(The Nilgiris is endowed with a variety of entertainment and past time round the year- sports, culture, nature and so on related. The British enjoyed them to the best. We are unfortunately limited by our lack of imagination, interest and initiative. The following is an account of Ooty life inRead More →
(Not many know that the great Tamil Sage-Philosopher Tiru Valluvar was widely read, appreciated and emulated by many of the servants of the East India Company. One such was Nathaniel Edward Kindersley, the father of Nathaniel William Kindersley, one of the two Assistant Surveyors who visited the Nilgiris in 1818Read More →
Ever since Sullivan opened up Nilgiris, the Colonial governors had half a mind to shift the capital from Madras to Ooty. In 1828 Governor Elphinstone came for a short stay and prolonged his stay for eight months on one excuse or the other. When Shimla was made the Summer CapitalRead More →
(Hope the Good Friday prayers assuage the Corona demon and mitigate its impact in the coming days. Beliefs, practices, religions and faith are different things though there may be many commonalities among them as ultimately all have the same goal. The practice of Scapegoat – transferring the sins of theRead More →
Ever wondered what made Sullivan fixated on Nilgiris.Read More →
(Sir Thomas Munro gave to South India its Revenue and Police administration and its Educational system. Very few of us remember him and many are ungrateful by choice. It was also Governor Munro who made the Nilgiris a Health Resort. Ironically, as fate would have it, he died within aRead More →
(“From China to Peru” was an old phrase meaning from one end of the world to another. The vastness of the world was beyond most human beings except for a few Great Explorers who dared to venture into the unknown with a sense of adventurism and a noble purpose ofRead More →
Photogravure of Macaulay by Antoine ClaudeRead More →
The first mode of transport for Europeans to the Nilgiris was palanquin carried by bearers. Then came the bullock cart after the foot paths were widened to make them cart paths. The mails were still carried by runners. After Ooty became the Summer Capital of the Madras Presidency in 1870Read More →
The Nilgiris, prior to the coming of the British, does not seem to have had a policing system. A kind of moral law appear to have prevailed among the original inhabitants of the district. The communal system was such that village crime was almost unknown, whether against persons or property.Read More →