

Associations"

fba),

and include

traditional

eaders s

representatives

f

villages

r

regions.

ndeed,

the entire oor-

dination f around

370

Badaga villages

on the

Nilgiri lateau

was

achieved

by

the

Badaga

kuutu

local

pachayats).

n

an ideal

model,

each

village

kuutu s linked o

a

council of a

higher

rder,

ften alled uur kuutu uur

meaning

head

village"),

located

in

a

village

with a

specific ype

of

ancestor

emple

often

for

Hireodeya)

and a ritual

gate,

akka bakka.

All

uur kuutu

oin

in

the scemai kuutu

and the

Nilgiri

s

split

nto

four eemai

regions).

One of the four cemai

Thandanadu,

takes he

ead

in

administrativend

political

ffairs. he Nakubetta

Gowder naku

meaning

"four" and betta

meaning

"mountain;"

Gowder

s a titleor name suffix

and standshere for leader") is considered heparamount hief f all theBadaga,

at least n a

traditional

nd formal ense.

When I

began my

fieldwork

n

the

summerof

1988,

local kuutuswere

quite

active

n

manyparts

f the

hills,

but the

Nakubettakuutuwas

practically

onexis-

tent.

Nothing

was heard about

the Nakubetta

Gowder.

n

the

monthsbefore he

May rally,

is

officewas

rediscovered;

e

presided

over

several unctions

nd

took

center

tage

n

the stadium

t the

rally.

His role was

more thatof a

representative

than an

organizer.

he kuutu

ystem,

network f

ocal councilswith

focal

points

in

four

egions

nd

links o each

hamlet,

was

used

by

the

organizers

o reach

each

household.Those behind herallywere fewbusinessmen,rofessionals,ndpoliti-

cians

holding

fficesn

the yba

and

in

the fba.

They

were

"invited" o

oin

local or

regional

kuutu

nd

gained

upport

rom

illage

ntrepreneurs

r

factory

wners.

On the

day

of

the

rally,

ll

production

units

were

closed and

industrial

ehicles

commuted

between the

villages

nd

Ooty.

From a

distance,

he

entire

rocess

of




7/20

9

6

I

Asian

Ethnology

3/1-2

2014

planning

and

performing huge rally ppeared

to be a smooth and consensual

process,

but therewere

tough negotiations p

to the finalhours before

he event.

A few

villagers

nd an entire

ub-region

were reluctant o

participate

but were

convinced to

join

the

rally

mere hours beforethe

procession

started.Almost

all

the

Badagas

left heir

homes,

eaving

behind

ust

a fewto care for he

aged

or ill.

The

participants

n

the

rally

ad two

key

motives.

irst,

he main and official ause

was to hand over a memorandum

laiming

more

rights, rivileges,

nd adminis-

trative eforms.

econd,

most

Badagas

saw

in

the event a demonstration

f their

unity.

he

largest

rowd

in

the

history

f the

Nilgiri

moved

gently

hrough

he

main

bazaar,

and it felt

ood

to be a member f the

Badaga

community.

o doubt

they

felt

uperior

o other sections

n the district.

year

before,

n

1988,

recendy

immigrated aylaborers,mostly ri Lankanrepatriates, ad celebratedGandhi's

birthday

with a

great

rally.

Most of those laborersworked

in the

Badaga

fields,

and there

had been

small-scale

onflicts

n

various

regions.

Besides these

"labor

problems,"

he dea of

underlining

he

importance

f the

Badaga

vote bank must

have been on the minds of some

organizers.

n

the late

1980s,

the

Badagas

lost

their

trongposition

within

he

politicalparties.

n

the

past,

the candidates

n MP

and MLA

elections

were almost

exclusively

Badaga.

No matter

who

won,

it was

a

Badaga.

This had now

changed

and candidateswere also

recruited rom ther

communities. his

experience

ormed

art

of the

background

o the

1989

rally.

The memorandumwas addressed o the chief

minister f Tamil Nadu

and con-

tainedninedemands nd ssues: theHillTribe tatus fthe

Badaga,"

to save

Badaga

Tribal Culture

...]

from

ollution

due

to unwanted

xposure

o too

many

utsid-

ers,"

to assert

he

tribal

eople's right

o land and

forests,"

to declare

the

Nilgiri

district Tribal

District,"

to

protect

he

environment,"

Employment,"

a

separate

parliamentary

onstitution,"

to declare he

entire

Nilgiris

istrict

drought-affected

area,"

and "to

get

an economic

minimum

rice

for ea and

potatoes."

This was not

the firstmemorandum

laiming

ribal

tatus,

pecial

protection,

nd

privileges

or

the

Badaga people.

The

petitioner,

he

fba,

compiled

shortbooklet

ontaining

ix

memoranda r

petitions,

orty-sixages

in

total,

ncluding

he memorandum

f

15

May. n thesetexts heBadagas arepresented s peace-loving ncient ribes,iving

alongside

he

Todas,

Kotas,

and Kurumbas

n

the

district.

uch

nineteenth-century

authors s

Breeks,Harkness,

r

Sullivan,

s well as district

manuals,

re

quoted

to

underline hetribal tatus fthe

Badagas

prior

o

Independence.

n thememorandum

it s

argued

hat he

Badagas

ive

exclusively

n

the

Niligiris, orship

heir wn

gods,

and show distinct ultural

eatures,

mong

them laborate

funerals. ere the

Bada-

gas

are described s

"Hill

Tribes,"

ut

they

werenot ncluded

n the ist f Scheduled

Tribes.The

argument,

ot ncluded

n

the memorandum ut

voiced at variousmeet-

ings,goes

that he

Badagas

were

forgotten

n

the tribal ist nd

prospered

yway

of

their wn efforts. his achievement hould

not

be

an

obstacle

for heir nclusion

n

the ist

post-factum.

