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Hats off to two legends

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Dearest Darling Friends,

Have you ever noticed the test jersey wore by South African cricketer Hashim Amla?

Ahaa! You would have noticed it did not carry the name or the logo, of team sponsor, “Castle”.

Why so?

On grounds of principles. Hmmm. It is because Castle is intobeer business. Hashim Amla believes promoting beer is againstthe teachings of Islam. He put his point to the board. He waswilling to quit cricket if necessary rather than promote a beercompany. Awesome, isn’t it?

The board took it up with the sponsor. The sponsor resisted a lotbut ultimately valued his belief. He was the first player to beallowed exception from the rule of wearing the sponsor logo onhis t-shirt.

So?

He did not pocket any money from his match fee. Nor did heprofit from his share of money pooled from awards that the teamwon in Test matches. He happily paid the financial cost butchose to live by his conscience.

Hats off to you dearest Hashim!!! You are definitely a legend. This is a tremendous gesture of believing inone’s faith.

I remember reading a few years ago, one of the soft drink giants approached Puella Gopichand with asponsorship offer for 2 crores for starring in a advertisement. He had just won the All England Badminton Openand was an inspirational figure for young sports enthusiasts all over India. His fame was at its peak.

Those days, advertisement offers for such an astronomical amount was unheard of. Those days, badminton wasnot a paying sport. Those who played it, played for the love of it. It was not as such, a ‘stable’ career. Therefore, 2crores would have set him up for the rest of his life and more.

He declined. On grounds of principles. On being asked the reason for turning down such a lucrative, once in alifetime offer, Puella Gopichand is rumored to have said, “These soft drinks are not good for sports people. If Ipromote these drinks, it will be a wrong guidance for the youngsters. How can I do it?”

Hats off to you Dearest Gopichand. Awesome mann! You steal my heart. You are indeed another legend. This isa tremendous gesture of feeling responsible for what others ‘might’ learn from you. Tremendous indeed!!! This isliving by conscience. Great indeed.

We live in a world where many parents themselves, with impunity, set wrong examples for their own children.Very few care a damn about what wrong someone else might, totally unrelated to them, learn from them.

Many in today’s world, tell lies to save a few rupees, even when they have enough for themselves.

Here are two classy examples of people living by their conscience, driven by their beliefs and principles.They did not bother about the cost. They bothered about impact and conscience.

Hats off to them, from all of us, for being such inspiring examples. As I write about them, my heart iscontinuously saying, “wow, wow, wow”.

I am inspired. What about you?

With love, prayers and best wishes,

naren