BENGALURU: His day job as a bus driver with the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) is just his way of earning a living. But what drives his passion is the city’s rich history. Talk to him about ancient inscriptions, monuments or history and you can see him come alive. And this is his-story!
Born in Manchenahalli in Gowribidanuru to parents from Tamil Nadu and Kerala, K Dhanapal (53) professes a strong love for Kannada. Having studied till 10th standard in Kannada medium, Dhanapal nevertheless managed to learn five other languages — Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Urdu and English. Learning many languages helped him in his avatar as a tourist guide.
“I came to the city in 1981 and joined the BMTC in 1987. Eventually I was given the responsibility of Bengaluru rounds, which is a bus that takes tourists around Bengaluru on a ‘hop-on, hop-off’ basis. This was in 2006,” Dhanapal reminisced. This opportunity changed his life, he said. “I could drive the bus and guide the tourists and often, I would do both jobs when tourists were only a few,” he said.
This led him to start involving himself in learning about the city, its topography, history and of the rich culture and heritage it has in the form of inscriptions and monuments. “One day, a tourist asked me what Sankey (the name for Sankey Tank in Malleswaram) was. Another one asked me why the area where the tank is located is called Sadashivanagar. I had to learn more about these areas to answer such questions.”
Eventually, he turned to history books. “There were many interesting titbits of information. I learned that the Diwan of Mysuru Mirza Ismail had asked that he be buried in Bengaluru as his dying request. He was instrumental in developing Bengaluru. This led me to start researching the tombs of noted personalities. At this point, it was pure curiosity on my part. I visited many burial grounds every Thursday, which was my weekly off,” he said.
While many people know about Karnataka’s great men and women, including the areas where their residences are located, they don’t know the burial places. Dhanapal, in his search for information, eventually discovered the tomb of Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy, the sixth President of India, at Kapalli, adjacent to Cox Town. He also tracked down the family members of Mirza Ismail and the famous actor Feroz Khan at the Eidgah grounds near Johnson market in the city. “I tracked down many famous personalities in this manner and through every experience I have a new story to tell to the next generation of Bengalureans,” he said.
His love for Kannada has taken him many places across the state including a brief jail stint as well. Recalling the incident, Dhanapal said, “This was in 1988 when I had staged a protest demanding a separate Kannada channel in front of the Doordarshan office in the city.” Now, he occupies the post of vice president of the BMTC wing of the Kannada Kriya Samithi and he has been honoured by organisations like the Kannada Geleyara Balaga which gave him the ‘Kannada Chiranjeevi Award’. He was also felicitated by the Bangalore Tamil Sangam for his contribution to research.
Yelahanka, on the way to the international airport, holds a special place in Dhanapal’s heart. This is where he lives with his wife Vijayalakshmi, a homemaker, and his two daughters Shruthi and Keerthana. His thirst for knowledge about the area led him on a journey of information which he hopes eventually will lead to him publishing a book.
Professor to Professors!
Once when Dhanapal replied to tourists’ queries, a team of professors of the Banaras University asked him during which year was the first Test match held at Chinnaswamy Stadium. He promptly gave the information that the first Test played at this stadium was in 1974 from November 22–29. Incidentally, this was the debut Test match for the West Indian batting giants Viv Richards and Gordon Greenidge. Then the team of professors started calling him ‘professor’.
To help with his book, Dhanapal is taking the guidance of noted professor K R Narasimhan. “My favourite scholars are Vemagal Somashekar, P V Krishna Murthy and Dr R Gopal, who are also helping in my research,” he said. He has already published a bilingual Kannada-English hand book “Namma Bengaluru” about Bengaluru history for tourists. He financed it on his own. In addition, Dhanapal and his friends have also established the Pinakini Old Students Trust near his native Manchenahall. They help financially weak students to complete their education.
I am grateful to BMTC for choosing me to take tourists around the city out of thousands of drivers. This is a great opportunity for me. I am enjoying my job of making the journey of tourists joyful and memorable
K Dhanapal