Once a

tribe,

lways

tribe" s validfor hosewho

prospered

y

way

of

government elp

and should

pply

o the

Badaga

too.

In

May

1989,

1

spoke

to a

large

number f

Badaga villagers,

eaders,

dministra-

tors,businessmen,

nd

politicians,

nd

came across a wide

spectrum

f

opinion




8/20


day"

I

97

about the nine

demands.The demand for ribal

tatus,

or

xample,

was

supported

as a real and realistic im

onlyby

a

minority,

ut

a

relatively

argegroup

considered

the claim a good move,whichmight ead to some otheradvantages.A minor-

ity

onsidered

the demand

counterproductive

or wo reasons.

First,

ribal

tatus

would

deprive

he

numerically

mall

groups

of

Todas, Kotas,

nd Kurumbas f their

chance

for

ducation and

a

government ob,

which would

disrupt

he local har-

mony.

econd,

tribal tatuswould

downgrade

the

Badagas'

own status

within he

state

of Tamil Nadu and lead to

governmental

aternalism.

his

minority rgued

thatmembers f a scheduled tribe

ould not sell their

ields,

ecause the

and was

classified s

"tribal."There were various

disagreements,

nd the memorandum

was

the result

f

a

long,

controversial

ebate. Some of

my

friends

mong

the

Badagas

describedtheprocessas an open discussionfollowing ules ofdemocracy; thers

accused

some leaders of

imposing

their

opinions

on the other members

of

the

council. At

any

rate,

here

was

hardly ny

public

voice

against

he formal ecisions

of the

Badaga

kuutu.

Any opposition against

holders of traditional ffices

would

have been

in serious violation of

implicit

ommunity

ules.

An

explicitBadaga

normdemandsthe demonstration

f

harmony

nd

unity

n

public.

Besides the

explicitpolitical

dimension,

there

was a sensual dimension that

obviously mpressed

most

Badagas

on the

day

of

the

rally.

ven

years

ater

many

of

my

counterparts xpressed

xtreme

happiness

bout the

event,

but it

was hard

to

convey

uch emotions

n words. When

I

tried o

figure

ut

what

they

remem-

bered with oy,the answerwas something ike "the whole of it."My attempts o

find ut their

mpressions uggested

hat t was a kind

of

unity

nd

harmony

hat

they

had felt.

The overall ocial aesthetics

f

the

day

was reached

by

the achieve-

ment of

uniting

almost)

all the

Badagas

in

one

large space

and

coordinating

the

gathering, orming procession

through

he district

apital,filling

he roads

withhuman forms

ressed n white nd

appearing

ike a

homogenous

carpet,

nd

chanting ongs. "Being

in

a crowd of

my

own

people"

was a

phrase

oftenmen-

tioned.

Being

close

to each

other,

doing things

n

a coordinated

way,

and act-

ing

out closenesswere the

most

positive

xperiences

or

Badaga

men and women

(Heidemann 2013). There are otheroccasions inmost caseshappy vents uch

as

temple

festivals,

eddings,

or

politicalgatherings

that evoke similar

eelings.

Among

the sad

occasions,

funerals

must be

mentioned,

but here the closeness

of

agnates

comforts he

mourning amily.

n

general, perfect

rowd wears

"tradi-

tional")

white

clothes,

moves

slowly

but

steadily

n,

and is

accompanied

by

musi-

cians

playing

Badaga rhythms.

he internal

rderof a

procession

an be read

ike

sociogram.

An ideal

procession

s headed

by

a

group

of

dignitaries

ho constitute

an

appropriate epresentation

f the social

unitconcerned.

f

the

procession

tands

for

village,

he

headman,

he

priest,

nd a fewhonorable

people

should be

pres-

ent,

or a man from he affinal

roup residing

n the

village.

Their total number

should be an unevennumber, sually ive r seven. n the case of therally f1989,

eldersdecided to

group

the

procession ccording

o

villages

but

not

according

o

regions.

Men and

women were

separated,

lders

headed" each

village,

but

young

men stillwalkedahead and danced.

The

organizers

ecured

open space

around

the




9/20

98

I

Asian

Ethnology

3/1-2

2014

dignities,

o

they

were visible nd honored.

n

short,

he

procession

was

perceived

as a most beautiful

vent,

n

incorporation

f

Badaga unity, olidarity,

nd com-

munity ooperation.

I

shall

argue

that

he central

uality

f this vent s

experienced hrough

value

that an

be called "oneness." The

phrase

All

are

one " is often

used and

refers o

ideas of

unity

nd

cooperation

Heidemann

2010,

109).

The

imperative

s that all"

shouldcome and that

hey

hould

physically

oin

into one

group, reating

hevisual

sensation

f an

extensive,

omogenous

whitefield

n

which ndividuals

merge

nto

a

large, ure

entitywhite

tands or

urity).

o achieve his

neness,

hysical

lose-

ness s a

precondition.

articipants xperience

uch communitaswhen

they

move

in a

procession

nd when

they

hant hau hau

a

hau

hau an

exclamation sed

by

ritual

rocessions

when

reaching village.

