In today’s world, wars are often treated like sports, and sport is often approached with the intensity of wars. While I am not in favor of wars, I wholeheartedly support the values of sports and their application in life.

If one keeps winning all the time, it’s no fun. It becomes very boring and monotonous. For instance, when you play a game with children or a weaker opponent and win; it has no charm. On the contrary, whenever there are chances of losing, and the competition is tough, the game becomes more interesting, has more value, and is more fun.

However, we should always remember one more aspect of any game: even with a tough opponent, one has to cultivate the spirit of playfulness. For example, if one is highly anxious and feverish about losing, there is no fun, and the game loses its spirit. One should play, giving their hundred per cent with all the competitive spirit, but also do it playfully.

Sport is about confidence, joy, unity, laughter, and hope. One should always honour one’s life and be sporty in life. Click To Tweet

The spirit should be to keep going, to keep playing. One should never mind if they lose once, ten times, or even 100 times. The dice should keep rolling. That is where the wisdom lies. The outcome is not the final goal, but the journey. The fun you have while playing, the encouragement and cheer along the way, the effort, and the love of the game — these are the things that matter. One needs to enjoy the game and be happy. Otherwise, with all the competitiveness in the world of sports, one gets stressed very easily, and the game loses its meaning.

Today, our youth are under tremendous mental stress. They are dealing with so many problems in their lives. Once, we organised a wheel-chair cricket tournament for specially-abled sportspersons. They exuded so much hope, and resilience, and through their game, they expressed the real essence of sports.

Today, every 40 seconds, one person takes their own life. Those sportspeople gave hope to them — the thought was clear-you have to be sporty in life, come what may. Me telling someone to be strong is one thing, but their life and sports conveyed the message very clearly. Sport is about confidence, joy, unity, laughter, and hope. One should always honour one’s life and be sporty in life.