Though ruined, a Chetti is a Chetti, and, though torn, silk is still silk.
The Chetti reduced the amount of advance, and the weaver the quantity of silk in the border of the cloth.
From his birth a Chetti is at enmity with agriculture.
In a note on secret trade languages Mr. C. Hayavadana Rao writes as follows.[43] “The most interesting of these, perhaps, is that spoken by petty shopkeepers and cloth merchants of Madras, who are mostly Moodellys and Chettis by caste. Their business mostly consists in ready-money transactions, and so we find that they have a regular table of numerals. Numbers one to ten have been given definite names, and they have been so long in use that most of them do not understand the meaning of the terms they use. Thus madi (mind) stands for one, mind being always represented in the Hindu shastras as a single thing. Venē (act or deed) stands for two, for venē is of two kinds only, nalvenē and thivenē or good and bad acts. Konam (quality) stands for three, since three different sorts of qualities are recognised in Hindu metaphysics. These are rājasam, thāmasam, and sāthmīkam. Shuruthi stands for four, for the Srutis or Vēdas are four in numbers. Sara (arrow) stands for five, after Panchasara, the five-arrowed, a well-known name of Manmatha, the Indian Cupid. Matha represents six, after the shan mathams or six systems of Hindu philosophy. Thērē stands for seven, after the seven oceans recognised by the Sanskrit geographers. Giri (mountain) represents eight, since it stands for ashtagiri or the eight mountains of the Hindus. Mani stands for nine, after navamani, the nine different sorts of precious stones recognised by the Hindus. Thisai represents ten, from the ten points of the compass. The common name for rupee is vellē or the white thing. Thangām vellē stands for half a rupee, pinji vellē for a quarter of a rupee, and pū vellē for an eighth of a rupee. A fanam (or 1¼ annas) is known as shulai. The principal objects with which those who use this language have to deal with are padi or measure, vellē or rupee, and madi anā, one anna, so that madi padi means one measure, madi vellē one rupee, and madi anā one anna. Similarly with the rest of the numerals. The merchants of Trichinopoly have nearly the same table of numerals, but the names for the fractions of a rupee vary considerably. Mūndri anā is, with them, one anna; ē anā is two annas; pū anā is four annas; pani anā is eight annas and mūna anā is twelve annas. Among them also vellē stands for a rupee. They have besides another table of numerals in use, which is curious as being formed by certain letters of the Tamil alphabet. Thus pīna stands for one, lāna for two, laina for three, yāna for four, līna for five, māna for six, vāna for seven, nāna for eight, thīna for nine, and thuna for ten. These letters have been strung into the mnemonic phrase Pillayalam Vanthathu, which literally means ‘the children have come’. This table is also used in connection with measures, rupees, and annas. Dealers in coarse country-made cloths all over Madras and the Chingleput district have a table of their own. It is a very complete one from one pie to a thousand rupees. Occasionally Hindu merchants are found using a secret language based on Hindustani. This is the case in one part of Madras city. With them pāv khānē stands for one anna, ada khānē for two annas, pāvak ruppē for one rupee, and so on. Brokers have terms of their own. The Tamil phrase padiya par, when used by them, means ask less or say less, according as it is addressed to the purchaser or seller. Similarly, mudukka par means ask a higher price. When a broker says Sivan thāmbram, it is to be inferred that the price given out by the seller includes his own brokerage. Telugu brokers have similar terms. Among them, the phrase Malasu vakkādu and Nāsi vakkādu denote respectively increase the rate, and decrease the rate stated.”
Chevvula (ears).—An exogamous sept of Bōya and Golla.
Cheyyakkāran.—A Malayālam form of the Canarese Servēgāra.
Chikala (broom).—An exogamous sept of Tōttiyan.
Chikka (small).—A sub-division of Kurni.
Chikkudu (Dolichos Lablab).—An exogamous sept of Mūka Dora.
Chilakala (paroquet).—An exogamous sept of Bōya, Kāpu and Yānādi.