The cultural orm f the

procession

nd

this

particular

ind

of

chanting

s a common feature f the

pre-colonial roups

on

the

plateau

nd

part

of the ritual

ractice

f the

Todas, Kotas,

and

Badagas.

On

the

ideological

evel,

the

value of oneness

appears

to be

shared

among

other

groups,

too. RichardWolfhas shown

n

great

detail that

white,

which s also the color of

Kotas

dress,

s seen as a

symbol

f

unity

nd

equal

status

Wolf

1997,

2005).

The oneness

of all the

Badagas

at the

rally

was realized

by

the use of color

symbolism, roximity,

nd a

particular uality

of interaction.

Representatives

f

social sub-divisions eed to

communicate,

nd office earershave

to

head

a

pro-

cession and be visible

on a

stage. Reciprocal

acts and other

symbolic xchanges

must be

performed

n

the

public sphere.

A

much-used termto

paraphrase

uch

acts s

"respect"

r

mariyadu.

n

daily

ife nd

in

ritual

ontext,

howingmariyadu

is an

explicit

eaffirmation

f

a social

order.The

handing

verof the memorandum

should

happen

withmutual

respect:

epresentatives

f the state nd of the

Badaga

community

mustmeet t

eye

evel.When the Nakubetta

Gowder s welcomedonto

the

stage by representatives

f all four

egions,

he

unity

f

the

Badaga

community

is achieved. From this

point

of

view,

the instauration

f the Nakubetta Gowder

as the

paramountBadaga

chiefwas

part

of "the whole

of t." There is

hardly ny

greater

ndividual

ign

of the oneness of all

Badaga

than

thatof a

paramount

hief

presiding

ver thousands f

Badagas

from ll the traditional

egions.

Memoranda

and

the

objectification

of

culture

The submission

f a memorandum s a common feature

n South Asian

political

practice.

Petitions and memoranda

by

members

of scheduled castes or

tribes,

r

by

distinct

ommunities

laiming specific

tatus,

end to include

state-

ments bout their

ulture. shall

argue

thatthe medium

of a

memorandum,

hat

is,

ts textual

orm,

nd mode

of

communication

with

political

ffice,

sually

he

chief

minister,

rime

minister,

r

governor,

equires

nd fosters he

process

of cul-

tural

bjectification.

y point

of

departure

s BernhardCohn's reflections

n this

concept.

He

writes,




10/20


day"

I

99

The Indian ntellectuals

f

Bengal

n thenineteenth

entury

nd then he

whole

Western ducated lassof ndians

n the

twentieth

entury

ave

objectified

heir

culture. hey n some sensehavemade t nto "thing"; hey an standback nd

look

at

themselves,

heir

deas,

their

ymbols

nd culture nd see it as an

entity.

What had

previously

een

embedded n a whole matrix f

custom,

ritual nd

religion, textually

ransmitted

radition,

as now become

something

ifferent.

What

had been

unconscious ow to some extent ecomes onscious.

(Cohn

1987,

28-29)

The term

objectification

f culture" s an

appropriate

erm o enter he discus-

sion on

memoranda.

n

these

written

exts,

he formulation f

political

demands

is linked o the

rights

f

culturally

efined

groups.

The claimsneed to be marked

as

clearly

s the boundaries of the

groups.

Communities transform hemselves

into

petitioners

nd vote banks.

Symbolic

markers

llowingpeople

to be identified

in

public

appear

as

a

precondition

or

political

bargain.

Local

history,

istorical

monuments,

myths, specific anguage,

a

god

or

goddess,

a traditional

ostume,

and so on are

symbolic

orms hatcan be used for hiskind of

self-identification.

The

representation

f the self s a matter

n

other

contexts

as well. The

Bada-

gas

are

engaged

in

inter- ultural ommunication

n

business,

politics,

nd ritu-

als.

An

annual

village temple

festival s

planned

and enacted with clear reference

to

what t

might

mean to others.Certain ritualforms

hat

may

appear

backward

areabandoned and theworship fvillage gods is enrichedwith a newinterpreta-

tion as an avatarof

a

pan-Indian

god.

There are

plans

to celebrate festival n a

grand

manner o demonstrate he

economic

strength

f a

village.

Rituals re seen

as

performed ociograms.

Therefore,

ndividuals'

chievements re meant to be

indicated

by

their

osition

n

the festival

lan,

theirhouses are meant

o be

visited,

or

they

re meant to walk next to

the

village

headman and the

priest.

All

these

strategic

onsiderations ome close to

cultural

bjectification

nd are inscribed n

majorpublic performances.

Communicationwith chief

minister r other

uch

high

office

equires

simi-

larquality fobjectification.hereare,however, womajordifferences.irst, he

medium s

different.ocial

performances

n

such

ritualized ontexts s

festivals,

political

gatherings,

r

factory

pening

ceremonies re

experienced

with all

the

senses. The

textof a

memorandum s

visible

and can be

read

to

an audience. In

contrast,

he social

performance

f

a ritual

llows

and

requires)

he active

nvolve-

mentof several

articipants

t the same

time t the

same

place.

Their

messages

re

embodied forms f

communication

multivocal

erformances

ith

many

nuances

and subtleties.A

public performance

lways

nvolves

isks or he

organizers.

he

participants

must

cooperate

and

display olidarity.

he

observerof

the ritual s

confronted ith

multilayered essages

nd has to

decode them

based on his own

knowledge

nd

experience.

