mid-day's 42nd anniversary: An all-rounder in the true sense

Ramesh Naidu 25Took up motivational speaking and inspirational writing via social media to help people afflicted by mental issues during lockdownThe second wave of the Covid19 pandemic was a testing time for sportspersons given that all public grounds and sporting activities were shutHowever Indiarsquos 2019 Physical Disability T20 World Serieswinning allrounder Ramesh Naidu refused to be bogged down at home and instead decided to reach out to people via social media and help in a unique way Lack of physical activity notwithstanding the lockdown also affected the mental wellbeing of people And herersquos where Naidu 25 a resident of Visakhapatnam decided to help He began interacting with depressed people online and started writing inspirational lines and motivational speeches for them Ramesh Naidu left with Dr Arun Kumar Mohanty the director of AMG Residential English Medium HSldquoWhen there was a strong second wave of the pandemic right up to April there was a complete lockdown in Andhra Pradesh Then there was a break of 10 days and again the lockdown came into effect disrupting normal life People were upset So I decided to use the online platform to reach out and speak to these people in distressrdquo Naidu a final year student of Electrical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras told midday recentlyNaidu does not have the big toe on his right leg and also has no fingers but surprisingly bowls some sharp legspin for Team India He felt he could motivate people through his own example ldquoThe focus of my articles was mental strength and how to overcome the dark phase in your life I wrote everything with the mindset of a cricketer For example how can a player who is going through bad form make a comeback and overcome that failurerdquo added Naidu who credited his schoolmdashAMG Residential English Medium in Visakhapatnammdashfor its free and quality education that has played a vital role in making him a responsible citizenNaidu during a selection trial in Mumbai prior to the 2019 Physical Disability T20 World SeriesldquoI interacted with people through my Instagram live page rameshnaidu03 People who had issues would ask me questions I would try to analyse their problems give my observations and offer a solution to help them overcome their depression People who are depressed seek encouragement and motivation and thatrsquos exactly what I helped them with I offered counselling for free I may not have helped hundreds of people but around 30 to 40 people did benefit from my endeavour I also connected with people through Whatsapp groups and telephone calls on a oneonone basis I simply passed on my experiences It is very satisfying when people start believing in you trusting you and telling you their problems I feel they also motivated me in return so even I have benefited through this lockdownrdquo explained NaiduBesides helping mentallyaffected strangers virtually Naidu also physically helped out in the real world He joined a group of school friends to provide oxygen cylinders and other medical aid to over 100 people ldquoWe friends first came together and began gathering information of all those who needed help and understood exactly what kind of help they needed We then started seeking solutions through our friends and contacts and finally provided solutions to the needy So it was a wellplanned initiative It was a serious situation given the lack of oxygen and hospital beds Most of the needy people were from the middleclass segment Thankfully it all went well and today the situation is under controlrdquo Naidu concludedAlso Read Mixed bag full of medals