Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said that tennis star Sania Mirza and master batsman Sachin Tendulkar were ideal role models for kids.
Giving away awards to 29 child achievers from all over the country on the occasion of Children's Day, the PM told his young audience,
"Sania Mirza, who was a little girl like you, dreamt of becoming one of the world's best tennis players. With hard work, she achieved that.
I hope that from among you, many more Sania Mirzas and Sachin Tendulkars will emerge." Also sharing the dais with the Prime Minister were 12-year-old Lakshmi who said that her dream was to become a film star, while Chandrashekhar, a differently-abled boy, said he wanted to become the Prime Minister.
"I just heard Lakshmi and Chandrashekhar. It is the responsibility of the adults to fulfill the dreams and aspirations of these kids," Singh said. Earlier, the PM distributed the awards, that included the gold medal that went to 14-year-old Benzy from Uttar Pradesh, who is mentally-challenged but has overcome her disability to become a singer and has even got an entry into the Limca Book of World Records.
The silver medal winners included Aakanksha Jachak from Madhya Pradesh, who has entered the Guinness Book of Records for non-stop singing, the magician sisters J V Sushmitha and J V Mounica from Andhra Pradesh and five-year-old Ismail Shan Mirza from Uttar Pradesh, who is conversant with computers.