The

text,

n

the other

hand,

s

a linear

tructure f

words and

sentences,

with

its own

complexity,

ut

without

he

simultaneous

nd

active

participation

f oth-

ers:the

text

ffers he

same

sequence

of

etters o all

readers;

he

ritual s

perceived




11/20

ioo

I

Asian

Ethnology

3/1-2

2014

differently

rom he

perspective

f each

viewer;

he form f

coding

the content f

objectified

ulture

differs;

nd words are

lexical,

performances

ndexical.The text

is written o be de-contextualized or n

anonymousreadership,

ut the

perfor-

mance s

enacted to

convey

contextualized

message.

These

differences,owever,

are not

absolute,

but

nstead xist o

varying egrees.

Second,

those addressed

by

a memorandum

re

representatives

f a state or

commission.

f

we assume hat

statehas rules nd norms

epresentingpecific

al-

ues that he stateenacts

pecific

ymbolized

orms

and

ifwe assume that here

is

something

ike state

ulture,

he

relationship

etween tate

personnel

nd their

culture

iffersrom hat

of most

spectators

f ritual vents.

The

strong

nd

almost

exclusive

ink

between

person

and

his culture s not

present

n

the case of a state

and itsrepresentatives.he personaddressed s a politician, lectedto office,nd

the

message

needs

to be

equally comprehensible

o his successor.

Changes

of

per-

sonnel are

part

of the dea of the

state nd contrastwiththe

permanent

member-

ship

of a

person

n his culture.

The

petition

of

15

May

1989

was addressed

to the

offices f the

chief

minister,

he

governor,

he

prime

minister,

nd the

president

f

India.

Such texts

re written s documents

to be takenout

of

spatial

nd histori-

cal context.

They

are meant

to be read

in

the

capital

and be

reprinted

ears

ater.

I would

argue

that

memorandum

ontains tatements

f cultural

bjectification.

This essentialism

s found

n

rituals s

well,

but these ntentional

exts re made for

a de-contextualized se.

Furthermore,

he

handing

over

of the memorandum

ncludes obvious

aspects

of

objectification.

t

is a common

political practice

to form

procession

to the

government

ffice

wherethe document

s

presented.

Visual

and textual ocumen-

tation

capture

this

ensory

xperience

nd

transform

t into a

narrative,

hat

s,

a

further

tep

of

objectification.

eports

and

photographs

n

newspapers

eaffirm

the existence

f

the

community.

n the case of

the

May rally,

he

act of

handing

over the document

was also covered

n

the

dailypapers.

The scenario

traditional

leaders

nside he

collector's

ffice

nd

supporters

utside

n

front

f the

building

offers

oom for

further

nterpretation.

he

community

eadersconstitute

he

ink

betweengovernmentnd petitioners. heycarry hepetition nto he office:he

objectification

f

cultural

ontent

epresented

n

a textual

orm s

an

appropriation

of a

legal, governmental

ormat.

Leaders

go legal.

The

spatial

symbolism

ug-

gests

hat he

ower

tatus

moves toward

he

higher

tatus

osition.

This

point

has

two

implications.

irst,

he

government

s

accepted

as a

high

authority.

econd,

high

eaders

pproach

onlyhigh

offices.

he

paramount

hief

f the

Badaga

repre-

senting

our

eemai

needs

to

approach

the district

ollector

r

the

governor.

he

supporters

utside

the

office

ct as

witnesses.

They

make

sure that

their

eaders

are

received

by

the

commissioner

nd

not

by

his

personal

assistant.

he

cultural

form heyuse is not appropriated, ut is consideredtraditional. he idea of the

memorandum

ests

n traditional

illars

nd

takes

modern

form.

The

rally

s an

appropriation

f state

administration

nd

of a democratic

deal.

In

the

Nilgiris,

as elsewhere

n

India,

most citizens

have

adopted

the basic

values of the

modern

nation-state,

ut

theirdesire

to

participate

n

public

affairss

not satisfied

y

vot-




12/20

heidemann: celebrating "BAGADAAY"

I

ioi

ing

once

in

a while

n

a dark orner

f a

polling

tation. or South Asia

in

general,

Jonathan

pencer

Spencer

1997; 2007,

85)

argues

"that

peasants

were

appropri-

ating

the

machinery

f thecolonial state as a means to conduct their wn

local,

'private' rguments

bout

standing

nd status."This holds true

n

the

Badaga

case.

Electoral

campaigns

onstitute

ew

stages

forold

village

conflicts,

ast

and

pres-

ent. The

rally

ddresses he state nd the communities

f

the district.

he memo-

randum

s a claim

to others

nd a constitution f tradition.

Petitions and memoranda have theirown

genealogies

and life histories.

The

Badaga

petition

of

15

May

1989

was

printed

nd circulated o

the

press,

o hold-

ers of

political

office,

nd to

anthropologists

as

part

of a booklet

containing

seven

memoranda. The

compilation

shows a

continuity

f

demands,

ncluding

the improvement f economic conditions and "restoring"Hill Tribe Statuson

the basis of their ultural

raits,

ollowing

he characterization

f "Hill Tribes"

as

"basically

nnocent,

od-fearing,aw-abiding" eople

with

"rightful

emands."

"The

Badaga community

has been from ime immemorial tribal

community,

along

with othertribal ommunities ike

Todas, Kotas, Kurumbas, rulas,

and so

on." The

harmony

f this "ancient

tribe"with

neighboring roups

and with the

ecological

environments stressed. The

Badagas especially

hewomen

folk

are

a

veryhard-working

ribe

...]

Their

culture,

iz.

(1)

their

ress,

2)

ornaments,

3)

hamlets

nd

houses,

4)

occupationpattern,

5)

food

habits,

6)

festivals,

7)

mar-

riageceremonies,8)

death

ceremonies,9) communityanchayat,

nd

(10)

music

are

very

unique,

and

entirely

ifferentrom

hose of othercommunities

iving

n

South

India"

(quoted

from

memorandum,

ba

1989).

In

furtherexts here re

extensive

uotations

from

nineteenth-century

cholars

nd fromThurston and

Rangachari

(1909)

stressing

he

points

mentioned bove.

The rhetoric f the

reprinted

memoranda uses similar

tyles.

The founders f

the

ndian

nation,

specially

Mahatma Gandhi

and

Jawahral

ehru,

are

mentioned

and

quoted.

There are several

references o

the Indian

Constitution nd to

par-

ticular

egal

proceedings.

The

style

f

these texts

ndicates hatthe

Badaga

leader-

ship

s well

informed

nd

legally

xperienced,

nd

argues

on

the basis of Indian

law. The Badaga communitysdescribed s bothculturallyistinct nd integrated

in

the

ndian

state,

alled the

"Motherland"

r

"Free

India." The

language

used

in

the memorandum

s a mixture f

egal

and

highly

olite

forms;

ikewise,

he

head

of the

state s

addressed s the

"beloved

president"

f ndia.

Both the ndian

state

and the

Badaga

community

re

objectified.

he

relationship

etween he

Badagas

and

the state s

declared to

be

positive

and an

expectation

of

reciprocity

an

be

read between

the ines.

First,

he

Badagas

recognize

the

conventions

f the

state,

and

second,

they

xpect

o be

classified s a

tribal

eople.

The

memorandum as

unlike he

rally

a

relatively ermanent

material

orm.

It is a highly-valuedrinted or mechanicallyopied) document.Badaga represen-

tatives

igned

the

originals.

opies

were

circulated t

the timeof

the

rally

nd each

was

taken

as an

important

iece.

When

the

original

igned

copies

(one

for

each

consignee)

were

carried o

the

collector's

ffice,

hey

were

treated ike

holy

objects

or

crown

ewels.

The

handing

over

became a

public

act of

high

mportance.

To




13/20

I02

I

Asian

Ethnology

3/1-2

2014

mygreat urprise, ears

ater t

proved

most difficulto locate a

singlecopy

n

the

Nilgiris.

Most

Badaga

leaders talked o directedme to the

Young

Badaga

Asso-

ciationorto theFederation f

Badaga

Associations,

ut no suchdocuments ould

be found

here.

Except

for ne

person

who wrote

up

a new memorandum

n

2011,

none

of

the seven eaders

talked o owned a

copy.

t seemsthat hevalue of "The

Memorandum"

unlikehanded-down

ewelry

r

holy

objects

n

temples

is not

linked to its

physical

orm.The value rests

n

a

quality

connected to the

specific

(immaterial)

ally.

he text s the manifestation

f

a consensus

or

compromise)

f

all

Badaga regions

nd

factions nd therefore lso

represents

he

"oneness"

men-

tioned above. But there

re

other

qualities projected

on the

memorandum,

oo.

The text

s considered

proof

of

certain kills onnected

to

modernity;

ccess to

colonial records r booksof historicalmportance rove cholarlyualities nd the

content nd

the

precise

form f

political

demand

show administrativend

politi-

cal

experience.

n

addition,

he written orm

roves

hat

hingshappened.

For the

Badagas,

it is

important

o know that a

copy

of a

memorandum

s "out there."

In a similar

way,

the existence

of a

photograph

which

someone had once seen

somewhere)

ppears

o

prove

that he

momentfixed

n

the

photographhappened.

In

my

view

the memorandum

mbodies two central deas:

first,

he

capability

f

modernity,

nd

second,

the dea of

proof

or

validity.

s a matter f

fact,

he Bada-

gas

need not

prove

that

hey

re

literate;

most of them

are well

educated.

But the

skillneeded to write memorandum s considered to be

a

complex process

and

requires

xperience

nd

specific

modern)

knowledge.

The second

aspect

eems

to

me to be

of more

mportance.

Qualities

of

Badaga society

nd culture

mentioned

in

the text

gain

a

higherontological

statusfrom he

factthat

they

were

written

down

in

an

important

ocument.

From

a rally to

a public

holiday: badaga

day

In

the

days

after

he

rally,

ecordings

f

Badaga

devotional

ongs prais-

ing

their

goddess

Hette

were

played

in

the

villages.

Optimism

was

in the air.

Badaga unityfoundmanyforms fexpression nd therewas no doubt that the

claims

of the memorandum

were

rightful

nd that

something

would

happen

to

benefit

he entire

ommunity.

fewvoices

suggested

that this

particular

ay,

15

May,

should

be remembered

n

the

future nd

celebrated

annually.

However,

it

took

a

few

years

for he

Badaga

holiday

to become

part

of

public

ife.

Ever since

the

early

990s,

Badaga

Day

has been

celebrated

t various

ocations.

Customar-

ily,

he

Young

Badaga

Association

has been

one of the

main

organizers.

Public

speeches,

ommunal

food,

and

processions

orm

he framework

f the

ceremony.

In

my

view,

he

rally

nd the

performances

f

Badaga

Day

constitute

n

amalgam

whichcan be called inpostcolonial erminology hybrid.Hybridity,nderstood

as

"the

creation

of

new transcultural

orms

within

the contact

zones

produced

by

colonization"

Ashcroft,

Griffiths,

and

Tiffin

1988,

20),

is found

n

post-

colonial

contexts,

oo.

It

is obvious

that the Indian

state

uses colonial

forms f

law,

administration,

nd

symbols

o run

ts

daily

ffairs.

ven colonial

offices nd




14/20

heidemann: celebrating

"bagada day"

I

103

buildings

such as the collector's ffice

n

Ooty

are focal

points

where

ndepen-

dent ndia

represents

tself. shall

rgue

that he cultural orm f

Badaga

Day

(and

the

rally

f

1989)

constitutes

complex

nd

hybrid

ultural orm

see

Heidemann

and

de

Toro

2006). Looking

back

at what

eemsobvious

today,

he

hybrid

spect

of

Badaga

culture s informed

y

what could be referred o as the

culture

of

the

state.The

symbolic ybrid

orm ssembled

spects

f

partymeetings, emple

feed-

ings,

political peeches

nd

Badaga songs, flag

ising,

men

n

dark

uits,

nd elders

in

traditional ress.

On

my

nnualvisits o the

Nilgiris,

was informed bout these

events nd saw

photographs.

Due to

teachingobligations

could nevervisit he

hills

n

the monthof

May.

Therefore,

n the

following assage,

shalldrawon nar-

ratives,

n news

reports,

nd on web

presentations.

On 15May 2010, Badaga Day was celebrated s a majorevent n a similarman-

ner as

in

recent

years.

The Hindu

reports

from

Ooty: "Badagas gathered

t the

Young Badaga

Association

yba)

hall .. and

exchanged

raditional

reetings.

ep-

resentativesame from

Chennai,

Bangalore,

Coimbatore,

Tirupur,

Mettupalayam

and Hosur. The

president,

ba,

T.

Gundan welcomed the

gathering. Prayers

to Goddess Hette the

presiding deity

of

the

Badaga community

for

peace,

prosperity

nd

happiness,offerings

f sweets

and cultural

programmes

marked

the celebration f the

Badaga Day

on

Saturday"

The

Hindu

,

16

May 2010).

My

friends old me that

the event was a

great

success and that

Badagas

and

many

non-Badaga guests njoyed

the cultural

erformances

n

stage.

The

uniqueness

of

Badaga

culturewas

expressed

n

public speeches

and

Badaga

leaders

appeared

n

traditional hitedress

nd wore whiteturbans.

The news

report

romTheHindu

ends with

referenceo the

multi-sitedharacter f the

event:

In

Kotagiri,

oran-

gadu

Seemai Welfare

Association

nd

Porangadu

Seemai

Badaga

Associationheld

celebrations." or

this astern

art

of

the

Nilgiri,

detailed ccount

of

Badaga Day

is

found

on

a

personal

website.

This

personal

website,

Bagdagas

of

the Blue

Mountains"

http://badaga.co/),

run

by Wing

Commander Bellie

Jayaprakash,

nforms s in

detail

about

Badaga

society

nd

Badaga

culture

Jayaprakash

2009).

Badaga Day

of 2010

is

covered

inmuchdetail and also includes everal hotographs. shallmention fewpoints

of

the

ritual

procedure

from he

"special

correspondent's

eport": (1)

the

bust

of

the

Badaga

leader H. B. Ari

Gowder is

garlanded

t

Ooty; (2)

the

Badaga

flag

(completely

white

ike the

Badaga

dress)

s

raised t

Ooty; (3)

a

photograph

f H.

B. Ari

Gowder is

unveiled;

4)

Ari

Gowder s

daughter-in-law

s

honored with a

ponndai

shawl

at the

meetingpoint

of

Nattukal,

where the

regional

ouncils

take

place; (5)

another

Badaga

flag

s

raised t

Nattakal;

6)

scholarships

o

be

awarded

to

Badaga

students re

announced;

7)

Badaga

activists

eport

n

their

missions;

(8)

the

media s

present,

nd the

correspondent

f The

Hindu

reports.

On thiswebsite,Badaga Day is calledAriGowderDay.This indicates change

of

emphasis,

rom

political

vent

n

a

post-Independence

ontext,

o

the

historical

roots of a

Badaga

success

tory.

H. B. Ari

Gowder

1893-1971)

was

according

o

the

same

website

"the

first

adaga graduate,

irst

adaga

mlc

(Member

of

Leg-

islative

Council)

and mla

(Member

of

Legislative

Assembly)

or

long

timewho




15/20

I04

I

Asian

Ethnology

3/1-2

2014

had

broughtmany

reforms

n/to

Badaga community ncluding prohibition'

no

alcohol-

kudi)

to

Nilgiris

n

British

ays

tself.

...]

Being

a

great

philanthropist

e

had done a lot for he bettermentf

Badagas.

He was theone who established

ilgiri

Co-Op Marketing ociety

t

Ooty,

o save the smallfarmers

especially adagas

from he

exploits

f middlemen nd traders t Mandis

in

Mettupalayam.

...]

His

statuehas been erected

n

the ncms

compound

n

appreciation

f his

great

work."

When the

question

was raised

by

Arun

Vishnu

Kumar on 11

August

2008 at

1:31

p.m.

as

to

why

15

May

is the date

of Ari

Gowder

Day,

when it is neitherhis date

of birthnor his date

of

death,

Jayaprakash

nswered hathe did not know the ori-

gin

of the

day.

On

the

same website he

expressed

his

disapproval

f the function

in

Ooty,

where the

Young Badaga

Association

organized

Badaga Day.

