Address At The Inauguration Of Paljor Stadium, Gangtok

Sports integrates Mind, Body and Spirit

I am delighted to be here to inaugurate the sprawling Paljor Stadium When I see sportspersons assembled here, I realize they have come from different districts of Sikkim When youth and dynamic action are combined through sports, I am sure you will electrify Sikkim by your creativity and innovation and above all through your sweat and excellent performance in sports. The combined power of the youth ignited by the spirit of sportsmanship will be the most powerful resource of all resources on the earth, above the earth and under the earth.

I appreciate the spirit of the Government of Sikkim in creating a good stadium in the state which is an essential infrastructure for training the youth in different sports. I would request the parents, teachers, coaches and various agencies to motivate the sportspersons to reach the heights of their performance by providing an environment of encouragement and adequate challenge.

Different ideas, value systems and ways of living are amalgamating to create a new world. In this new global community, the human spirit will rule over the management of the mind. Amidst sportspersons from different districts in Sikkim I can feel the arrival of a new emerging meeting of the minds.

The sportspersons participating in national and international games give spectacular performance in their events, create happiness for themselves, to the fellow sportspersons, to the state, to the nation and to the entire world. All of you collectively enrich the minds of many.

When I see the stadium I am reminded of Mr Baichung Bhutia who is leading Sikkim in Football. I am sure the inauguration of this sports complex will lead to development of many Baichung Bhutias and make the entry of India a force to reckon with in the international sports and games arena, especially football.

I would say, "If at all in human life there is any aspect that can enrich the mind, body and spirit in an integrated way, it is sports and games." I am sure all the sportmen and sports lovers assembled here will propagate the unifying spirit of universal harmony and brotherhood. May God Bless you in all your endeavours.

I now declare the Paljor Stadium open.