Rejection is very important, one of India’s most successful sportspersons said on Thursday.
“I have a young daughter. She has passed out of Loreto House and is doing her graduation in the UK. She is at a stage in her life where she is trying to do many things. A majority of them get rejected,” Sourav Ganguly told an auditorium packed with students at his alma mater.
“I am extremely happy that she is facing rejection at a very early stage of her life. Because she will then realise, and value, whatever she gets for the rest of her life,” Ganguly said.
“This is just a small word from somebody who passed out of this institution, gone through different levels of life, has gone through rejections at different levels of life and ultimately became successful,” he said.
On Thursday afternoon, he visited St Xavier’s College — after 15 years, in his own words — to receive the Global Xaverian Award.
The past recipients of the award, given to distinguished former students by St Xavier’s College (Autonomous) Kolkata and St Xavier’s College (Kolkata) Alumni Association, include former Vice-President Hamid Ansari, steel baron L.N. Mittal and cricketer Dilip Doshi.
The award was supposed to be handed over to Ganguly at an alumni conclave in Singapore. But he could not make it there.
“I saw the alumni from Singapore congratulating me on video, expecting me in Singapore. This award ceremony was supposed to have taken place in Singapore. But I can tell you from the core of my heart that this is a much better place than Singapore,” he said, prompting a deafening cheer.
Ganguly joined St Xavier’s Collegiate School in 1978 in Class I as a six-year-old. After Madhyamik, he studied in St Xavier’s College, from where he graduated in commerce.
“I am proud because Sourav Ganguly, a living legend, is an alumnus of both the school and the college. It is an honour for the college to value and appreciate his service and achievements with our highest recognition.... I feel proud because we, the Jesuit community of St Xavier’s, have been able to give shape to an important part of his life,” said Father Dominic Savio, the college principal.
The former India captain and former BCCI chief said just as much.
“Thank you, thank you and thank you. I have got various awards in my career. But this one is very very special. Sixteen years spent here were absolutely magical. I genuinely believe I became a sportsman because I studied here.... There was football, there was cricket and there were studies.... Television wasn’t great, there were no mobile phones,” he said.
“I did go to the college, 6 in the morning. Father (Joseph) Maliyekal (former rector and vice-principal) used to chase me. I was playing full-fledged sports at that time. I found the canteen a better place than the economics classroom in the morning. But Father Maliyekal would chase me out of the canteen into the class.”
Firdausul Hasan, secretary of the former students’ association, said Ganguly “inspired every Xaverian” and championed the motto Nihil Ultra (Nothing Beyond).