This book was produced with ePustaka - Ink and Weave initiative by Techfiz Inc (hIps://techfiz.com).

The idea for this book took shape by accident. In recent years, Coorg has emerged as a major tourist destination. Tourists from both within the country and abroad, wanting to visit this landlocked hill station, do not find much information either through books or on the Net. Moreover, Coorg has a unique history and culture, different from any of its neighbours in South India. With a view to throw more light on this martial race, renowned for its brave men and beautiful women, I launched a website on Coorg called www.coorgtourisminfo.com. With computer penetration being low in India, I thought the best way to reach out to those who want to know more about Coorg, was to bring out a book. I hope this book will serve as a handbook for those wanting to know more about Coorg as well as those looking for information from a tourist’s perspective. Hailing from Coorg, and having monitored the developments in Coorg from a journalistic point of view in the last two and half decades, I thought it was my professional duty to write on this astonishing land of the bold and the beautiful. This book was produced with ePustaka - Ink and Weave initiative by Techfiz Inc (hIps://techfiz.com).

Since Coorg is the biggest grower of coffee in India, I zeroed in on the subject of coffee. During my youth in Coorg, I was fascinated by the legend of Mr Ivor Bull, a pioneer planter and the founder of the Consolidated Coffee Estates Ltd., Pollibetta. Though Mr Bull had returned to England in 1954, he had become part of the local ‘coffee folklore’ and was remembered with affection by the local planters. Rightly so, because it was Mr Bull who had encouraged the Coorg planters to grow oranges, cardamom and pepper along with coffee. The inter-planting vastly improved the economic condition of the small planters. I did not want to focus my writing on the cultivation of coffee because coffee has been grown in India as a commercial crop for nearly two centuries and planters are familiar with it. In this book, I have tried to give the reader, the coffee grower and the coffee lover in particular, an insight into the romance of coffee – it’s fascinating history, many charming facets of coffee culture, its symbiosis with nature and what makes it such a captivating brew. This book was produced with ePustaka - Ink and Weave initiative by Techfiz Inc (hIps://techfiz.com).

Veerarajendra, the exiled raja of Coorg and his eleven-year-old daughter Gowramma, were the first Indian royals to land in Britain in the summer of 1852. In this book, C.P. Belliappa has reconstructed the extraordinary saga of the earliest Indian royalty to live in Victorian England. By unearthing hitherto unpublished material, he explores the true motives behind Veerarajendra's decision to move to England Queen Victoria's designs to marry his daughter to another exiled royal: Maharaja Duleep Singh of Punjab and the remarkable affection bestowed on the young princess by the English queen.

"What can you say about a 22-year-old girl who saves an accidental druggy from killing himself and a whole batch of nincompoops from getting arrested by risking her own life? A hero, isn't it? Well, I call her an idiot, a stupid fool, a gorgeous, fabulous, bubbly, happy, talkative, bold chick! I call her my best friend... The one who helped me, a stupid phobic douchebag, recover from all his problems during his MBA. She never gave up on me. But today, she gave up on herself. She is dying, and if I don’t make it in time we might just lose her forever.” Inspired by a true story, the book deals with the tale of an odd group of friends – one girl and four boys – who studied together at a top B-school in India in 2009; now in 2019, the girl attempts suicide. Her best friend rushes to see her. He informs the other friends and they gather from different cities, cooking up stories to their wives. The story flies back and forth between two time periods – 2009 and 2019. It draws a sea of contrast between our tough, responsibility-laden married years of the 30s and the break-ups, make-ups, pressures of studies and placements of the 20s – an ‘American Pie’ like college life full of vivacity, parties, bakar, swirling rainbows in the head of an accidental druggy and a secret society of lesbians and bisexuals. A life that leads to a suicide attempt, unraveling an UNSAID story of wild DOMESTIC VIOLENCE existing across urban India. This story is about rising above, f*cking things up and figuring life eventually.

Kodavas, a microscopic minority community hailing from Kodagu (Coorg) in Karnataka, were once known for their leadership qualities. This Kodava trait of being natural leaders was very much in evidence in the Defence services, and Kodagu came to be known as the ‘Land of the Generals’. However, in the last few decades, the community has not produced many truly outstanding men and women, except in the arena of sports. There could be many reasons for the setback. Though Kodavas are one of the most highly educated communities in India, I believe that they have not been able to break the glass ceiling in their chosen areas because of the lack of passion for what they do and a drive to excel. The reservations policy of the government has also probably made it difficult for Kodavas to get representation in the all-India services. As a chronicler of Kodagu, I felt that one of the reasons for their inability to play leadership roles, was the absence of enough ‘role models’ in the community. There was a time when many from Kodagu used to crack the IAS, but in recent years, one hardly comes across such achievements. With a view to reignite the famed leadership qualities in the community, I decided to promote ‘role models’ by instituting the concept of ‘Coorg Person of the Year.’ The concept first took shape in 2005 and Dr Kavery Nambisan, a novelist and medical practitioner, was selected as the first Coorg Person of the Year. The selection was made based on the basis of a poll I conducted through my news portal www.coorgtourisminfo.com. There has been no looking back since then. This book was produced with ePustaka - Ink and Weave initiative by Techfiz Inc (hIps://techfiz.com).