Jhulan Kumar - (Founder, President, Board Chairman and Director)

Jhulan Kumar is the founder of Open Hands Education Trust as well as President and Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the registered charity. Jhulan holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in computer science from Mahatma Gandhi University in Delhi, India. He has worked for several IT companies in Delhi, and in 2016 he founded a software and website development company, called Mindindiasoft Technology, with a group of partners from university days.

In 2024 Jhulan became a member of the service organizaton - the Rotary Club of Bodhgaya. He enjoys meeting and serving with other club members, who are working together to make a difference in the community.

Jhulan lives with his wife Pratigya and their family in a village not far from Bodhgaya. He is a hard-working, energetic, devoted, and sincere person, with a very strong commitment to helping others.

Jhulan's dream of starting Open Hands Education Trust - to help children, women and families in rural Bihar who are struggling with poverty - began in 2017. Jhulan believes that his wish to be of service to others has its roots in his own childhood. He states: "My own childhood was one of hardship, poverty and loss. But a miracle happened in my life, and I was very fortunate to meet an amazing array of generous people - who lifted me up, encouraged me and supported me to attend school and university. I want to pass those same opportunities on to others, and lift up many other lives."

This is my Life Story - By Jhulan Kumar
Growing up, my family home was filled with women. I was very lucky to have so much love from my mother and sisters in my early life. Yet tragedy stuck our home when I was still a child. First, my older brother was killed in a road accident, leaving a baby boy for my mother to care for after my sister-in-law had a break-down and left the family, unable to cope with the loss of her husband. My elder sister was also left as a single parent, as her husband had a brain injury from the same road accident that killed my brother. Not long after - my mother was also suddenly widowed. My father also died in a separate road accident. Great responsibility was placed on my mother's shoulders - to care for the family and try to educate me and my four sisters. It was very difficult as she did not have any job skills, and she had to work in the fields to try to support us. Her wages were small, and we often had only had one meal a day. It was a struggle to survive.

At a young age I witnessed and lived through these struggles. Our social status in the village declined, and we became the object of community ridicule. I could see how gender inequality in Indian society made life even harder for my mother and sisters. As the sole remaining male in my family, I felt a responsibility to care for my family, so at the age of 12 I started going to Bodhgaya to beg - to get money to buy food to feed my sisters. I did this for many months, and started to learn English. Then I realized that I could work as a guide for tourists, and show them around Buddhist temples, so I started doing that to earn money for my family.

When I was age 15, my life began to change when a kind westerner came to my school and offered to help with my education. I was able to study English, and what I learned in school helped me to meet and talk with more tourists in Bodhgaya. I took a three month program at the English Language Institute in Bodhgaya.

In 2008 when I was 17 I met an amazing Australian couple Celia Fuller and Grant Fuller and their children while practicing my English in the Buddhist temple in Bodhgaya. Once again my life began to change. This family kindly offered to help support my family while I completed Grade 12 and then sent me to university for a degree in computer science.

Two other incredibly generous women - one from Britain (Cecelia) and one from America (Priscilla Fox) also helped me with some of my university expenses.

From 2008 to this day, my Australian family has loved and guided me through many education choices, insecurities, and fear in moving to Delhi from my simple rural life, to the marriage of my beautiful wife, Pratigya. Always at the end of phone calls or emails, their advice flowed, and they supported my journey into manhood. This gave me courage to push harder and excel in everything I tried. I know first hand how important it is to have people believe in you.

Then the Gods watched over me all the way through university, as my lovely Australian family, Celia Fuller, Grant Fuller, Cecilia from Britain and Priscilla from America continued to help me and my sisters and family. Each one of them added financial support to ensure my university education in Delhi was a success.

I bow in gratitude to Celia and Grant Fuller from Australia, Cecilia from Britain and Priscilla from America.

I graduated from university, and married my beautiful wife Pratigya. I began to work in IT company in Delhi, and eventually started my own company. My mother, who had started a tiny grass-thatched shop in the village - was able to transform it into one of bricks and mortar and our mud home in the village was also transformed in a similar way. My two sisters married and had children, and my mother and I continued to raise my nephew and give him a good education.

After my mother died of cancer in 2019, my wife and I and our young son moved back home to my village, where we continue to raise and educate both our son and our nephew. We live in a village which is not far from Dadawan village, where Open Hands Education Trust works.

I continue to work (mostly online) with my soft-ware company which is based in Delhi, and with my website development company - and I put my heart into the work of Open Hands Education Trust charity

In my early life I learned first-hand what it is to live in poverty, to be hungry - and to have little hope for the future. I also learned through the "miracles" that came into my life in the form of kind and generous people who offered to help - what it is to have people who believe in me and are willing to give me a helping hand. My goal in life now is to help others as I was helped, to pass on the opportunities that I was given, and to lift others up as I was lifted up.

Thankyou for becoming part of my story