(B-1012)-IN PURSUIT OF GOD-BADETTU FAMILY'S ENDEAVOR

It is said that Mata, Pita, Guru and Deivam are intimately connected to each and every person born in this world. Whether one is God-fearing, God-loving or Atheist these 4 inseparable parts of life cannot be denied. Who ever is the mother, father, guru or deivam one has, their shape, behavior or attitude does not matter. It is the position these omnipotents occupy that is important. Is it not true that one has only one mother and no body else can qualify for that position. Same is true with father and guru the early teacher. God however can be one in many forms or many in one form. It is this philosophy that guides the early pioneers of Badettu family. 

All the second generation descendants paid absolute obeissance to Narnappaya as well as to Radhakka though nothing much is known about Guru. But Deivam thay all pursued in different forms. During early days Narnappaya as well as his brother Seenappaya traveled to Kerala in search of God (and also fortunes) and it is understood that many "Pottys", as those doing God's seva are known locally, served the Travancore and Cochin Royal Houses as Temple Priests for which they were supposed to have been paid handsomely. If so why is that many Pottys returned to Udupi area after a few years leaving their foot prints in Kerala? One of the reasons ascribed is that in the hierarchy of brahmins, Royalty always gave highes position to Malayalam Nambudirys, then to Tamilians and Udupi Brahmins being the last in line. The service compensation also dropped as one goes down in the pecking order.  

Badettu family invariably had its antenna pointed to Tirupathi Lord Venkateshwara, considered the Kula Devaru for a long time and frequent visits and climbing by foot to reach the present Tirumala was considered spiritually satisfying. Many third and fourth generation descendants had their Upanayanam celebrations done in Titrumala. However two important forms of  Deivam for Badettuans were Padubidri Eashwara Temple and Vana durga at Brahmastana. While Narnappaya spent a few years as manager of Eashwara Temple and was considered responsible for renovation of the now powerful Ganapathi deity there, he was one of the most reputed Pathiris at Brahmasthana till his physical condition permitted him to do the exacting and physically mentalling demanding job.

It was during 199394 that Badettuans were told after some "Prashna" that actually the Kula Deivam is the powerful Panchadurgeshwari at a place called Indrali, near Udupi. The Temple, an old one located on a small hill is one of the most beutiful ones in Mangalore-Udupi area with some hallowed history. Its days of glory under King Mayura Varma who rules Shivahalli area declined till it was resurrected by a family in Indrali village in late eighties of last millenium. From a small temple built with mud it has become  a truly marvelous place of worship for people coming from far and wide for seeking solace from miseries of life. Its famed Nanda Depa offering is supposed to fulfill wishes of the devotees who visit here regularly. The recent Ashtabanda Kalasha ceremonies conducted here were glittering with more than 3000 people visiting the temple and new Vasantamantap and Yagnashala commissioned were financially supported by Badettu family.

Some pundits suggest that the kula deivam of all people coming from Angeerasa Gothra is the Vishnumurthy of Alavoor or in Kodangala, bothe a few kilometers away from Udupi. Who ever is the Kula Deivam, Badettuans believe that all these are several forms of God, ultimately merging into one almighty. Interestingly the present care takers of Badettu houe still maintain the Maga Bhana and the Gana House with three Bhuthas in side, doing all that is necessary to keep them "happy". These abodes of Naga and Bhoothas were renovated with liberal financial supports from many Badettuans during 1994 and 2008. The old practice of serving lime "panaka" at Padubidri Eashwara Temple during the Ratholsava  a tradition associated with Badettu family is still being continued by the present third generation family residing there. The much awaited annual Ratholsava will take place on March 21 this year.

Answer to the last quiz:

There are only two medical graduates in Badettu family and both of them graduated almost simultaneously some where around 1994-95. They are Sangeetha Murthy, daughter of Hariharan and Gulabi who is presently practicing as a GP in USA and Rama Rao, son of Vittala and Sarada who is a surgeon in the UK. It is a pity that fourth generation descendants are not interested in medical line.

Quiz for the next issue:

Is there any marine engineer in Badettu family and if yes who is the person?   

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

(B-1011)-PADDAKKAYA OF ADMAR-A LIVING LEGEND

Recently this Blogger had an opportunity to visit Admar, about 6 km from Padubidri for seeking the blessings of Padmavati, the second "Bahu" in the Badettu family, popularly known as Paddakkaya. She along with Lakshmakka, the fifth Bahu in the Badettu family are the only two surviving second generation members. While Paddakkaya stays at Admar, her ancestral house well looked after by her son Raghupathi, Laksmakka is living with her dauhter Lalita who is a teacher in a school at Chintamani near Kolar. 

