We often heap praise on someone for his or her achievements who gets a lot of media attention and hype. But we forget about the ones who extend their valuable contributions both on and off the field. Yes, we are talking about the cricketer, Gautam Gambhir who put his heart out for India not just in cricket but elsewhere too but never did he get media attention, unlike other cricketers.
Gautam Gambhir is indeed a man of simplicity and generosity. He loves giving it back to the Indian society by donating money to the poor and needy, feeding the hungry stomachs and so on. He launched a campaign ‘Ek Asha’, a kitchen community which aims to serve free food for the less unfortunate ones. Gambhir emphasised that ‘nobody should sleep hungry’.
Gautam Gambhir is well aware of the fact that many people die due to hunger. He had gone an extra mile in a bid to beat the hunger. It’s because of him, poor people are filling their stomachs every day. The kitchen opens from 1 pm to 3 pm daily in Patel Nagar in Central Delhi. “Won World Cups, Won IPLs, beaten opponents. Now time 2 win hearts & beat hunger. Community Kitchen #1 by Gautam Gambhir Foundation,” he tweeted.
In 2017, Gautam Gambhir pledged to donate IPL earnings to families of the martyrs of the Sukma Naxal attacks. In addition to that, he stated his desire to fund the education of children of the affected families. He donated funds to former Indian Boxer Dingko when he was suffering from bile duct cancer. Gambhir is least bothered to bring to public attention as he has been doing this secretly behind the scenes.
“It is disturbing to note that Dingko has been left alone to fight for his life,” he told Indian Express.“It is really tragic the way we treat our sportspersons. I mean here is a guy who has won gold at Asian Games, Arjuna Award and is a Padma Shri. I am sure there are ways to look after him. I have done something which I don’t like to publicise here.” said Gambhir.
He is the only cricketer who pledged to donate his organs after death. “I hereby pledge to donate my kidney, heart, liver, pancreas, small bowel, eyes, lungs and tissues after my death,” Gambir said at the launch of an organ donation website —www.giftalife.org, supported by the Apollo Transplant Institutes.
“Thousands die every year for want of organs and I feel through initiatives like ‘Gift a Life’ we can do society good by bridging the gap…I appeal to everyone to make this decision to donate their organs,” added Gautam Gambhir.
Gambhir gave absolutely everything in 2007 ICC World Cup T20 final and in 2011 ICC ODI World Cup final by chipping in with highest scores of 75 and 97 respectively. When the team was under pressure, he took the bowling attack to the cleaners. But, he was not named the man of the match.
He has done everything to win fans’ hearts. He doesn’t like to publicize. This serves as a testament to the fact that he is a man for the society, something which you don’t see in other cricketers. He is one of our true heroes.
