Nadal praises Chennai

Rafael Nadal was all praise for the people of India and asked the world to learn a lesson or two from them. In a recent interview to Spanish publication La Vanguardia’s, the world No.2 tennis player said he saw a lot of happiness among Indians despite poverty.
The Spaniard, who had come to India for Chennai Open in 2007 and 2008, was inspired by the ‘genuineness among the Indians’.
Nadal was quizzed on what needed to change to live in an ideal world to which he said, “Always we speak of poverty, but, for example, I have been in India, in Chennai, several times, and I can assure you that inside the poverty I see happiness in the faces of the people. And that we should apply to all of us.”
He then continued: “There, where people have practically nothing and live in the streets, you see the faces and they do not deceive you. Here (in Spain), many people have practically everything and tomorrow you can see them going to work and their faces do not reflect happiness. . . We do not value what we have; I’m like this, too.”
Nadal also spoke on religion. “Virtually all the bad things that happen in life are the faults of radicalism of any kind, that triggers problems that could be avoided. You can have hobbies, likes, beliefs, but always with respect for the opinions of others, without fail. Similarly with religion, one can be religious, atheist, Christian, Muslim, whatever, but all the atrocities that have been caused by religion are too much. For me religion is the biggest killer in history.”
Nadal, who has had a mixed year, will play next at the season-ending London Masters and be part of the Spanish Davis Cup squad that will face Czech Republic in the final next month.