I was so happy when my sister called me last week and asked me to accompany her to Ooty. My joy knew no bounds because I had a special soft corner for that Queen of Hills. Udagamandalam, where Udaga means height and Mandalam refers to Region.
We couldn’t get tickets on the train and hence took the bus to Mettupalayam. The journey from Mettupalayam to Udagamandalam was really fascinating and out of the world. As we went up, though very faint, we could see the far-reaching arcanut farms and enjoy the fresh fragrance of eucalyptus leaves. Tall trees around and clouds falling all over the hills was a boon to the eyes that were tired of the dusty concrete chunks in the cities.
Though not very clean, roads all over Ooty were bad. The potholes and dusty trenches do give tourists a bad time, but somehow the experience was really different, despite the absence of roses in the Rose Garden and flowers in the Botanical Gardens. I looked forward to something very different in Ooty and realized boating, rose garden and botanical garden were not the only places to see but there was lot to learn from the people really living there.
The Toda and Badaga tribes of India have inhabited Udagamandalam who have a very rich cultural background. Todas have a very distinct language and Badagas speak a language, which is quite close to Kannada. Toda women weave rich beautiful pieces of cloth with motifs and that when transformed into salwar kurthas, waists for men and women, shawls, etc. look really elegant and gorgeous. The material is normally thick and each motif has a specific name like the kind of an eagle or an eagle’s eye and so on. They mostly use red and black designs on a white background and it really looks extremely ethnic. Most of those interested in ethnic wear would find these elegant and appealing.
The way they wear their hair is excellent. You would be surprised to know that they condition their hair with buffalo butter, curl it and leave it open. The locks of hair on the sides and face give them a pretty look. They make a living by selling milk, curd and butter. The number of buffaloes decides the status of the person and they are also given to the daughter during marriage. And here we live in a totally different world that speaks of different standards for status! But that’s the way they live on the hills.