Sachin Tendulkar: Vanakkam (Applause).
It’s been a sheer joy to be here, thank you very much for this opportunity (Applause).
Let me start by congratulating Shri Sadhguruji and Isha Foundation for doing such a fantastic job
And you all, by being here, it has made even special.
I noticed couple of matches here and what I appreciated the most was in the spirit that
both the matches were played.
They were competitive but played in the right spirit.
If the referee gave a decision, they accepted, so which was very, very good to see (Applause).
More than 7,000 participants made this event a special one and you can see the response,
it’s been simply incredible.
I’ve heard so much about this but to be actually present here and to witness is even better
Being a sportsman, sports mean everything to me (Applause).
‘Sports for all’ is something that I encourage.
Encourage everyone in India because sport taught me lot of things in life
to be disciplined, to be focused, to have your routine organized.
Not always I went out and I succeeded.
There were number of occasions when I could not do well.
But sport taught me to get up on my feet again and to compete in the right spirit.
I really like this idea and that’s why when I landed here and saw video again on this,
I suggested to Sadhguruji ki (Hindi word meaning that) – “Why don’t we start something
like this in the village that I’ve adopted near Nellore – Puttamraju Kandrika” (Applause)
because it is helping the community to come closer, stay tighter in difficult times and
that is what sport teaches you.
Sport teaches you teamwork and teamwork can never fail.
It teaches you to take care of one another, to sacrifice for your colleague, to back him up
when he is not doing well.
And I saw that here as well – I mean, you played in partnerships, there was lot of understanding
when you played volleyball and handball.
And that, if you apply it to your day-to-day’s life, most of the problems are taken care of
Sport is… is important…
‘Sports for all’ is important to me because it is about changing our lifestyle.
I find something that I am not really proud of, is we are the diabetic capital of the world
and that is all due to our lifestyle, our habits.
We had to…
We have to change those habits.
We have to learn to lead healthy lifestyle.
And healthy lifestyle means going out and engaging yourselves in some or the other outdoor activity
some sporting activity which takes care of your health because I still remember,
as a youngster, my grandmother always told me, “Take care of your health because
health is your true wealth” (Applause).
So in all, what I’m trying to tell you is, if we all look after our health and respect
what we’ve been blessed by the Almighty, our nation will get healthier.
And the healthier you are, better results you’re going to expect and consistent performance
in whatever you choose to be in life – be it a lawyer, doctor or sportsman, engineer,
whatever it is.
Fitter you are, more consistent results.
So, all I want is fitter and healthier India.
In return, you know, we’ll… we’ll all be smiling for times to come.
I just want to share one more thing which possibly most of you wouldn’t know.
As a child, in my building, I did play volleyball and I had lot of fun
and that continued all the way.
Even in Indian cricket team, before the game started, we played volleyball.
So, it’s all about playing sport and sport is something which’ll give you a reason to smile
And I’m smiling today because I’ve been able to spend time with you.
Once again, thank you very much for inviting me here and to (Applause)… to all the…
to all the champions – you’ve really done well and to guys who have participated
in this tournament, you’re all winners because you’ve won my heart by participating and
being here, playing sport in the right spirit.
Continue to do so and give us all a reason to smile.
Namaskaram (Applause).
Sadhguru: (I know this’s an unpopular thing to do – trying to speak after Sachin (Laughs).
So as all of you know, Sachin has become the jewel of India (Applause).
He is our Bharat Ratna and a cricketer without compare – the only cricketer who has overshadowed…
who has overshadowed Don Bradman (Applause).
And above all, more than just being a cricketer, he is a sporting phenomena who has inspired
a whole generation, both in this country and everywhere in the world – to what extent
is quite immeasurable.
Today, the people of Coimbatore, all of you (Applause) are demonstrating how much he matters
to all of us.
There’re many, many things you can go on saying about him because I think
nearly two generations of people have had the joy of watching him play.
There’re many ways to describe him but I think it was very amusing for me to see that
the President of United States, Barack Obama, said, “I know nothing about cricket but
when Sachin plays, I watch” and (Applause)…
Let me finish (Laughs).
When s…
“When Sachin plays, I watch but I still don’t understand anything about cricket
but I watch because whenever he plays, my country’s productivity goes down by five percent
It’s a…
It’s a great privilege…
It’s a great privilege that he has come to inspire and to endorse
the spirit of rural Tamil Nadu, to inspire sport in rural India.
A ball can change the world and this change is slowly happening.
Last fifteen or sixteen years, the Gramotsavam events have been happening, building from
strength to strength.
But we really want to take this to the very roots of every village.
Seventy percent of Indian population being in the rural India, if they…
if they do not play – or if they cannot play – we have a nation which will become
stagnant and sick over a period of time.
So this Gramotsavam and Sachin being here today, recognizing the spirit of rural India,
revitalizing our villages through sporting action.
We have seen…
We…
I could say dozens of incredible stories of youth transforming themselves
simply because of these simple games.
How many youth have transformed themselves, situations in villages have transformed themselves,
many conflicts in the villages have been overcome, many people have come… overcome their addictions
to alcohol and other substances.