Talking about Paddakkaya one cannot miss her vibrant personality and even at this advanced age of 96 years she personifies the old traditions and values which many of the 3rd generation descendants have forgotten. It is amazing to see how well kept she is even at this age radiating happiness and courage, though she needs help of a walker to move around. Her appetite is phenomenal, memory still sharp and attitude positive. When one sits by her side it is difficult to avoid getting infected with her human qualities and all Bedettu family descendants must make it a point to visit her if an opportunity arises.

During two hours of chatting with her a wealth of information was gleaned and this treasure house of old memories must be tapped for getting more insight into the past years of Badettu family. Situated near the famous Admar Mutt, the House at Admar was built by her father Yogendra Ajja and is well preserved unlike the Badettu House at Padubidri which gives one the impression  that it is going to collapse any minute!. The care and solace provided by her daughter-in-law Madhavi must be appreciated while Paddakkaya's sons and daughters most of them settled down nearby and in Kerala visit her frequently.

There were two Bahus in Badettu family who exemplified the high sacrifice needed those days to raise a family, that too a jumbo one as most of them had children in the range 8-12. One was Paddakkaya and the other one Janaki Amma, wife of late Anantrama, 4th son of  Narnappaya who is no more now. Husbands of both of them spent considerable part of their lives away from the family, putting all the onus on the wives to raise the family. Kudos to them! 

Here are the prayers from all the descendants of Badettu family to God to continue to bestow on Paddakkaya good health so that she completes at least her 100th year with least hiccups!

Answer to quiz of B-1008):

The first MBA in Badettu Family was Mr Vasanthakumar, popularly known as Putta, now living in Bangalore serving as a very senior executive in IBM company. He obtained his MBA from Kolkatta way back, about 20 years ago after getting an engineering degree from IIT. His lucky parents are Dr P Vedavyasa Rao, the Bhishma of Badettu family and Ms Vasundhara. After a long gap of two decades Ms Lakshmi, a fifth generation descendant of the Badettu family and daughter of Nandini (daughter of late Venkatramana of Alleppey) and Mr Shankaranarayana of Trivandrum. is another MBA who graduated from Kolkatta after getting an engineering degree. She is presently employed by a reputed bank in Mumbai. 

Quiz for this issue

Who was the first medical graduate in Badettu family?

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

(B-1010)-RADHAKKA AND HER SIX BAHU RANIS

In spite of being a busy personality Badettu Narnappaya found enough time to find worthy daughter in laws for all his sons from decent families. Radhakka, wife of Narnappaya was a pious God-fearing matriarch and using her charm located suitable brides for her sons. One redeeming feature of this selection process was that the families who sent their daughters to Badettu household were very respected ones in and around Padubidri. Similarly Radhakka also found suitable matches for her two daughters from nearby places and send them away befitting the stature of Badettu family. 

Vasudev, the first son married early and lost his wife after delivering a son who became later the first Chartered Accountant in the family. There after Vasudev married Tulasi from a family in Pavanja and became father of six daughters and one son. While Vasudev passed away early due to some health problem Tulasi lived till recently and died due to serious illness in her last son's house at Kollam. The daughters were all married of before her death to good families in Kerala and karnataka and there are several children and grand children who carry the flag of the family aloft.

Subbraya, the second son got his bride Padmavati from a family in Admar, about 6 km from Padubidri and begot three sons and four daughters. Except for one daughter all others are living to day in Kerala and Karnataka, married happily. They have several children and grand children and are leading a contended life spending their time with them happily. While Subraya breathed last some years ago at Admar, his wife, the proud mother, grand mother and great grand mother all rolled in one is still a living legend at the old ancestral home at Admar her age approaching century.  Being the senior most Bahurani of Badettu Family among the living ones, her blessings and guidance are sought by the descendants of Narnappaya as when they visit Mangalore-Udipi area. If any one wants to learn the the management technique to maintain a family with its head away at Alleppey for business most of the time,  Padmavati, popularly known as Paddakkaya to many, can provide the necessary inputs. Truly she can qualify for MBA in family management from any University to day. May God give her years of further life to bless and inspire the later generation of descendants of Badettu family. 

