I was thirteen when I first picked up a cue. I didn’t know it then, but the years that followed would teach me far more about my own mind than about the geometry of a billiards table. Reading Sai Pranav Gandhi’s account of his beginnings, at a walk-in robotics workshop in Legoland, wide-eyed at a toy moving without a remote, I recognized something familiar: that exact moment when a young person stumbles into a pursuit and doesn’t yet realize it will shape them. I have spent most of my life around sport, and one thing it has taught me is that the real measure of an athlete is not simply how well they perform when everything goes right. It is how they think, respond, adapt, and take responsibility when things don’t. That is what struck me most while reading this book. Sai writes about learning PID control at age nine, about the discipline of building a robot that could solve a Rubik’s Cube, and about the long, unglamorous stretches between one competition and the next. What he and young people like him are really developing is something far more valuable than a working robot: agency. They make choices. They take ownership. They solve problems when there is no obvious answer. They learn to trust themselves and each other, and to keep going when their carefully prepared plans fall apart. In sport, we call this being an athlete. Perhaps that is the most interesting question this book raises — must an athlete always be the person physically moving across the field, or can that same spirit live in the person who thinks, decides, creates, and performs under pressure? My advice to young readers is simple: don’t worry too much about whether robotics is officially called a sport. Get into the game. Practice. Make mistakes. Learn to lose well. Learn to adapt. Take ownership of your journey. That sense of agency is perhaps the finest mark of an athlete — and of a young person ready to shape the future. Geet Sethi Padma Shri, Khel Ratna, and Arjuna Awardee, Five-time World Professional Billiards Champion FOREWORD I first met Sai Pranav Gandhi in March 2020, when he took the stage at TEDxPanaji, a ten-year-old boy speaking about playing with robots and learning maths and science “the fun way”. Something about that afternoon stayed with me: the delight of genuine discovery, and a child who had already understood that the best learning feels like play. That first impression was only the beginning. That boy has since grown into a young man with many laurels to his credit, honours in national and international robotics competitions. I was further delighted to know that he had authored his first book, Play to Purpose. Now, in this second book, he turns to a new and bigger subject: whether robotics can be a sport. Sport has always been close to my heart. Having spent much of my life associated with Dempo Sports Club, I have come to see sport as far more than physical competition. At its core, sport is about discipline, teamwork, resilience, innovation, and grace under pressure. On all these counts, the young people who compete in today’s robotics arenas embody the true spirit of sport. Sai Pranav builds this case patiently, without forcing a conclusion on his readers. Whether robotics is officially recognised as a sport is a question for federations and governments to look into. To the young readers of this book, I would say this: whether you compete on a playing field or build in a workshop, approach your passion with commitment, curiosity, and integrity. The skills you develop through perseverance, teamwork, and creative problem-solving will serve you well throughout life. The future belongs to those who are willing to learn, adapt, and innovate. Sai Pranav’s journey is a reminder that age is no barrier to meaningful contribution. His enthusiasm for learning, his willingness to ask important questions, and his dedication to inspiring others are qualities worthy of admiration. I wish Sai Pranav the very best in all his future endeavours, and I look forward to witnessing the next inspiring chapter in his journey. Shrinivas V. Dempo Chairman, Dempo Group of Companies, President, Dempo Sports Club