%0 Journal Article %T DESERTED VILLAGES AND DESTROYED DREAMS: AN INDICATION OF CULTURE EXTINCTION %A RAJESH BOJAN %J The Dawn Journal %D 2012 %I The Dawn Journal %X What I propose to pen in the following pages is not about the history of my people, but about their contemporary condition of living that I aspire to explore. I come from the badaga community, a distinctive sect of tribes accommodating most regions of the Niligiri district of Tamilnadu. I have no doubt that those who are familiar with the Niligiri district are well aware of the people in it. Especially, nobody would have left their thoughts of Nilgiris without contemplating about the special race of people that the district is blessed with. It is quite an unfortunate thing that so far a community with such cultural merits has remained unpopular and out of the picture due to lack of script. We have been incapable of expressing ourselves, our culture, customs and rituals in the form of historical records. It is a great disadvantage to live without a language of our own to express. We have indeed lost our finest antiquity and the lifestyle of our forefathers entirely due to lack of education and script. It is at the same time very disappointing to mention the fact that among us not many have attempted to investigate or research our origin. Undeniably, it is true that we have not shown interest into our own community even to the extent it was considered with admiration by scholars from abroad. This paper will attempt to explore the contemporary condition of the badaga people specifically focusing on the impact of dislocation. %K Badagas %K Badaga Culture %K Displacement %K Immigrants %U http://thedawnjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Rajesh-Bojan-Article.pdf