Former India opener Navjot Singh Sidhu is a man of many words and it is hard to imagine that he once barely spoke in the team dressing room.
The cricketer-turned-commentator and politician credits his transformation from an introvert to an outspoken person to Swami Vivekananda's books.
"The first time my professor told me Sherry you have got to participate in a debate, I took leave from school for the next three days. The first time I was appointed a prefect, I had to say school disperse. That didn't happen. I fainted. That is how scared I was. Fear clogs, faith liberates," said Sidhu.
"Only in the year 1998, when I left cricket, in the last phase, that I stumbled across Swami Vivekananda's books. The first volume transformed my life. It was a metamorphosis. A catharsis. It completely revolutionised my life. It changed my perspective. I became a believer. That belief converted me into an achiever. Today there is nothing impossible for me. From 1999 onwards, you saw a different Sidhu. The latent energy that was lying inside just flowered and blossomed," he told reporters last night after launching his website SherryonTopp.
The website, in association with Multi Screen Media, features Sidhu in a virtual avatar and he said, "This is the future in life as in chess. It is the forethought that wins."
"Life will head towards 3G and 4G. When I look at the younger generation, their life exists on two things-- the mobile phone and the apps. If you have to connect with all genres, this is the medium. For me in the last 10-12 years, I have been elusive. People don't know where to reach me and I did not have an official website. There were 70-80 impostor sites. It's a new avatar. You have to reinvent yourself," he said.
