Shah Rukh Khan: You guys motivate me when I feel life has no meaning

The

Asian Para Games

begin in less than two weeks and on Wednesday, the 90 members of the India contingent had their official send-off ceremony organised by the

Paralympics Committee of India

, in association with the Meer Foundation and IPL team

Kolkata Knight Riders

at a hotel in Delhi. What made the ceremony special was the presence of Shah Rukh Khan, who, in his words, invited himself to the event so that he could meet the para athletes and ‘steal their confidence’. The actor interacted with the members of the Indian contingent, clicking selfies, obliging autograph requests, and even inviting them to the matches of his IPL team for the next season.

Shah Rukh Khan

Shah Rukh began by sharing an anecdote from his life talking about how his dreams of becoming a sportsman had been ruined as a teenager, but positive reinforcement from his parents kept him going. He said, “There is only one reason for my coming here and it is a little selfish. I’m from Delhi and since I was a kid, I had this one wish that I become a sportsman. I wasn’t very good, but I kept trying because it was my dream to play for my country in any game. I used to play so many sports thinking that kahin mauka lag jaaye aur main Indian team mein pahuch jaun. But when I was 14-15, I got an injury that dented my chances to play. My family was poor, so we also didn’t have the money to get good treatment from somewhere outside. For a year, I stayed cooped up inside the house and kept crying because I thought my life was over. At that time, my parents motivated me a lot.” SRK added, “But since that day to last year, I have had nine surgeries done on my body – shoulder, spine, knee, etc. Even today when I wake up in the morning, it pains. I need to keep lying down for 30-45 minutes, get massage done, and spend a long time in the shower since I need to stretch. And like that year, in my childhood, I still get thoughts ki yaar main sab kuch chhod doon, zindagi ab khatm hai. A month ago, on August 16 was one such day when I had these thoughts and I didn’t want to go to work. I was in bed, planning to cancel all my day’s plans when I saw some of you on TV. I saw Deepa ji (Malik) talking about how she got into para sports and that motivated me.”
The actor said that he invited himself to the event zabardasti since he wanted to meet the para athletes. “Rao sahab (Rao Inderjit Singh, President, Paralympic Committee of India) will confirm ki main iss program mein zabardasti aaya hoon, I wasn’t invited. I spoke to people from the foundation and said mujhe wahan par le jao. And I have come because like my parents motivated me 30-35 years ago, I will selfishly steal some of your positivity and confidence as that will motivate me to keep going for the next 20-25 years,” said Shah Rukh.

(L-R) Rio Paralympic gold medallist Mariyappan Thangavelu, bronze medallist Varun Singh Bhati, silver medallist Deepa Malik, Shah Rukh Khan and 2014 Para Asian Games gold medallist discus thrower Amit Saroha

He then shared the dias with Paralympic medallists Deepa Malik, Mariyappan Thangavelu, and Varun Singh Bhati and Asian Para Games medallist Amit Saroha and talked about the expectations from the Games. Rio Paralympic silver medallist Deepa Malik said, “For a name like Shah Rukh Khan to be associated with para sports is a huge deal. I hope he continues to be associated with para sports in the future.” Talking to the para athletes, Shah Rukh said, “I hope my kids can learn from you the importance of sports and not because you win gold in it or because you get fame, but for personal well-being, it is so important. I hope they can learn that the word impossible does not exist. It’s silly and wrong and it shouldn’t exist.” He then turned to the audience and made a request. “I would request all the kids here, all the sports fans that whenever these guys come on TV or internet in the Asian Para Games, we all cheer for them not because they need it, but because we do, to motivate ourselves and keep our spirits high.”

Javelin thrower Sandeep Choudhary


Javelin thrower Sandeep Choudhary revealed his special connect with the actor. “I had cleared Ramjas in the first cut-off, but waited for Hansraj’s second cut-off list because of you, sir,” he told Shah Rukh, “And since then, I have tried to emulate you in everything I do there.” A visibly amused Shah Rukh called him up to the stage and took a picture with his fan and ‘college junior’ with both of them doing the iconic SRK pose. When an athlete requested Shah Rukh to officially become the ambassador for para sports in India, he replied, “These official things take time, but I assure you that unofficially, I am now the ambassador for paralympians in India and I will do whatever I can, whatever Rao sahab and the PCI deem fit for me to help the cause.” To cement this new association, PCI President Rao Inderjit Singh presented Shah Rukh his own personalised Indian team jersey and the actor, in turn, invited the para athletes to the matches his IPL team will play in the next season.

Rao Inderjit Singh, President, Paralympics Committee of India

Shah Rukh Shamshad, CEO, Paralympics Committee of India