Jaswant Singh Gandam & Raman Nehra
India Post News Service
PHAGWARA: Arjuna awardee hockey legend and former captain of the Indian hockey national team Rajpal Singh and motivational speaker, certified trainer, former sea-captain and corporate executive Siddarth Choudhary interacted with Lovely Professional University students and shared with them important fitness tips and nationalist views.
A varsity release issued on March 5 said that occasion was ‘Fitness Talk’ organized at Shri Baldev Raj Mittal Auditorium by one of the 150 student organizations, Club-20, working under the aegis of Division of Student Welfare at LPU.
Presently DSP with Punjab Police, youth icon Rajpal Singh and Choudhary inspired LPU students to be fit at all levels, be it physical, mental or emotional.
Both the elite guests were welcomed at the campus by LPU Director General Er H.R. Singla.
Equating LPU with University of Birmingham (United Kingdom) in terms of infrastructure, Singh shared that the people of Punjab are fortunate to have such a world class university in their own state.
Interacting with students, he advised them to build their own capacity, be better than yesterday’s performance, develop the habit of having good food, not to be emotionally weak as this usually compels a person to take wrong steps, and not to get tired mentally.
Philosophically, he shared: “Life is itself a great marathon and we ourselves have to learn how to be fit to run, win or lose. One can be motivated by anybody, even by a rickshaw-puller who keeps on plying, plies for his family and life. So, always try to feel unique instead of being a mere part of a crowd. Every action needs hard work and fitness, keep on trying for the same on emotional, mental and physical levels.”
On being asked how, after being a sportsman, he felt wearing a police uniform, Singh answered that except for the colour of the dress nothing has changed from within.
“First, I used to play for the country wearing blues, and now I am dressed in khakis. The job remains the same – to serve the nation, the spirit remains the same, only the field has changed”, he said.
Choudhary, who is also long distance runner, talked about “intensity of training” with the students, particularly physical education students, and advised them to be always cautious about their diet, rest and recovery during and after training. He stressed that health is an asset for all and said that if one is healthy he or she can study and act well.
Rajpal Singh led the Indian hockey team to victory in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in 2010. Under his captaincy, India also won their first ever Commonwealth Games medal and, an Asian Hockey Champions Trophy title by defeating Pakistan in the final in 2011. In the same year, he was honoured with the Arjuna Award.
