The Week India – July 21, 2019

32 THE WEEK • JULY 21, 2019

PLUS

From Davanagere to

Sandalwood.

Arun Kumar came to Davanagere, a town

synonymous with the scrumptious benne dosa (butter

dosa) in 1982. Thirty-five years on, this civil engineer’s

love for the irresistible ‘tiffin’ item remains

undiminished. The two other things that he loves

about the place are the local accent, which is “devoid

of any artificiality” – according to him, and his “circle

of friends”.

When not managing his architecture and interior

designing firm, he teaches civil engineering at two

colleges in Davanagere, and works on education

projects and other philanthropic activities.

He is also an actor in the Kannada film and television

industry working alongside directors such as

Nagathihalli Chandrashekar, Late Girish Karnad, and

K.M. Chaitanya.

Even as a child, he routinely walked off with the

‘all-rounder’ award at his school in Hubli. “Be it

elocution, dramatics, or folk singing, I always took

home a prize. I balanced academics and co-curricular

activities and that made me even more popular. I was

always surrounded by friends. The only thing that

remains constant in the highs and lows of life is the

camaraderie of friends.” Little did he know this was to

play a critical role in his life.

A Twist of Fate.

With justifiable pride, 52-year-old Arun says there

have been phases in his life that helped him find his

other strengths. The first test came in 2006, when he

met with a serious road accident, which left a

permanent impact on his nervous system.

The immediate challenge in the days that followed the

accident was walking. It was months before Arun

could move around and even today, he cannot move

briskly or perform strenuous activities.

Arun Kumar

“Even though I barely had any hair and

looked weak, my friends were super elated

and they hosted a party for me.”