KODAVA KOOTA INITIATIVE TO REWARD AND ENCOURAGE ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

Message from the board

Indh illi koodithulla mahajankella Kodava Koota aadalitha mandali pinja sadasyangada paravaaith nallame

First of all, wholehearted congratulations to all the award winners. We sincerely hope this award will help you in the continuation and/or completion of your current endeavor and inspire you to pursue greater accomplishments. We have been thoroughly impressed by your immense talent and accomplishments. It gives us immense satisfaction to recognize and reward you all. Our evaluation panels comprising of accomplished and experienced professionals in the respective categories; doctors, engineers, dentists, deans of educational institutions had a tough time in evaluating the 62 applications we received in the 7 categories and pick the 17 winners. All of them have conveyed their best wishes to you all while thanking all the applicants some of whom unfortunately could not make it to the winners’ list.

Kodava Koota was established in 2017 by a group of likeminded Kodavas under the leadership of Mrs. Gina Konganda, a Dallas based entrepreneur. Our objective was to help contribute to the social and economic growth of Kodagu and Kodavas and conserve and nurture our rich language, culture and traditions. Over the last 4.5 years we have undertaken several initiatives in this regard despite being a small organization in terms of membership base comprising of Kodavas living in North America. We believe that education is the most important aspect of fostering social and economic progress and is one of our prime focusses. We started the Kodava Koota Awards for Nangada Makka studying in India in 2020 and happy to have successfully executed it for the second year. We thank our donors for their generous contribution to make this initiative successful. The fact that all of them chose to remain anonymous shows their passion towards Kodagu and Kodavas and their belief in this cause. I request you all to visit our website www.kodavas.org to know more about our organization and the projects we have undertaken over the last 4.5 years.

While evaluating the 62 applications we received we realized the immense talent and accomplishments among our Kodava makka. We are confident you all will scale greater heights and bring laurels to your parents, okka and Kodagu in general. We Kodavas as blessed with the 3 ‘D’s Discipline, Dedication and Determination and we advise you all to use this as your strength while you complete your education and step into the corporate world or your chosen path in the society.

As someone with decades of experience as professional and having worked with people with diverse backgrounds (nationality, culture, race etc.) I would like to offer a few words of wisdom. I am sure all of you have heard these before from your parents, elders and well-wishers but I would not mind repeating for those virtues are eternal and key to anyone’s success.

Firstly, there is no substitute for hard work; shortcuts can only take you that much far, but continued excellence and success can only be built on the foundation of hard work.
Never compromise on honesty and integrity. Money and success are of course important but that should never come at the cost of one’s integrity.
Always stay humble. Success shines better when it is polished with humility. We all know several successful people in various fields but those who are role models are ones who are humble and down-to-earth.

We at Kodava Koota would like to see our youngsters chase their dreams and explore the world and pursue their interests outside Kodagu and even outside India. I am positive several of you would be interested in exploring opportunities in the USA and we will be happy to help and guide you where possible. There are several Kodavas willing to do their bit and feel free to be in touch with us should there be such opportunity.

Lastly, ours is a small community and there are several Kodavas who need help and support. I sincerely request you all to develop an attitude towards giving back to our community. It can be done in several ways and money is not the only way to help our Kodava brothers and sisters. I request you all consider opportunities to help a fellow Kodava even while you are still students as there are fewer joys in life than helping the needy.

I would like to thank CEF for all their help and support in the last 2 years we ran this initiative. It is our pleasure and privilege to work with such a large and reputed organization that has been doing a stellar job in the field of education for several decades. My sincere thanks to the secretary Uncle Kaveriappa who has helped with the execution and has always been very responsive. My regards to Uncle Jepu, President of CEF whose guidance and blessings have been a guiding light to me.

Nangada kuladevi Kaveramma, maaguru igguthappa, ninga yellada oorura devaanudevatheya, yella okkathra guru karona ningaku ningada samsaaraku nallad maadad.

Nithan Monnanda

On behalf of Kodava Koota Board
Email: kodavakoota.na@gmail.com