Video summary
Prime Minister Narendra Modi engaged in a heartfelt interaction with India's Commonwealth Games champions, acknowledging their decade-long dedication and the inspiring impact of their achievements on the nation's youth. The Prime Minister emphasized that the athletes' hard work over the last ten to twelve years has not only secured continuous victories for India but also established a powerful tradition of success that should be promoted in schools. He highlighted how the medals won by these athletes serve as a beacon of inspiration, encouraging young students to pursue sports and overcome challenges, thereby transforming the narrative around athletic participation from one of restriction to one of empowerment.
The conversation delved into the personal struggles and triumphs faced by the athletes, including injuries, family issues, and the emotional weight of narrowly missing medals in major events like the Paris Olympics. Despite these hardships, the champions expressed immense pride when representing their country on the podium, noting that their victories are a collective achievement for India rather than individual accolades. The dialogue also touched upon specific memorable moments, such as a boxer's victory over Pakistan on Kargil Vijay Diwas and another athlete's emotional journey after missing a gold medal by a single kilogram, illustrating the resilience required to succeed at the highest level while maintaining a spirit of joy and camaraderie with friends and family.
A significant portion of the discussion focused on the transformative role of government initiatives like Khelo India and the support received from various stakeholders, including military coaches and spiritual leaders. The athletes credited these programs for providing necessary training facilities and fostering a robust sports culture that has raised an entire generation of competitors. They noted that while winning medals is crucial, the true success lies in developing a deep-rooted sports culture across the country, ensuring that young athletes from all backgrounds have the opportunity to train and compete, thus contributing to the nation's long-term sporting legacy.
The interaction concluded with mutual expressions of gratitude and blessings, as the Prime Minister praised the athletes for bringing glory to the country and vowed continued support for their future endeavors. The champions shared anecdotes about their training journeys in various holy cities like Varanasi and Ujjain, reflecting a blend of spiritual devotion and athletic discipline that defines their unique path to success. With promises to meet again and wishes for future victories, the session ended on a high note, celebrating not just the medals won but the enduring spirit and unity that binds the athletes, the government, and the people of India together in pursuit of excellence.
Read the full video transcript
I've been here for about 12, 13 years.
If I have received someone regularly and every time
I have met someone in this house, then he is a
player. Due to your hard work of the last 10-12 years,
due to your efforts to make India win continuously
and
due to the tradition of reaching new heights in success, the
work which we might have gone to schools and said that one should not
play, should be done.
We could have done that work by going to schools.
More than that,
your medal inspires them. You
promised me last time that
both your daughters will become players.
Yes sir. She is still young in age.
In the next Commonwealth Games, he brought home three medals.
Sure?
Yes sir.
When I was running, when my event was on 29th, it was
Guru Purnima, so that day
I gave a gift to my guru,
you made me feel very proud, so many tears were flowing,
I feel as if a gold medal was dripping from every drop of tear
[laughs].
I was very happy, I was emotional too, that
day I was very happy and I cried because I had missed my
medal by one kg in the Paris Olympics and what all do we have to face in the life of a player, so in
these four years I had to
face so many things, there were injuries all the time
and family problems, all that was happening, so with
great difficulty I faced these four years, so when
I was on the podium,
Sir, and when our flag goes up
and our national anthem is played,
Sir, we cannot stop ourselves from crying, that is
very, very good, I do not consider this achievement of yours as
just your achievement, it is not like that,
your victory
becomes a great inspiration for the coming generations.
Everyone was afraid of us that there would be a fight with India.
Now we will lose the first fight itself.
Our medal will also not come. That
means we act on our beliefs.
Yes sir. What happened? She was fighting with the restaurant owner
?
We had such a good performance, it was the
last day and everyone had won and there were
people from all over India, so I am feeling a little bad.
[laughs]
So I told him nicely and requested him,
sir. Then he agreed.
The change has just happened, sir. The situation of this victory is
happiness and joy with friends
and the games are over, so a
mood of laughter, fun and enjoyment, at such a time, looking at that map
and registering it
and immediately the country stands up while receiving the medal. It is not like that,
I am
telling the truth about the country from within. This video is not
your normal one. People will remember it for a long time. Now the
players of the world have started fearing these boxers.
