After being denied opportunity to speak in the Rajya Sabha, former Indian captain Sachin Tendulkar took to Facebook to talk about the importance of sports and fitness in daily life.

Sachin began his video message on Facebook, saying, there were some things that I wanted to communicate to you. I will try doing that here. Sachin said that his father, writer-poet Professor Ramesh Tendulkar, gave him the greatest gift: right to play and the freedom to play.

Sachin said that his father supported him and encouraged him to play, which inculcated the importance of sports and fitness in his life.

He said that there are many pressing matters that require attention like economic growth, poverty, health-care and food security.

Sachin spoke about the sports, health and fitness in India, and said that they have a telling impact on the economy.

The master-blaster said that his vision for India is — A healthy and fit India and added that ‘Jab swasth hua yuva, tabh desh main kuch hua’.

The Rajya Sabha MP said that we need a proper plan and structure in place to become a sporting nation and commented that fitness session have become light, while eating sessions are turning heavy

Sachin also said that in a mobile world we are becoming immobile.

We need to transform India from a sports-loving nation to a sporting nation, he said.

Building the nation

Sports has a unique way of building a nation, sports can build character for individual, so character for individual will mean character for India, the master-blaster said.

Sachin emphasised that “we must build a sporting culture in India, otherwise a young, unfit, unhealthy India is recipe for disaster”.

‘Three-I’ framework

Sachin also talked about his proposed framework of three I — Invest, Insure, Immortalise.

He commented that, Indians must invest our own time and effort and insure our wellness. “Each one of us should start adopting an active sport and play it regularly”.

Regarding the framework, Sachin said, “Citizens and school children should have more access to sports infrastructure, open spaces and play ground should be retained. Along with smart city we should build smart sport city.”