When Jhandu Kumar’s name echoed through the arena in Glasgow, it carried a weight far greater than the bronze medal hanging around his neck.
For years, “Jhandu” had been a reminder of some of the hardest days of his life. It was a name born from helplessness, poverty and a family’s desperate attempt to save their son after polio left him disabled as a child.
On Friday, the same name announced India’s first medal of the Commonwealth Games.
Jhandu, 28, clinched bronze in the men’s heavyweight para powerlifting event with a total of 130.9 points, successfully lifting 181kg and 190kg. He then went for 196kg, a bold attempt that could have pushed him higher up the podium, but the lift did not count.
For Jhandu, though, the disappointment barely registered.
“The happiness is overwhelming. I haven’t been able to sleep since last night… Even when I lie down, sleep just doesn’t come,” he told reporters during a Sports Authority of India interaction.
The medal was the reward for a journey that began far away from the Commonwealth Games arena, and with a name he once wished he could leave behind.
JHANDU: THE NAME THAT HURT
Jhandu was five when polio changed his life. He remembers little of the illness itself, but he remembers what came after.
“My family says that I got polio when I was 5 years old. I had to sit down and walk… People used to taunt me. They used to say, ‘Now that he has become disabled, what will he do?’”
His family did everything it could to find treatment for him. His parents spent whatever they had, hoping to help their son recover. Eventually, even that struggle became attached to his name.
Friends of his father mocked the family, saying, “Aap ka beta sab jhandu kar diya, sab paisa khatam kar diya.”
The nickname stayed.
For a while, Jhandu tried to leave it behind. He began using another name, Avinash Kumar. But during a visit to a government office, officials called out “Jhandu Kumar”. He went inside. They asked him his name repeatedly, then laughed. There was humiliation in that moment, but Jhandu eventually found a different way to deal with it.
“I felt if everyone is having a good laugh at my name… then this name is good only. Now in all our documents, it is Jhandu Kumar. So, there is no existence of Avinash Kumar any more.”
The name that had once been used to mock him became his own.
FROM E-RICKSHAW TO THE PODIUM
The medal in Glasgow did not arrive easily.
Jhandu’s parents still sell vegetables in their village in Bihar. For eight or nine months, he drove an e-rickshaw to pay for the diet and supplements he needed to continue training.
“I drove the E-rickshaw for my diet. I thought I will earn Rs 200-400 and have supplements with that and continue my gym.”
But the work came at a cost. He would drive during the day and try to train in the evening, only to find that exhaustion had eaten into his gym time. Even driving the vehicle was difficult because of his disability.
“I had trouble to push the brake but I managed despite the polio.”
He kept going.
Para powerlifting was not even supposed to be his sport.
Jhandu initially competed in shot put before Bihar coach Kundan Pandey noticed his physique and suggested that he try powerlifting. He took the advice, competed at a state championship in Sasaram and gradually began making his way through the sport.
The progress was slow. Financial constraints interrupted his training and made every step harder. A bronze medal at the national championships in 2022, however, gave him reason to believe that something bigger was possible.
That same year, Sudhir won Commonwealth Games gold.
Jhandu remembers hearing about his performance from the owner of his gym.
“When our gym owner told me Sudhir bhai had lifted 212kg and won the Commonwealth Games, I said I will also do it. I thought I have to do it for my country.”
Four years later, Jhandu has his own Commonwealth Games medal. It is bronze rather than gold, but even the failed final attempt carries a certain meaning.
He had lifted 181kg safely with his first attempt. The second, 190kg, was enough to put him into medal contention. The third was his chance to chase gold.
“I took the first lift safely. If I had taken the first lift harder, and if I had failed, there would have been a problem for me. The confidence would have been down. My aim was to pass the first lift. After that, the second lift was to get into medal tally. The third lift was for the gold medal.”
He missed. He says it was a technical mistake. His breathing went wrong in the rush, and the barbell became stuck in the rack as he completed the lift. But he does not have any regrets.
A NAME TO BE PROUD OF
Now training at the Sports Authority of India’s National Centre of Excellence in Gandhinagar, Jhandu says his sporting needs are taken care of, even though life back home remains modest.
“My parents are happy, sweets have been distributed in my village.”
The boy who was once mocked for being disabled, whose family was mocked for spending everything they had on his treatment, has returned home with a Commonwealth Games medal.
And the name that was once used as a taunt has echoed through a sporting arena in Glasgow. Jhandu, however, is not finished.
“My journey has started, next I have Para Asian Games and Paralympics for which I have to prepare.”
There is already another number in his sights.
“There is a record of 232kg. I want to break that record,” he said.
For now, though, the name is enough. Jhandu Kumar is a Commonwealth Games medallist.
– Ends
