Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with woman footballer from Kashmir Afshan Ashiq, who hit the headlines in 2017 as a stone pelter in Srinagar.
Afshan, 25, played as goalkeeper in J&K women’s football team and later played in the Indian Women’s League in 2019 for FC Kolhapur City. She also trains youngsters in Srinagar.
To encourage her Modi said, “You have done very well in football. Mostly, football fans say ‘Bend it like Beckham’, but now they will say ‘Ace it like Afshan’.”
Prime Minister Modi was interacting with fitness experts and influencers from across the country to mark the one-year anniversary of the ‘Fit India Movement.’
Afshan said she gets inspiration from former India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, eulogised as ‘captain cool’.
“I do meditation at 5:30 every morning to keep my mind cool. I have learnt a lot from M S Dhoni, he is always calm. I like getting that calmness in my life, it helps to do all work calmly. It helps in balancing mental stress.” The session was also attended by Paralympic javelin gold medallist Devendra Jhajharia. Also present were actor, model and runner Milind Soman and nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar.