Mr Alvin Kallicharran at Akshar Arbol International School

March 18^th 2019 turned out to be a memorable day for the teaching and learning community at Akshar Arbol International School in Injambakkam as they had the opportunity to interact with the veteran West Indian Cricketer Mr. Alvin Kallicharran.

Mr. Kallicharran has travelled to his roots by visiting Chennai, the city his mother was born in, an act befitting the occasion of the release of his autobiography, ‘Colour Blind’ which is dedicated to his mother’s memory. Interacting very joyously with the students, Mr. Kallicharran addressed the gathering and spoke in length about his humble beginnings. Opening up about his formative years and how his passion for cricket led him to brave all obstacles, Mr. Kallicharran insisted on the need to be ambitious at a young age. He stressed on the importance of choosing any sport of one’s liking and striving with dedication to excel in it. He went on to talk about the need to be a quick thinker and decision maker, to be hungry for success, to adopt positivity in one’s approach and to always have a role model in life to drive oneself towards one’s aspirations. Mr. Kallicharran’s heartfelt and powerful speech concluded on a note of warning wherein he insisted the students to never take a shortcut to attaining one’s goals as it will always lead to mediocrity but to work hard which, despite being time consuming, will surely help one attain lasting success.

The speech was followed by the felicitation of Mr. Kallicharran by Mr. R. Subramanian, the school Chairman. To mark this event Mr. Kallicharran planted a sapling in the school campus in line with the school’s vision of building a green campus.

Mr. Kallicharran graciously posed for photographs with the students, signed several bats and handed out autographs to eager students. In light of his upcoming 70^th birthday on the 21^st of March, the event drew to a close with a cake cutting and birthday song. A fitting end to the great event, Mr. Kallicharran took to the ground and dexterously batted for nearly two overs much to the delight of the onlookers.