Coorg Role Models: WINNERS OF THE 'COORG PERSON OF THE YEAR' TITLES 2005-2020
About this ebook
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).
About the author
P. T. BOPANNA, AUTHOR AND JOURNALIST
In his nearly four-decade-long journalistic career, P.T. Bopanna has worked for various Indian national dailies. Bopanna, born in Kodagu district on June 30, 1950, started his journalistic career as the Coorg Correspondent of The Hindu in 1981.
He worked for 12 years with the Times of India, Bengaluru from 1984, and 13 years as Special Correspondent of The Pioneer from 1996 based at Bengaluru.
An economics graduate of the Madras University, Bopanna has a Master’s degree in Political Science from Karnatak University and a post-graduate diploma in Journalism from Bhavan’s, Mumbai.
Bopanna is the author of nine books. His first book ‘Discover Coorg’ was published in 2006 and has run into three editions. The book has been translated into Kannada.
His second book ‘Rise and Fall of the Coorg State’ created a record of sorts for a book on Coorg in English. The book was reprinted within two months of its release. The book has been translated into Kannada and Kodava languages.
In 2010, Bopanna came out with two more books – ‘Dateline Coorg’ and ‘Coorg: Land of Beauty and Valour’, a coffee table book.
‘The Romance of Indian Coffee’, a book which takes a 360 degree view of Indian coffee, was published in 2011.
In 2015, Bopanna's book 'The Romance of Indian Coffee' won the international Gourmand award and was chosen as the ‘best book on coffee in the world’.
His other books include, Are Kodavas (Coorgs) Hindus?, My Coorg Chronicles and Coorg Role Models.
Bopanna has also won two awards given by the Bangalore Reporters’ Guild.
He runs the highly successful website www.coorgtourisminfo.com, the first news and tourism portal started by him in 2005. Besides, he hosts six other websites, including www.coorgnews.in.
Bopanna brought out a 35 minute long DVD on Coorg called 'Discover Coorg Video' which features tourist spots, homestays, jewellery, and golf ranges in Coorg, the Kodava family hockey festival, the Kodava culture, including the traditional Kodava folk dances, and the Kodava wedding.
He is a social media activist with more than 25,000 members and followers in his various Facebook groups and pages. Bopanna successfully ran a social media campaign in 2012 to rebuild the state highway between Hunsur and Gonikoppal towns in Karnataka.