Venkataramana, the third son married Kaveri from Kande House nearby, hardly a stone throw distance away from Badettu house. They were able to beget 12 children out of which 10 are living to day other two dying at early stages of their life. Though Kande House is no more now because of neglect and no descendant ever taking interest for its maintenance, some of the members of Kande family still live in Kerala-Karnataka region. While the Patriarch of this family died about 12 years ago at Alleppey in his house, the Matriarch also passed away there itself seven years ago. Their children, six sons and four daughters are well settled with their respective children and grand children also living in Kerala-Karnataka-Tamilnadu region. The Allepey house is remembered for fostering the feeling of "one family" because many third generation descendants spent part of their early life here for education and employment.

Padmanabha, one of the twin sons of Narnappaya married Lakshmi from a family nearby and spawned nine children out of which eight are living to day, well settled in Kerala-Karnataka region with one exception. One of the sons has settled down in Gujarat. The legendary Lakshmi of the other living bahu of Badettu family is still hale and hearty though an octagenerian providing inspiration to all descendants of Narnappaya. She is a role model for all those wanting to learn about the virtues of forbearance and endurance and still have a contended living in spite of several hardships and set backs in life. She is another candidate for MBA in family management being a lady with experience. She lives with her sons and daughters by rotation guiding her family with her rich experience and wisdom. May God bless her with further life for carry on her mission to hold aloft the reputation of her own family as well as that of the entire Badettu group of descendants. 

Ananthrama, the other twin son of Narnappaya and Radhakka, led a simple life, most of the time in Alleppey helping his brothers to run the hotel business and he married Janaki from nearby Kinnitu House to lead a happy life. Because of compulsions of family business he could get little time to spend with his wife and children who inherited the original Badettu House. Out of the seven children born to them, three sons and four daughters, six are still living in Kerala-Karnataka-Tamilnadu region, having spawned several children of their own lending them support and giving love and affection. Janaki also was an able family manager, raising the kids with admirable restraint and patience because her husband had to spend almost half his life in Alleppey for business. Being a resident of the Badettu family, she had to coordinate the visits of all those visited Badettu household frequently for attending many functions. It is admirable that her well trained male siblings are still carrying out traditional religious practices started by Badettu Narnappaya during his life time. Both Anantrama and Janaki died at Badettu House several years ago. 

Gopalakrishna, the sixth and last son of Narnappaya was supposed to be very handsome when he was young and he married his own maternal cousin Saraswathi from nearby village. Though the couple spent most of their life in Kollam, they also set up houses in Alleppey and Haripad searching for better business opportunities. They begot five children out of which three are still living in Kerala. Though they could not give higher education to their children, God has blessed their grand children who have respectable job positions at Kochi and Bangalore. Only God and their own children know the trials and tribulations they had to face after the demise of their parents in attaining respectability in the society. As a family, Badettu's second generation and third generation members seemed to have failed in their duty to extend a helping hand to descendants of Gopalakrishna when it was required most.

If the tapasya of Narnappaya and poiusness of Radhakka have any meaning, all the descendants of Badettu family will be benefited in times to come and there is no doubt that the golden age of Badettu family will begin hereafter if they all remember the sacrifices made by their ancestors with gratitude. The Meeting at Udipi on March 20 should rededicate the life to the welfare of one and all who had the fortune to be a part of the family by birth or marriage alliance. 

  

[Rider to the above narration: It is based entirely on bits of information extracted from some of the senior members of Badettu Family and from my own memories and impressions. If there are any inaccuracies readers are invited to bring to point out through the comments column.] 

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

(B-1009)-REVIVING THE BADETTU HERITAGE AND SPIRIT-THE UDIPI MEETING OF MARCH 20, 2012

BADETTU FAMILY 3RD GENERATION MEMBERS

CONFIRMATION OF THE MEETING ON MARCH 20,2012

The above meeting has taken shape now and it will be conducted at the

meeting hall (first floor) of the Guest House of Admar Mutt (On the way to the car street from

Woodlands hotel).

The program is as follows.

8am	Prayer and pooja at Indrali Temple to Deity "Khadgheswari" Kuladevaru of our family.
10.30am	Prayer and pooja at Udupi krishna temple. Vajrakavacholtsava seva
12 noon	Lunch with Swamiji at krishna Mutt.
2 pm	Convention meeting at Admar Mutt Guest house hall
6 pm	Suvarna ratholtsava at Krishna temple
7.30 pm	Bhakshya at krishna Mutt

Kindly confirm your participation either by phone, sms or by letter to the

undersigned. Also kindly bring your family members' details or send them. Kindly note that Padubidri

ratholtsava is on 21^st March.

