After friend’s death in crash, Bihar man sells land to distribute helmets worth Rs. 2 crore for free

Raghavendra Kumar, a 34-year-old from Bihar has distributed about 49,000 helmets till now. Kumar has been distributing helmets for the last seven years for free. Raghavendra Kumar is a computer engineer and he started the free distribution of helmets after his friend passed away.

Started distributing after a friend passed away

Losing a loved one in a sudden mishap can become lifetime grief for many. However, how we cope with grief makes us more of a human. A common man from Patna, Bihar, Mr Raghavendra Kumar has shown that how empathy and kindness can make us overcome such kind of sorrow. Professionally a computer engineer, Kumar has distributed 49,000 helmets for free in memory of his close friend who passed away in a road accident seven years ago. This noble deed of Kumar has earned him the title of ‘helmet man of India’ by the people.

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Kumar said that his friend KK Thakur from Madhubani, Bihar met with a fatal accident back in 2014, which claimed his life. At the time of the accident, he was riding without his helmet on. In his memory, he has been distributing helmets for the last seven years, so that no other man dies in such a way and his or her loved ones suffer for life.
Since 2014 after the death of his friend, Kumar has been distributing helmets for free.

To date, he has distributed 49,272 helmets across 22 states, including Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi and Himachal Pradesh. Out of these, he has distributed 6,500 helmets in Varanasi, which happens to be the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister of India, Mr Narendra Modi. He has also distributed 4,000 helmets in Kaimur, his district and around 13,000 helmets in Bihar, thus proving the common saying that “charity begins at home.”

Sold his land as well

Such is the dedication of Kumar that he has sold 3 acres of his ancestral land and his house in Greater Noida so that he can accumulate funds for buying helmets. He claims that to date, he has spent a sum of almost Rs 2 crore for purchasing the 49,000 odd helmets. However, despite the cash crunch, he says that he will not stop and continue to serve humanity and in remembrance of his old friend.

To ensure that this movement of his gains momentum, Kumar has appealed to various corporate houses for donating helmets to him and taking the social responsibility of making India an accident-free nation. He has also created a website, which goes by the name of ‘Helmetman’, in which he has listed websites, eCommerce links and addresses of prominent helmet making companies.

It seems that his deeds are finally catching national attention, as the renowned Bollywood Actor and philanthropist Mr Sonu Sood hosted him for a programme on his work for a private news channel.

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