DR KUMAR ARUNACHALAM

"The most versatile researcher in the country" according to the Limca book of Indian Records
A man of great intellect
"Polymath, master of six languages", Tamil, Kannada, Tulu, Telugu, Hindi and English.
Dr T M A Pai Gold medal winner for medical reseach


Who do you think is India's most widely read author? Arundathi Roy? Wrong! Vikram Seth, Wrong again! No, it isn't one of the names on marquee and billboards, and it certainly is not one who is a regular on page three. For the right answer, we must look for an unimpressive long-haired medical professor in small. This unlikely don is India's hottest English author on the internet. In just a little more than a year, the spin-doctor has a readership of over 100,000, on one single web-site alone! And he writes for four more. Churning out story after story, at the incredible rate of around five a week, stories that are lapped by around five hundred net addicts per article.

Meet up with Dr. Arunachalam Kumar from Mangalore. Living alone, and finding time between his onerous chores as a full time Anatomy teacher-researcher at the Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, one of India's largest medical institutes, the unlikely 'tale-teller' is verily the uncrowned "badshah of blogdom", as one reader defined him.

The sheer range of subjects, topics and themes touched on in the don's articles astound: natural history, philosophy, current affairs, romance, personal anecdotes, fiction, science, politics, religion, sports, the works. The write –ups evoke a wide range of emotions in readers - elation, pathos, or rage – more than 2000 on – site comments being testimony to his wordsmithy, having been logged in by site readers. Often writing under the pen name ‘ixedoc', most of his pieces are contributed to natural history sites, besides appearing regularly on Sulekha, an off - shore site catering to the Indian diaspora.

Author of more than 150 articles in newspapers and magazines in India and abroad : just last month, the Invisible Man Press has released a book of his – his fifth, These include one on how to crack cryptic crossword puzzles, and another on the avifauna of his city.

How does he find time for his prodigious output, even though he heads one of the busy departments with heavy workload in his college? His reply, "I write for two hours a day, at night or in the early hours of the day". His answer, though, covers only his internet diversions. Professionally, he is better known as the man who publishes research papers, which today total one hundred and thirty, many winning awards and laurels at national or international conferences. In 2005 alone, he has seventeen publications, most in indexed international journals, besides sixteen research presentations. Here again, the range of his scientific mind is so all encompassing that, the Limca Book of Indian Records, 1993-94, lists him as "one with the widest range of science papers in India"

The Invisible Man Press has released a book of his last month, his fifth – with one on how to crack cryptic crossword puzzles, and another on the avifauna of his city. An award - winning teacher, with citations from Rotary, Jaycees, Air India and the State Government. Prof. Kumar is a polyglot, at ease in five languages, a qualified as a referee for the Amateur Body Builders Federation of India and a registered umpire for cricket.