P.krishnan,

aswini,hanuman garage road,

Chipady, Udupi-576 101.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Above is the circular sent by Mr P Krishnan, the Convener of the Badettu 3rd Generation Meeting scheduled on March 20, 2012 at Udipi. Those who feel like participating in the meeting please contact the Convener, who is tirelessly working to make the Meeting meaningful and effective. He can be contacted  at 0820 2528842 or 09448610973. Most convenient would be to send an SMS confirming participation.

(B-1008)NARNAPPAYA AND HIS ILLUSTRIOUS SONS-THE UNCONQUERED HEROES

Badettu Narnappaya, a man of few words but with a steel mind, besides being a workaholic found enough time to raise a family of six sons and two daughters. While his daughters were given in marriage at very early age his sons associated with him in all his activities helping him to build business and properties. when he breathed his last in 1973 at Badettu House at Padubidri his sons were basically settled down at Kollam and Alappuzha with their families. None of the members of this second generation Badettuans is living to day.

His first son Vasudeva, fifth son Padmanabha and sixth son Gopalakrishna were supposed to have been looking after the Hotel at Kollam, his second son Subbaraya, third son Venkataramana and fourth son Ananthrama took up the responsibility of managing Alappuzha business. Over a period of time the hotel business both in Kollam and Alappuzha were wound up after the demise of the second generation stalwarts and to day there is only one tiny restaurant working in Alappuzha run by a third generation Badettuan of venkataramana lineage. It is amazing that the modern trend of educating their children to become professionals did did catch up with Badettu family also and there are many engineers, doctors, scientists, chartered accountants, teachers, MBAs, among the third and fourth generation Badettuans occupying high positions presently as well as in the past.

Two daughters of Narnappaya, married into reputed families lived well for years and their children and grand children also were well educated to become good professionals. Their second generation families are scattered across many places in the South like Bangalore, Mysore, Kaladi, Hyderabad etc. Looking back it was not a good idea for the Badettu family as a whole not to have cultivated close relationship resulting in lack of firm linkages among them. 

Answer to last quiz:    

The first engineer who graduated in engineering was Mr V Jagadisan, son of Late Venkataramana of Alleppey. He completed his BE in Electrical engineering from the then Regional Engineering College, Suratkal and retired from National Textile Corporation establishment at Kollam a few years ago. Only other engineer in the third generation is Mr Krishnan, a chemical engineer who retired from Binani company a few years ago. In the fourth generation there are about a dozen engineers all working in good positions with private sector companies located in India as well as abroad.

Quiz for this issue:

Who was the first MBA in Badettu family?  

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

(B-1007)-RETURN OF THE NATIVE!

After his exciting "adventures" in Malayalam land Narnappaya returned to Padubidri leaving the businesses there to his sons, who between them managed the hotel ventures in Kollam and Alappuzha with reasonable success. The Badettil was renovated and further properties were acquired nearby. Narnappaya had an ambition to start a business in Padubidri-Udipi area and his dream materialized when he got an occasion to set up a grocery store at Padubidri in partnership with one of his son's in-laws. Though he worked hard to make it a flourishing activity, expecting substantial gains soon, unfortunately the business came to a grinding halt due to unsustainable financial losses. 

The imagination and the urge to make it big in business was such that he ventured into a rare area, that is organizing and running a movable tent house theater at Padubidri. Not much is known about the logistics of running such a theater and how long he managed to run the same but it did not last much when he decided to close the same probably for want of a viable viewer base. Lot of information gap exists regarding his other activities there after. It is also known whether Narnappaya did any supervision of the business activities in Kerala (remote controlling), though it can be presumed that there was not much discordant voices against him. Probably his success can be attributed in hind sight to his imposing personality and cunning nature that invited the nickname "The Fox" or "Kudikke"  by the local people. 

It appears Narnappaya had gained considerable status as a regional "satrap", commanding attention, adulation and even fear to some extent from the local community in and near Padubidri. People approached him to settle disputes, general as well as personal and he seemed to have performed his duties with considerable skill and fineness. Most of these disputes pertained to land ownership, internal family wranglings and local groupism. The episode at Brahmasthana when he transformed the Pingara flower into horse gram, threatening to throw them to cause small pox disease if the two warring groups in Padubidri did not bury their hatchet is still remembered with awe!  

