Karnataka’s 15-Year-Old ‘Bahubali’ Who Dug a Well For His Mother

It took him over 6 weeks to dig 45 feet.

Pavan Kumar dug a well behind his house to help his mother. (Photo Courtesy: The News Minute)

If blockbuster ‘Bahubali’ has impacted anybody in a significant way, this 15-year-old boy from Shivamogga district in Karnataka has to be one of them.

Unable to see his mother walk half a kilometre to get water for household use, Pavan Kumar from Shettisara village (Sagara taluk) decided to dig a well behind their house two months ago. It was completed two weeks ago.

Since then, the village has started calling him ‘Bahubal’, after the protagonist from the movie who shifts a huge Shivalinga to the waterfall so that his mother does not have to water it every day.

I had my holidays and I thought why not dig a well for my mother, who spent a minimum of two hours to get water. Not just my friends, even my mother asked me not to struggle and said she was used to getting water from the village well.

(Photo: The News Minute)

Pavan, who aspires to join the police force, said that he dug up to 45 feet by himself, but was forced to take help of two workers after fracturing his hand in April.

I was a little disappointed when I found no water even after digging for over six weeks. To top that, I even fractured my hand. I called two professional well diggers, who dug another 10 feet.

Pavan said that he has attached a pulley over the well so that water can be drawn easily. The family also distributes water to other villagers.​

(This article has been published in collaboration with The News Minute.)