I

have no

doubt that heorganizers f therallywould remember heorigin f theday.May

is the

peak

tourist eason withvarious ultural

ctivities;

oliticians

est

n

the cool

climate

f the hills nd media

representatives

ollow hem. One reason behindthe

dual

celebration

might

be

a

political

onflict etweenthe

Kotagiri

rea,

tradition-

ally

called

Poranganadu,

and the

Ooty

area,

known as

Todanadu,

over a

family

dispute,

which urned

nto a communal

plit

The

Hindu^

21

August

2009).

All in

all,

Badaga

Day

must be

interpreted

s a

particular

ime-space

f

ndige-

neity.

t echoes the

rally

f

1989

in

various

spects

nd constitutes

hybrid

orm.

The celebrations im to

unite the

Badaga

community.

he

uniqueness

of

Badaga

culture s expressed nternallynd externally:

oddess Hette

is

worshipped,

he

white

Badaga flag

s

raised,

the bust of

H. B.

Ari

Gowder is

garlanded,

ultural

programs

ncluding

ance are

performed,

nd traditional

eadership

s

displayed

n

stage.

All

these

spects

f

public

dentity

re documented

nd

are

widely

irculated.

"Being Badaga"

is

expressed

n

stage

and online.

would

argue

thatthis

process

finds

ts

expression

is--vis

he state

culture.

The crucial

point

of a memorandum

is the

handing-over

f the

document;

Badaga

leaders

meet state

representatives,

men shake

hands,

nd

the document

ontaining bjectified

escriptions

f

Badaga

culture

s

incorporated

nto the collection

of

government

iles.On

Badaga Day,

state

representatives

re

welcomed

and honored.

The

presence

f

Badaga

and non-

Badaga politiciansnd administratorss seenas proofofthe event's uccess.

Public events

re

evaluated

according

o the status

of the

special

and

honored

guests.

t

seems that

the

objectification

f culture

worksbest

n

the

company

of

the

cultural

other.

The

currency

f culture

gains

value

in the

presence

of

high

office

olders,

whether

hey

belong

to the

Badaga

community

r not.

Badagas

who

work s

public

servants

r hold

party

ffice

epresent

oth their

wn commu-

nity

nd

the state

n a broad

sense. On

the

one

hand,

they

tand

for he

success

of

their

wn

community;

n the

other

hand,

they peak

and act

as the cultural

ther.

They

are

informed

y

outsiders'

iews

and

speak

about

the

government

pproach

to local problems.An MPwho arriveswith number fofficialehicles nd body-

guards

represents

n

outside

world,

whether

he or

he is a

Badaga

or not

and can

act as a

projection

f

objectified

iews.

A similar

uality

s inherent

o the

objects

of

objectification.

tressing

he semantic

ield,

he

bust

of a

Badaga

leader

and

the

Badaga flag

tand

for hat

pecific

ulture,

but

in

a

symbolic

orm

hey

represent




16/20


day"

I

105

stateculture.

n

my

view,

here s a twofold

message:

first,

he

Badagas

constitute

a distinct

roup

with heir wn cultural alues and

infrastructure;econd,

they

re

integrated

nto the

state,

evidenced

by

their

ppropriation

f state

symbols

nd

occupation

of stateoffices.

This

argument

ocusing

n

the

role of the state

n

the

process

of self-identifica-

tion,

n the broadest

ense,

s

supported

by

the "First

Badaga"

list,

ne of the

tabs

on

Jayaprakash's

ebsite.

t

names

Badagas

"who

were/are

first'

in

any

field."

Here is a selection: he

first ame

mentioned

s Rao

Bahadur

H.

J.

Bellie Gowderof

Hubbathalai,

who received he tide "Rao Bahadur" from

he British

n

the

1920s.

Other names mentioned

re

Rao

Bahadur H. B. Ari

Gowder,

son of H.

J.

Bellie

Gowder,

first

mla

and

mlc;

Mr.

Lingam

as

lawyer

nd first resident f the ocal

BarAssociation;K. M. Sevannah Gowder as an engineer nd first rofessor; nd

Mrs. AkkamaDevi as the first oman

graduate

nd MP. Other notables

nclude

he

firstmedical

doctor,

first

ournalist,

irst tateofficer ho

retired s

joint registrar,

first

ean,

golfchampion,High

Court

udge,

colonel

in

the ndian

army,

ovelist,

hockey layer,

ootball

layer,

ndustrialist,

AS

officer,

abinet

minister,

fs

officer,

IPS

officer,

ighter

ilot,

actor

n

a Tamil

movie,

female fs

officer,

nd

young

sci-

entist

ward

winner.

Obviously,

mostof

those isted chieved heir

tatus

byway

of

the state r state nstitutions.he

legitimizing

orce f "First

Badaga" operates

not

within,

ut rather

eyond

the

boundaries f the

community.

The

rally

nd

Badaga Day

are

contexts of cultural

objectification.

The self-

representation

f the

Badagas

at these

public

events

nd on the

Badaga

website

underlines

everal

spects

which make

up

a state. The

current nternet

resenta-

tionsof

various

Badaga

groups

tress he

points

made above: dress nd

ewelry

re

captured

n

photographs, illages

and ceremonies re

described,

nd leaders

are

depicted

nd

introduced.

he

community

as its own

territory

ithfour

divisions,

more than three

hundred

villages, myth

f

origin

the

Badagas

came from he

north fter Muslim

nvasion),

traditional

eadership,

ts own

(male

and

female)

gods,

ts own

language

and a distinct

isible ulture

costumes,

rnaments).

