ISLAMABAD - Indian twin brothers Lakshit Sood and Chandril Sood have said Pakistan is second home to them and they never for a while feel insecure in Pakistan.
Lakshit and Chandril expressed these views during an exclusive interview to The Nation on Tuesday.
“We have arrived in Pakistan a week back and first took part in Begum Kalsum ITF Futures and now we are playing in 4th Benazir Bhutto Shaheed International Tennis Championship at Islamabad Tennis Complex. We had visited Pakistan some 12 years back as junior players and now we both are 27. We had own lot of national tournaments back in India. We are from New Delhi and ever since we knew Pakistan is hosting ITF Futures, we made up our minds to travel to this beautiful country.”
They said both of them started playing tennis at very young age as their father was also a tennis player and university champion. “We share common values and we feel, the impression of the international community about India-Pakistan is not the ground-based reality. People of India love Pakistanis whenever they travel to India and trust us, we had received tremendous love, respect and hospitality from the people of Pakistan. Anyone whom we met and inform that we are from India, started to treat us as VVIPs. Even the taxi drivers, whom we travel and the hotel owner, where we are staying, gave us extra care these things are so close to our hearts, that we get emotional.”
They said they have visited different places and never for a while thought that they were in Pakistan. They also appreciated the Senator Dialwar Abbas PTF Tennis Complex and said the venue has state of art synthetic courts. “We used to play on hard courts while here we are playing on clay courts, which are best maintained.”
When asked about whether they feel any kind of disturbance while adjusting to hard courts to clay courts, they replied: “Yes a bit, but we are used to play on both surfaces back home. We have travelled to different parts of India. We had played in Lahore 12 years back, while we had played in Islamabad and Karachi and our parents also accompanied us and it was so much fun. But the way we adopted to Islamabad is beyond to explain. We have made some very good friends in Pakistan and we are looking forward to extend same warm response when they travel to India. Trust us, we are feeling like playing in some part of Delhi or in India.”
Lakshit and Chandril said: “We want to give a very clear message to people in India and rest of the world that Pakistanis are so much carrying, loving. Sports have no boundaries and sports bring people closer. It has no religion, but one aim to bring different cultures, different countries close to each other’s hearts and Pakistan is the best place to come and enjoy such warmness.”
Lakshit and Chandril said they never felt any security threat while playing in Pakistan. They asked both sides of the governments to bridge the gap and let the people of both countries to come closer through sports. Lakshit and Chandril also thanked to Pakistan Tennis Federation, Islamabad Tennis Complex and all the others, who were so helpful and always treat them like their own sons. “We are already thinking about coming again and again to play and would tell our friends about the actual and sports-loving side of Pakistanis and it would a be a great contribution, if we would be able to bring both sides of the people closer and this is what both sides of the people want and deserve”, they concluded.
