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When Becker turned bus driver during India charity trip

February 06, 2011 20:50 IST

He does not quite remember when exactly it happened but former tennis star Boris Becker had turned bus driver for a group of underprivileged kids while on a trip to India.

The flamboyant six-time Grand Slam champion was on a trip to India a few years ago and, as part of his philanthropic work, became a bus driver to bring smiles on the faces of some kids.

"I think it was 5-6 years ago. I don't even remember what the project was about. I am involved with so many of them that I sometimes forget their exact names," said the German before being reminded that he had gone to Mumbai for the 'Magic Bus' project.

boris beckerAs part of the project, Becker was to pick up kids from slum dwellings and take them to a nearby playground on a 'Magic Bus'.

"We picked up kids from what they called homes, if they can be called that, on a bus of which I was the driver," he recalled.

"The kids were driven to a ground where there was green grass and for four hours they just forgot that they had virtually nothing to go back to after that. We had the kids smiling and playing and it was a wonderful sight," said Becker, an Olympic gold medallist and the youngest ever Wimbledon champion.

Becker is a jury member for the Laureus World Sports Awards to be presented in Abu Dhabi on Monday.

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