Mocked for his name, Jhandu lifts himself onto Commonwealth Games podium

5 min readNew DelhiJul 25, 2026 06:39 PM IST Jhandu Kumar, the 29-year-old, who has sold vegetables and driven e-rickshaws to fund his training, won a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games. (PTI and Special Arrangement) “What’s in a name?” they say. Ask Jhandu Kumar, who won India’s first medal at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. The para powerlifter, who contracted polio when he was four years old, lifted 190kg to win a bronze medal on Friday – a feat he hopes will define him, rather than his name.Hailing from Harnaut village in Bihar’s Nalanda district, Jhandu’s name loosely translates to ‘incompetent person’ in Hindi. However, the 29-year-old, who has sold vegetables and driven e-rickshaws to fund his training, has defied every possible meaning attached to it. “Naam me kya rakha hai