MUMBAI, India — Singer Rahul Vaidya has urged Indians to take pride in their language and culture, citing football legend Lionel Messi as an example of staying rooted despite global fame.
Taking to social media, Rahul highlighted how Messi chose to communicate in his mother tongue during his recent visit to India, rather than switching to English or any other language.
“One thing we Indians must learn from Messi: Own your language. Own your culture. English is a skill — not a master. Learn it well, but don’t be enslaved by it. Looking down on your own language is the real insecurity. Global icon. Zero language insecurity,” Rahul wrote.
During his India tour, Messi surprised many by refraining from speaking English, instead choosing to speak in Spanish and relying on his official translator to communicate.
The football icon visited Kolkata, Hyderabad, and Mumbai as part of his itinerary and later shared a farewell video for his Indian fans on social media.
The video included moments of Messi interacting with children at stadiums and meeting cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar. From his Bollywood interactions, Messi chose to feature only his meeting with actress Kareena Kapoor Khan and her sons.
Captioning the video, Messi wrote, “Namaste, India! What incredible visits to Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Kolkata. Thanks for the warm welcome, great hospitality, and all the expressions of love throughout my tour. I hope football has a bright future in India (sic).”
Reacting to her appearance in the video, Kareena shared the clip on her social media account and gave a special mention to her elder son, Taimur, a known Messi fan. “Ok Tim, then this happened (heart emoji) for you (heart emoji) (sic),” she wrote.
During his visit, Messi also met several Bollywood celebrities, including Ajay Devgn, Tiger Shroff, Shilpa Shetty, and Geeta Basra. (Source: IANS)
