Tudi is a small hourglass drum seen in the villages of
Kerala and
Karnataka. It is played along with song and dance.
This musical instrument has another interesting use, catching thieves. If a robbery took place in a village and the thief is not identified, the Tudi player is called. The entire population comes round the player in the village square. The player starts playing the drum along with intolerable abuses. This makes the thief confused and he will be eventually caught.