There are any number of stories that I could say but the most important thing today is,
the very jewel of India (Referring to Sachin Tendulkar) is endorsing
the spirit of rural Tamil Nadu.
And from here on, there should be no looking back for Gramotsavam.
We don’t want to limit it to Tamil Nadu, we want to take this across, as Sachin requested
(Applause).
In…
He has only one village.
I would like to see that he has at least a hundred villages and we will make sure
sport will be the fundamental of these villages in the next coming years…
in the next few years.
This village in Andhra Pradesh, what?
Sadhguru: Puttamraju Kandrika.
That’s a village, he’s… he’s managed to learn the name (Laughs).
And we will make sure this village and the surrounding areas there, will become
basis of sport and Andhra Pradesh government has already invited us to do this in that region
and definitely we will start in this village.
The most important thing of this event, all of you, the people who love Sachin, who are
screaming ‘Sachin’ all the time (Applause) (People shouting slogans about Sachin)…
Okay, I got it.
Yes, yes, we know!
We know you love Sachin but if you really… if you really love the sportsperson that he is
he is saying that all of you should at least learn to hit a ball straight.
Yes!
Because Sachin is not Ph.D. in sports, he just can hit a ball!
Not a small thing (Laughs).
Just hitting a ball seems like a child’s play – you get into it, it will take all that you have and more
to hit a ball where you want it to go.
So, the youth who’re jumping, “Sachin, Sachin,” I want all of you to take to some sport
You must be able to hit a ball or catch a ball or throw a ball properly.
All of you.
Tell them – today, they must take a (an?) oath they must take to some sport.
Sachin: Of course.
Sadhguru: Sachin is saying that all of you, all the young people – if you are not dead,
you are young – all of you (Laughs).
If you are still alive, that means you are young enough to live.
Everybody should take to some simple sport – hit a ball, throw a ball, catch a ball,
do something.
Every one of you must do this, not just shouting ‘Sachin.’
If you want to honor him, you have to take to some simple sport.
It need not necessarily be professional or competitive but every one of you should take
to some sport at least in your neighborhood.
Tell me yes now!
Participants: Yes!
Sadhguru: That’s good (Applause)!
Because a game… a game is like this – if you want to play a game, you can…You can
you can go to your job halfhearted, you can go to your school and college halfhearted, you can
even get married halfhearted but you can’t play a game halfhearted.
You have to be all out – hundred percent or nothing (Applause).
This is what it takes to make life happen, that you’re hundred percent on everything that you do
And the beauty of the game is you want to win, you want to win like your life depends on it
but if you lose, it’s okay with you.
If you just get these two things, everything that you do in your life, you’re one hundred percent
not ninety-nine, one hundred percent – and you want to win but if you lose
it's okay with you.
If you just get this much, you got the fundamentals of a good life.
So, everyone should take to some simple sport – every one of you.
Don’t think somebody is too old.
If you’re alive, you’re too young, otherwise you wouldn’t be here.
So too old, you have no business to be here.
If you’re here, that means you are young enough to live, young enough to play.
Just bring this into your life – your lives will change.
If you can’t play in some other field, in your own home, a simple game, throw a tennis
throw a tennis ball at each other.
I’m telling you – your relationships will change at home.
Especially if you have children, don’t try to make them read a stupid book, play with the
That’s what is needed (Applause).
If you can play with your family, many things will be ironed out.
You can even play with your mother-in-law, why not (Laughter/Applause)?
A whole lot of things will be sorted out if you just learn to play because that is the
nature of a play, it makes everything light and beautiful.
This is what we need to do our li… to our lives and a game is a way of practicing that
aspect of life, that we know we want to win – nobody wants to lose – but if we lose,
it’s all right because we understand we can’t determine the nature of the result
before we play the game.
This is something that people are struggling with every day.
Everything that you do, you want to fix the result before you play the game – that’s
called match-fixing (Laughs).
That’s not a game.
If you want to play a game, you don’t know the result, that’s why it’s beautiful.
It can go any way but the thing is you’re still hundred percent.
So I want all of you to make use of this iconic presence of Sachin Tendulkar here in Coimbatore
(Applause) to bring… to bring game, to bring sport, to bring playfulness into your family,
into your street, into your neighborhood, into your villages and into your towns and
make India a playful nation because this is good… this is important for our physical health
our mental health, for our presence in the international committee… in the committee
of nations.
Above all, for your own physical, mental and spiritual well-being, you need to learn to
play.
I hope this day will be an inspiration for everybody to take up to a game.
And just see, Sachin didn’t do anything except hitting a ball from the age of fourteen
or fifteen.
See what’s happened to your man, so learn to hit a ball, it’ll do things to you.
You may not become a Sachin Tendulkar but the joy of doing something with some precision
is - it cannot be matched by anything.
Money, wealth, food – these things won’t do that.
Just learn to do something in a precise way, the way you want it.
If you just throw a ball to exactly the place that you want it to go, the joy of that is
something that everybody must experience.
Playfulness is not for children alone.
It’s the adults, the grown-ups, who must play.
Children are anyway playful, it is you who have to learn to play – both on the field,
in your office, in your home, above all in the world in which we live.
Thank you very much for being here