In pictures: Athletes share special tales about their mothers on Mother's Day

"Once I took my mom to Holland and made her fly first class. I requested the airline to take care of her. The cabin crew cut a cake with her, saying 'aapka beta India ko represent karta hai (your son plays for India)'. She started crying, it was a special moment for her. She came and told me 'puttar tera bara naam hai (you have made a name for yourself)'. I told her it was all because of her blessings."

"Once I got a deep cut above my left eye. I was 14 or 15 then and needed three stitches to sew the cut. With one eye heavily bandaged, I reached home. My mother saw me and started crying, thinking I have lost one eye. 'Fod di aankh chhore ki' she had said in Haryanvi. I took the bandage off a little and showed her that the eye was fine and the cut was on the brow. Then she relaxed. It was such a moment of a mom's love and care for her child."

"When my father passed away in 2016, I was playing the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia. I flew back home and the words that my mother said to me at that time will stay with me forever. When we returned from the crematorium, I sat near my mother's feet. She kept crying and in between said to me: 'Your team needs you. So you must fly back and join the team. Your father had the same dream.' I will never forget that moment."

"Whenever she has come to watch me play, 95% of the time I have won, barring just one junior tournament, I remember. But she is a government teacher with a lot of responsibilities. So at times she would say, 'There are hundreds of kids I have to take care of. If I come to watch you play, who will look after them?'. She is so caring about everything."

"I still remember my childhood days when my mother would get paid Rs 4 for every 100 cycle spokes that had to be made by hand. It was a very difficult job. She would spend the entire day doing this and would end up earning Rs 1,000 at the end of the month to be able to send me and my sisters to school. Those were real challenging times and my mother has been the centre of my world."

"Right through my childhood, my mother has never allowed any negativity to touch me, even when people used to ask - 'why have you allowed your girl to play sports?' She has always been my shield."

"The most memorable sporting moment with mom by my side was during the 2015 Nationals when I beat Sharath Kamal for the first time. My mother was there. I think it was the first Nationals she came after Dad passed away. So when I beat Sharath in the semifinals, I ran to her and gave her a big hug. It was so special."

"I still remember one of the times, when I was studying for my 10th standard board exams. My mom, who used to come back home at 8 pm daily from work, made sure that I was best prepared for my science paper. She went through all the chapters, made me study everything, revise everything. The person I am today is because of my mom."

"My dad used to do petty jobs in the fields. At times he wouldn't come home the whole month, and his salary was only Rs 2500. It was all my mom and dad had to run the house and fund the education of their three children. But my mother never used to complain and ensured I and my two sisters completed our education. "Meri mummy meri life ki sabse important person hai (my mom is the most important person in my life)."

"My father always told me that 'your mother is very fond of jewellery'. But she never even mentioned it, forget about making a fuss that she didn't have this or that. She knew that I was trying to make a career in sports, which also needed money. I feel good that I could do whatever I have done for them and made them proud."