Bengaluru: Losing a dear friend can be very painful. At the same time, it can also be a moment of learning for the aggrieved. 

Raghavendra Kumar of Bihar is the biggest example. 

Hailing from Bihar, he had gone to Delhi to pursue his law course. There, he met a friend Krishna Kumar Thakur, who was pursuing his engineering course. The two used to live in the same hostel. 

In 2014, when he was riding his bike without a helmet, he met with an accident near Noida. That is when the doctors informed Raghavendra that his friend could have been saved, had he worn a helmet.

 

A learning lesson for him, Raghavendra began distributing helmets free of cost to thousands of people. 

As reported by Dainik Bhaskar, he said, “When I spoke to the doctors after Krishna's death in the hospital, he said that if your friend had worn a helmet, he might have survived. This made me think. After this I decided that now I would not let anyone else die like my friend. After that I started a road safety campaign, under which I used to stand at any crossroads and distribute free helmets to two-wheelers.” 

It is not just about helmets, he has also distributed free books to the needy. 

He adds, “When I went to meet my friend's parents, I had brought some of his books with me. I gave those books to a needy child. After this, I continued to distribute helmets. In 2017 I got a call, this call was from the mother of the child whom I had given Krishna's books. He told that with the help of my books, his son was not only able to read properly, but he has also topped school. Hearing the words of the mother of that child, my heart was very relieved”. 

His message to the people: "My attempt is to have a rule so that no person wearing a helmet can cross the toll plaza. If we can do this in the whole country, then the mindset of the people will definitely change. My request is that whether you are going 50 metres or 50 kilometres, ride a bike wearing a helmet. Accident never comes pre-announced.”