Even small things by you can motivate the country a lot: Prime Minister Modi to para athletes [Video]

Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the Indian contingent at the Tokyo Paralympics to play a bigger role outside their arena to bring about a change. The video of his interaction with the para athletes was released on Sun

New Delhi, Sep 12: Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the Indian contingent at the Tokyo Paralympics to play a bigger role outside their arena to bring about a change. The video of his interaction with the para athletes was released on Sunday, three days after the break-fast meet.

Modi said that he gets "motivation and inspiration" from their performance. He claims, "Aapne haari hui maansikta ko haraa diya, bohot badi baat hai (You have defeated a defeatist mindset with your achievements, it's a big thing),"

"Even small things by you can motivate the country a lot, how can you motivate the country further. You can visit schools, localities. Apart from the world of sports, you can do something else for the country and help bring about a change," the 70-year-old PM added.

The Prime Minister stated that they have bright future ahead and he is always there to support them. "your dream is our dream and to realise that, I will do all it takes," he added.

Narendra Modi organised the break-fast meet with the Indian contingent of Tokyo 2020 Paralympics at his residence. At the meet, the Prime Minister, who is aware of gold-winning shuttler Krishna Nagar's back story, asked the reason why he dedicated to the Covid-19 warriors.

"I found it very touching but what were you thinking when you did that?" asked Modi. "I saw health workers doing their duty without thinking about themselves, that's what inspired me to make that gesture," responded Nagar.

Bhavinaben Patel, who won a silver medal, claimed during the interaction that she had suffered viral infection and a bout of fever during the games. She said, "I didn't have a good first match because of that. It was a difficult day but I thought of your words during the send-off and I was not among those who met you that day. So I decided that I would everything to meet you. I also thought that this might be my only chance," she said.

Modi responded, "Never think negatively, you are a giant-killer," Modi said.

The Paralympics was held between 24 August and 5 September in which 54 athletes participated, winning five gold, eight silver and six bronze medals. India won an unprecedented 19 medals this time.

Congratulating their performance, the Prime Minister said, "I think there needs to be a workshop on coaching disabled athletes, a book can also be written," Modi said.

"Like you had told us during the send-off, give your best and don't take any pressure, I only did that during the Games. Medals happened by sticking to that," said Lekhara, who became the first Indian woman to win a gold and two medals at the Games.

The athletes thanked the Prime Minister for hosting the breakfast event and they felt honoured to share a table with him.