Today, my father, Kaushal Kishore Jain, or Kaushal Ji as he was affectionately known, would have been seventy-nine years old. Sadly, we lost him in 2015.

I still remember that night in a hospital ICU ward in India. I waited eagerly for a miracle to happen, as my father breathed his last on a ventilator. His doctor, who was supposed to perform a stent replacement on him, had left without doing so for a vacation on the last minute. I can never forget that conversation at Durlabhji Memorial Hospital as I pleaded with the doctor to make one last attempt to save my father’s life. I guess that doctors’ vacation was more important as he left Kaushal Ji struggling between life and death.

The healing process after the loss of a parent is a long and hard one. Over the past four years, I have tried to convince myself that it was Kaushal Ji’s destiny, as it was my family’s destiny, and that we must move forward with life. Kaushal Ji had a dynamic personality, which was driven by compassion for others and a high standard of personal ethics. One of the ways in which I honored his memory and life’s work was to set up the Kaushalam in Jaipur, which aims to support the next generation of social enterprises in India.

With Kaushal Ji as my father, I was introduced to the concepts of philanthropy and social activism at an early age. My father was constantly worried about helping others, so much so that at times, my mother and I felt that he cared more for his social causes than he did for his own family. Yet, as kids growing up in a household that was always bustling with intense political and societal debates, we couldn’t have asked for a better start in life.

In 1975, when I was barely two years old, Kaushal Ji, an RSS party worker, was imprisoned in Rajasthan during the Indian Emergency. Of course, I was too little to comprehend what was going on. Our humble house in Jaipur was often the epicenter for RSS workers, leaders, and other politicians to gather for emotive discussions, whilst enjoying a wholesome Rajasthani home-cooked meal. My mother, sister, and I watched from the sidelines as local and national political issues were dissected to the bone.

As I grew older, my father’s philanthropic projects (which included the Galtaji Restoration Project, creation of Keshav Vidyapeeth University in Jaipur, and launch of a Senior Citizens Society) allowed me the opportunity to both observe and interact with national political stalwarts such as Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ji, Murli Manohar Joshi Ji, Lal Krishan Advani Ji, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat Ji, and Bharat Ratan Nana Deskhmukh Ji, as well as RSS Chiefs Bala Saheb Devras Ji, and Prof. Rajendra Singh.

In 2003, after working for five years in India, I moved to the United States with my wife. I feel incredibly blessed to have the success I have had as a global entrepreneur, business mentor, and venture capitalist. My business experience in the U.S and the Indian values inculcated in me by my parents, encouraged me to invest in India. Today I also own a KPO in Jaipur which employs four-hundred people.

Apart from the business aspect of my life, I am driven by a passion for social entrepreneurship, the seeds of which were sown by Kaushal Ji. Much of who I am today, and aspire to be in the future, is shaped by my father before he passed away. His absence made me dwell even more about the significance of his social work and his dedication for a larger good continues to make a difference in the lives of millions of Indians even today.

After his death, on a home visit to Jaipur, I discovered an iron chest containing Kaushal Ji’s work files, pictures of his political and social life, video cassettes and some other stuff. It was his legacy left behind for me. At first, I wanted to organize an exhibition of his work or create a physical museum to celebrate the achievements of his life. But then I realized that most people today don’t have the time to visit a museum, and it wouldn’t be the most effective way to reach a large audience.

So, I came up with the idea of writing a book (to be published both in physical and digital form) on Kaushal Ji’s work with the hope of inspiring social entrepreneurs around the world. The process of organizing the content and approaching his friends for information was not easy. It has taken me almost four years to prepare a biographical account of my father’s life; a young man from humble roots who became one of the youngest MLA’s in Rajasthan and evolved into a beloved social activist.

It gives me great pleasure to launch this book today, on my father’s 79^th birth anniversary. 

In India, working on community projects is often labeled ‘charity work,’ which in my opinion does not recognize the personal dedication, the scale of effort, and resource mobilization required to achieve successes such as Kaushal Ji’s Galtaji restoration project or the Keshav VidyaPeeth project. To quote one of my father’s very good friends, “If Kaushal Ji were into the business of profit, he would have been a billionaire, not a poor activist.”  This thought has stuck with me all my life. Now the time has come to tell the world the story of Kaushal Ji through this book.

I want every aspiring social entrepreneur to read about Kaushal Ji’s community projects, work ethics, and fundraising prowess, and walk away from it a more inspired person.

The stories, projects, and political incidents from my father’s life, which influenced me the most are included in this book, along with my own understanding of those topics.

I currently reside in Tampa Bay, Florida in America along with my wife Parul and two children – Aabhas and Ishi. We have as a family decided that the proceeds from the sale of this book will go towards supporting aspiring social entrepreneurs globally and funding of education-based projects in India. You can participate in this noble cause by sponsoring the tuition fee, of $251 (INR 18000) per year, for the 11-12th-grade girls at Keshav Vidya Peeth University here. I will match every dollar raised here!

Keshav Vidyapeeth 30 Highschool girls 100% tuition fee was funded by our foundation this year 2019

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