This is the first time Arun, one of our best skateboarders, he participated in the World Championships in Skateboarding in 2018 in Nanjing China, has done an interview in written English!

Eku (left) is interviewing Arun (September 2018)

How did you meet Ulrike for the first time?   When I went to the skatepark for the  first time, I met Ulrike. When the  Skatepark was being built, my parents were working there. When it was ready, skateboarders came to use the skatepark from outside Janwaar. I met many new people, and Ulrike also.

How did you learn skateboarding terms like Ollie, kick flip , 360 flip?I learnt these things by watching many videos on YouTube!

Tell me the name of some tricks you  know and can do on the skateboard?
Some of the things I can do are; ollie, kick flip, pop savit, knowly, 50-50, board slide, rock-n-roll and rock to facky.

Where did you go on your skateboarding trip?
I went to Germany, Belgium, Spain and France.

What was the best thing on the trip? The best things were visiting many new countries, and seeing lots of different skateparks .

How many teachers do you have in your school in Janwaar?
In my village school we have seven or eight teachers. They teach us many subjects like Hindi, English, maths and science.

Once you started going to the skatepark, and Adivasis and Yadavs came too, did the parents get angry?
At the beginning they got angry, but slowly-slowly they understood that the skatepark is for the benefit of everyone.

Tell me a little bit about your school in Janwaar. How many kids in one class? Do you have chairs?
In our school there are about 40 to 30 kids in one class. We don’t have any chairs in our school, we sit on carpets on the floor. We have a rule ‘no school, no skateboarding’, so all the children go to school.

Where did the skateboarders, who taught you in janwaar, come from?
Adam came from London, and Marshal came from Germany and they stayed around one week. Nyjah Huston, the world champion skateboarder from America, also visited Janwaar for 4 days.

What is the project in Delhi about?
The project is about learning to teach and lead, so that when we go back to Janwaar we can we leaders of our community, and teach the children.

What is your goal in your life?
My goal is to participate in the Skateboarding Olympics.

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