About UGPF

My journey began on April 13th, 1988, in the small village of Akaunha, near a small town in Bihar called Jaynagar, situated on the border of India and Nepal. I love my village and the people there – my agricultural fields, animals, rain, and the smell of soil after rain, festivals and gatherings in festivals and ceremonies – and those are my identity. But when I turned 10 years old, I realized a dramatic change in the attitude of our community: criminal and illegal activities had increased. I found that we were living in an environment of fear. It was not the people I used to love, and it was not the village where I used to enjoy and want to live. Now, I just wanted to be away from that place. But that was not possible for my parents, especially for my mother. She will die, but she will never leave those fields and homes that she has built with her labor.

My village’s location is like this: We have a ball from Nepal and a bat from India. I used to play cricket, as it is a very popular game in India. It was not just a popular game for us but a culture. My village consists of various societies: rich and poor, Muslim and Hindu, touchable and untouchable, except Brahmins and Kashtriyas (according to caste practice). For me, they are always the same—my villagers, not more and less, maybe because of my education. We were happy and satisfied, even with the scarcity. We had delightful surroundings, minor clashes, and unbounded love. At festival time, we all used to celebrate together. I can see it no more.

My family is a farmer by profession, but my father became a government teacher, and because of that, we moved to a nearby town, which was not wholly a town and much farther from my village. Since we have agricultural lands and my mother is a farmer, we often visit our relatives and farming fields.

My grandfather was a great storyteller who worked in cinema in addition to his family’s farming profession. He learned a lot from cinema, as he used to mention. No night was complete without one of his stories, and he strongly believed in the value of education. He provided his sons with a good education and living conditions, and his vision and aura continue to inspire me to this day. He was always available to solve people’s problems through stories, which made him a significant judge in the panchayat. I saw firsthand the love and respect that people had for him, as evidenced by the turnout at his death ceremony where almost the entire village came together, regardless of their caste, religion, gender, or age. My grandmother was also a wise and caring lady who was two years older than my grandfather. He always respected her, and they were the best couple I have ever seen. My grandmother is still alive, but I carry on their legacy and strive to make a positive impact in my community.

My father is a retired government teacher and veterinarian. He and my mother were my first teachers, providing me with both religious and modern education. I would like to acknowledge my middle school teachers, Rama Ashish Singh and Pramod Singh, for their foundational teachings However, as time passed, the social and communication gap widened as our parents became more engaged in their work. I pursued higher education in Delhi, graduating from Jawaharlal Nehru University with a degree in German Language and Literature. I was fortunate enough to receive a scholarship to visit Germany and Turkey. After completing my studies, I worked with several MNCs in Delhi before moving on to book publication companies like Springer and Westermann in Pondicherry, where I served as a project manager for a long time. Fate intervened, and I received a scholarship to continue my academic pursuits, which I had previously decided not to pursue. In 2017, I moved to Istanbul, Turkey, to pursue a second Master’s program and a teaching fellowship at Ibn Haldun University. 

I had a life-changing experience while living in Pondicherry. The humble nature of Sriram Subramanya, the Founder, Managing Director, and CEO of the company where I worked, along with the positive work environment and support of my senior colleagues, like my elder sister Indumadhi Srinivasan, inspired and nurtured my dream. I also want to mention Manu Puthur from Kerala, who was my roommate and became like an elder brother and a “second teacher” to me at Jawaharlal Nehru University. He taught me a lot prior to my move to Pondicherry.

When I moved to Istanbul, on the one hand, I struggled a lot, feeling distant from my village. However, I became so focused on myself that I began to feel as though my education and experiences were slipping away. I found city life equally distressing than village life; a happy and satisfying life in the city was just a matter of perspective. The truth was something else. Nevertheless, in the Turkish language course, I was assigned to do a presentation with my classmates. “Umran” came to mind as a topic to present as an assignment. Umran, as a concept, is a projection of Tunisian sociologist Ibn Haldun. Umran is an Arabic word that means prosperity, but for Ibn Haldun, it has a deeper meaning, which is social cohesion, society, and civilization. I conceive of it as Divine Unity. I was not aware that this Umran, the concept of Ibn Haldun, would be something that I would bring into practice one day. I reflected on my research on Bauhaus, which was the inspiring force behind my Master’s studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University. Bauhaus is an art and architecture school in Germany founded by Walter Gropius in 1919 and conceived as a form of unity of all arts. I brought my whole professional and personal experience in communication to realize the idea and named it Umran Green, to include nature along with human society.

In 2018–19, I visited my family and many people came to see me. They made me feel guilty, saying things like “You were born here” and “Do you remember when I used to bring you this and that? Now the time has come for you to give those things back.” Although I was not happy to hear their words, I had my reasons for distancing myself from the village. When I returned to Istanbul, I felt empty, and their words kept echoing in my mind. I knew I had to do something about it. I started thinking, and my old utopian idea of building a school came back to me. It was a big goal, but not impossible. At the very least, I could give my best effort and no longer feel guilty. I planned a few steps to move forward, and the first step was to open a library, which I could fund with my own money.

The idea of establishing a school in my region was not new. It had always been a vision in my heart and mind, but I hesitated to pursue it because it was such a big challenge. I had not yet gathered enough courage to take on that challenge.

I talked to my father and explained my first small project, and I was pleased when he gave me his consent. From there, I began working on the project in earnest, consulting with my brother Ram Sachin Kumar, who had recently completed his bachelor’s degree in computer engineering and is now a web developer. I also spent hours discussing my ideas with my friends from various backgrounds, including British, Bangladeshi, Indian, Albanian, and Palestinian individuals, namely Hossein Turner, Muhammad Hossain, Shameer Alavudeen, Amra Mlloja, and Muntasir. Their input was invaluable in helping me further develop my ideas.

Throughout the process, the supportive and multidisciplinary environment at Ibn Haldun University has been crucial to my progress. I am grateful to professors Heba Raouf, Ercüment Asil, Önder Küçükural, Vahdettin Işk, Bruce B. Lawrence, Alparslan Açikgenç, and especially Recep Şentürk for their guidance and support. I would also like to thank my professors at Jawaharlal Nehru University in India, Prof. Babu Thaliath and Prof. Sadhana Naithani, for believing in me and recommending me for further studies. Lastly, I am grateful to Prof. Rajendar Dengle, and my favorites, Prof. Rekha Rajan and Prof. Sadhana Naithani, from whom I learned a lot.

Finally, at the beginning of 2021, I successfully established a small but high-quality library dedicated to my grandfather, Sone Lal Yadav, called the SLY Library. The library is organized into four sections, each representing a different cultural element: a study section, a music section, an art gallery, and a café. This library will also serve as a model for the Umran Green Residential School, which is currently operating online by providing free language courses in more than 10 languages such as Hindi, English, Turkish, Arabic, German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Persian, Italian, Russian, and Urdu, from basic to advanced level, bringing people from all walks of life together on one platform. The language program is designed with a weekly “Umran Cultural Program”.

Today, the UGPF Language Academy has over 3,000 students enrolled from more than 42 countries, with a team of over 50 teachers, 200 volunteers, 18 staff members, 10 interns, 7 renowned professors, and 15 research students from several countries. UGPF is rapidly becoming one of the fastest-growing organizations globally. I firmly believe that this project, which has been a long journey of mine, has the potential to benefit people across borders and nations, and I am enthusiastic about its future impact.

Thank you.
Rajeev Kumar