Busts

of eaders

nd a

Badaga flag

re central

o

Badaga Day.

Taking

ll

aspects

ogether,

there sno doubt thatBadaga culture s a historical act nd a political orce.Their

self-description

ffirmshat

theypossess

all the

ngredients

eeded to constitute

sovereign ntity.

he

rally

nd the

Memorandumwere

addressed

to

the

govern-

ment nd to

the

state,

ut the

stronger

ocusof

Badaga Day

was toward

heir wn

community.

s one

of the

organizers

old me in

2011,

"After he

rally

we have to

recover,

ecure

trength

nd

get

firm,

efore

ddressing

he

governmentgain."

The

government

epresentatives

ho

spoke

on

Badaga Day

were

exclusively

adagas.

The central vents f

the

day

were

published

n

the

daily

papers.

There s no

doubt

that t was

meant o reach

he

public

ncluding oliticians

nd

administrators.

The objectificationshavediscussed bove are not usta materialmanifestation

of a

"culture" or a

transformationf

unconscious

aspects

to the

conscious

mind.

In

my

view,

he

objects

of

mportance

tand

ndexically

or

spects

of

Badaga

soci-

ety

nd at the

same time for

more

general

values.

Objects

such

as a

flag

r a

bust

represent

spects

of

Badaga

culture nd at

the

same time

deas of a

nation-state.




17/20

IO6

I

Asian

Ethnology

3/1-2

2014

The

objectifications

n

Badaga Day

are a celebration oth of the cultural elf nd

of

the

concept

of a state.Like the

mage

of

Wittgenstein's

duck-rabbit,"

wo dif-

ferent

oncepts

re

objectified

n a

single

form.Withoutdoubt there re numerous

messages xpressed

nd several alues

ncorporated

n the

complex

vent f

Badaga

Day.

A

common

denominator f the

ndian state nd the

Badaga

community

s the

concept

of

sovereignty.

he

display

f an internal

social

and

political)

organiza-

tion,

holdingprogrammatic

peeches, inging

dentificatoryongs,unveiling ho-

tographs

nd

awarding cholarships

re doubtless ttributes

f state

performances

adopted

for he celebration

f an ethnic

dentity.

here

s no

doubt

that he Bada-

gas

reenact

deas about themselves

nd about the state

n

the same

space.

Conclusion

Badaga

indigeneity

s

deeply

rooted

n

their wn social

and ritual

etting

and

in

a

pan-Indian

political

practice.

The most

spectacular xpression

of their

indigenous

claims

was a

rally

n

15

May

1989.

The

display

of

Badaga

traditional

dresses,

he

chanting

f their

ongs,

nd the

presentation

f their

eadership

ecame

a celebration

f

the

social self.

The

organization,

he

ogistics,

he

symbolic

orms

of a

huge procession,

he

handing

ver of

a

memorandum,

nd a

final

athering

n

a

football tadium

followed n

established

olitical

procedure.

The central laims

addressed o thegovernmentrenotunique

in

the Indian

contextbut are

rather

a

catalogue

of itemsto

improve

he status

of the entire

ommunity.

n

the

day

of the

rally

nd

in

the

weeks that

followed,

he

Badagas

felt hat

the eventwas a

great

uccess.

The

majority

f all

iving

Badagas

were

active

participants

n

a shared

spectacle;

heygathered

n their raditional

hitedress

nd celebrated heir

nity,

they

nteracted ith

the

government

nd

withthe

public

as witnesses o

their el-

ebration,

nd

restructured

heir nternal

ffairs.

he NakubettaGowder

occupied

the central

eat on

stage

at the

final

athering

n

the

stadium;

o his

eft nd

right

were

the

representatives

f

Badaga

associations,

nd the

huge

crowd received

his

blessings.

he

amalgam

f a timeless

raditional

ulture

nd

contemporary

olitical

strength,f old politicaloffices nd recently egisteredobbygroups,was experi-

enced

as a

deeply

moving

moment

for hose

who

participated.

he

Badagas

found

themselves

s

demographically

nd

politically

he

strongest

roup

n

the

hills.After

the

rally

here

was a

significant

ncrease

n

Badaga

cultural

erformances

n

stages

in South

Indian

metropolitan

ities

nd a

growing

resence

n the

nternet.

A

few

years

ater

the date

of the

rally

was claimed

as

a

Badaga

holiday.

This

Badaga

Day

was created

o

celebrate

heir

nique

culture,

heir

history,

nd their

political

unity.

On

these

occasions

they

welcome

government

epresentatives

nd

political

eaders.

The

particular

ay,

15

May,

s a memorial

ay

for he

Badaga

rally

and forpresenting memorandum o the Indian government, laiming tribal

district

nd

tribal

tatus.

n

these

contexts

he

Badagas

use

symbolic

orms

f the

nation-state

uch

as

flags

nd

busts,

hey tage

events,

nvite

he

press,

nd docu-

mentevents

n their

homepages.

Similar

o a

nation-state

laiming

utonomy

n

the

basis

of

history

nd as

a result

of a democratic

practice,

he

Badagas

claim




18/20


day"

I

107

cultural

utonomy. hey appropriate

he state forms

nd

fill

hemwiththeir wn

semanticcontent.

By discussing

he

creation

of a

memorandum

nd the

public

events around the

rally,

have tried to show that culture became a

currency

n

claiming rivileges

or he

region

and for he

community.

he textual

descrip

objectification and social aesthetics: memoranda and the celebration of "badaga day"

Documents