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यद्यदाचरति श्रेष्ठ: - Gopichand Pullela - Badminton Champion and Role Model

June 5, 2012

Sometime ago I had started a series of posts on role models based on Geeta 3-21 (यद्यदाचरति श्रेष्ठ: - yadyadaacharati shreshhThaH). I came across a reference to Gopichand Pullela in lesson 6 of the Gita online course conducted by the Chinmaya International Foundation.

Gopichand Pullela is the second Indian to win the All England Open Badminton Championship in 2001 and is currently the coach for India's Saina Nehwal. After winning the championship, it appears that he was approached by major soft drinks manufacturers to promote their product (reportedly Coke or Pepsi) and he turned this down simply because he was convinced that such aerated drinks were bad for health. The wikipedia entry for Shri Pullela quotes him as saying, "As a result of aggressive marketing by cola companies, people have stopped drinking healthy drinks like fruit juices and people in the villages have actually begun to believe that soft drinks are good for health. Aerated drinks are not only bad for health, they are also bad for local industry. Thanks to aerated drinks, it's becoming more and more difficult to find nimbu sherbet and coconut water."

While being a badminton champion is high achievement in itself, Shri Gopichand Pullela deserves as much kudos for turning down a significant sponsorship deal based on his convictions.

For a beautiful clip of the 2001 All England Open Badminton Championship game, see the Youtube clip below



Hari Om and Namaskaar until the next post
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