Surely Sir, everyone was scared.
Gold medals were coming one after the other and I
mean
[nasal voice] it was
like a blast in the end, the
way we are getting support,
we are getting back to back competitions, it is a
big thing and all our young
athletes have
come from the Khelo India scheme and this is
bringing a big change in the entire sports
if you people increase the prestige of Khelo India
and prestige will
not be achieved just by going there and cutting ribbons.
You will play the same way a small
student plays a small young player.
This will make a huge contribution because
we still have a long way to go. I have to bring many medals.
Who won on Kargil Vijay Diwas?
That day was Kargil Day and the day
I fought with Pakistan, sir, it was on the
same day. I am from the Indian Army,
so that day I was already very determined
that sir, we have to defeat Pakistan,
so I [sound of clearing throat]
defeated Pakistan one-sidedly by 5-0, so I gave our Indian Army
papers to the heroes, sir.
You should remember this
and since you yourself are from the army,
I definitely believe that the sentiments you have expressed for the brave soldiers of the country and
not that I
dedicate my medal to the winners of Kargil.
He added glory to that victory and you defeated the one who had to be
defeated, you were
talking about Pakistan, I
remembered the incident, Sir, it was the 2015 World Military Games
and my first fight was with Pakistan
and it was the World Military Games, so I got a
call from the military saying that I should not fight with Pakistan,
then [laughs] I
won the first round by four to one, I won the second round by three to two,
but both of them clashed with each other's heads and
both of them got cuts, so I won that fight.
After that both of them went to the hospital to get
stitches. Then in 2014, you
came to Prime Minister for the first time and the
name of the Army coach who went with us was Narendra Rana. And then after
thinking for a long time he asked me, brother, can I
say something? Yes, say. Meaning brother, your
name is Narendra. Your coach's name is Narendra.
[laughter] Your Prime Minister's name is
Narendra. So I have started hating the name Narendra. It is not just that
you increased the number of medals.
You raised a generation.
My heart is also pounding.
You don't worry. [laughter]
But
today you're going to get a medal for speaking too.
Someone in my friend circle had said that
I used to tell him something like brother,
you should do this for your own good. So he often used to
tell me that are you meeting Modi?
We
say in Haryanvi, Sir, are you in cahoots
with Modi that we should listen to you? So
today I met you. Sir, I will be able to tell him that
yes, I have met Modi ji.
[Appreciation]
Maiden won only Maiden in fewer games. Then
I gave the credit to sir. I had a dream to
win a maiden title once but I did
not have a training centre. After I came to S,
I was able to win the maiden title by training a lot.
So I happily
gave credit to Sir because there was a lot of improvement. It is a
matter of great honour for me.
You worked hard and remembered me. I am
very grateful to you friend.
You were practicing sports in Varanasi, right?
Yes sir,
how is the stadium built?
Sir, it is well made. I
went there to train for 101 days because I had
gone to the temple and had trained there itself.
I also want to settle there
because I like Kashi Vishwanath very much,
sir. Was
training in Bhopal. Yes
sir. Did you go to
Ujjain in 2008 or not? Yes sir, I
also went to Ujjain sir.
Well, she has also gone to Mahakal. Yes
sir. This
happened once near Kashi Vishwanath, this
month of Sawan is still there.
I will go there after going home, sir.
Ok.
Sai sir has also supported me a lot. It is
because of this that I have reached here, sir.
And I was also in the Khelo India scheme. I won a silver medal in the
first Khelo India held in 2018.
I
saw you there too at the opening ceremony. So
I had a medal in this, so I also
got the scheme and I have reached here. Sir,
sports system is one thing
but the country gets medals only
when a sports culture is developed in the country.
Friends, you have done a great job. You have brought glory to the country,
I congratulate you
and you can believe that you will be victorious in future too
and we will
meet here once again. Thank you very much. I wish you much.
[Applause]
This is the third consecutive time the country has won Madam.
Many blessings son
and thank you so much I was blessed by Sir [laughs] on my
birthday and
many congratulations today wow
[laughs]
one
[music]
whoever plays will
bloom.