Though he had unquestioned control over his pious, God-fearing wife and his six sons, as he grew old he did realize the realities of life and the nature of human desire to establish individual identity and partitioned his movable and immovable assets, one supposes equitably among his sons. As it happens often, his old age was not much to speak as he lost his control over his sons and after the demise of his wife he spent his time among the families of his sons in Kerala. Finally he could not resist the "call of his land" and at the fag end of his life returned to Padubidri to spend his remaining time in the Badettil with one of his sons to whom the property was bequeathed. His end came in a bizarre manner after he was affected by dementia, unstable behavior forcing him to be confined to bed breathing his last without completing the coveted century, missing it by just 2-3 months. His standing among the shivalli brahmin community is reflected by the presence of Revered Swamiji of Admar Mutt during his Sahasra Chandra Darshana Ceremonies. 

Answer to the last Quiz:

Dr P. Vedavyasa Rao, first son of late Subbaraya Rao, was the first Doctorate who obtained his Ph.D and went on to become a Senior Officer under the Central Government. To day he leads a contented retired life at Alappuzha and being the eldest member of Badettu family guides the younger generation members with his wisdom and experience. 

Quiz of this Issue;

Who was the first engineering graduate in Badettu family?

V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com

(B1006)-THE EARLY DAYS

Badettu Narnappaya started his career by shifting his activities during his early days to Thripunithra, the erstwhile capital of the old Royal Kochi State where he was fortunate enough to get the patronage of the Royal family and was engaged for doing priestly service to the temple there. The Royal families of both Kochi as well as Travancore were enlightened rulers attracting many Shivalli brahmins from Mangalore-Udipi region for gaining employment as priests, locally known as "pottys" or "embrandiris" with responsibilities of doing pooja or "shanti" in some of the important temples in these two royalties. It is however not clear as to how many years he spent in Malayalam land though it is assumed it could be about a decade.   

After returning to Padubidri, Narnappaya tried his luck in hotel business at Udipi but could not achieve any thing substantial. In 1929 ( or earlier?)He returned to Malayalam land for trying to start hotel business some where in Travancore. What made him to select Kollam as his base is not very clear though this town was an important trading port with its known Light House for sea navigation on the Arabian Sea. The first Hotel was started in the name and style of "Sri Krishna Bhavan, Brahmins Hotel"  at Chinnakada, a busy market place and was successful in raising enough volume of business to sustain himself. He brought his sons who helped him to consolidate the business and also to start another hotel at Allappuzha, a port town near Kollam, reputed to be established by the renowned warrior Raja Keshavadasan, the Dewan of Travancore, during 1789 under the rein of Dharma Raja Karthika Thirunal Rama Varma. This hotel established around 1932 (or earlier?) was working till 2007, though it could not flourish as one would have expected probably because of rigid conservatism, labor aggressiveness and emergence of "nativism" among local population. What is remaining to day to remind about the achievements in Hotel Sector by the Badetty family descendants from both the branches are the reputed Hotels in Ernakulam owned by the children of late Govinda Rao of Srinivasappaya family branch and a small sized restaurant in Allapuzha owned by one of the sons of late Venkat Rao.

The fatherly duties of Narnappaya were evident when history tells us that he settled his three sons at Kollam while the other three were brought to Allapuzha to run the business. The profits generated were shared among the family members and during his life time itself all his sons were able buy their own properties while the Badettil was renovated and made a comfortable family home for all his sons and their families to enjoy. Lot of land owned by Narnappaya were leased out to farmers around on a "crop sharing" system for the mutual benefit of both the "Vokkaledawaru" (tillers) and the "Dhanikkulu" ( the owners. This symbiotic relationship was rudely disrupted by the irrational "land to the tiller" political philosophy of one of the chief ministers of Karnataka which destroyed the family harmony and fortunes of many brahmin families in south canara region pushing many of them into penury and poverty. It speaks well of Narnappaya's foresight in forking into business that paid rich dividends after the landed properties were taken away by the government. To day no single member of Badettu family is suffering from the past mishaps that happened in Padubidri due to the above episodes.

Answer to the last quiz:

The first chartered accountant in Badettu families of both branches was the much respected late V Sethuram who held aloft the pride of the family for a long time as one of the few successful professional in the finance and accountancy field. Of course he has been the inspiration for a few others in the family to follow his foot prints. Incidentally Sethuram's descendants are mostly settled in Bangalore, Karnataka, settled comfortably in life.

Quiz of this issue:

Who was the first Ph.D in the Badettu family?   

V.H.POTTY

http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com