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The beauty of fitness

Nandini Nair speaks to Madhukar Vishnu Talwalkar, a veteran with a fitness mission

Photo: Bijoy Ghosh

TEACHING BY EXAMPLE Madhukar Vishnu Talwalkar

`Even when dying, one should die beautifully,' says Madhukar Vishnu Talwalkar, giving his father's example. He vividly describes his father's wake, "My father, aged 81, was lying on a white marble floor covered with a white chaddar. He was also very fair. There were flowers. And incense was burning near him. He looked beautiful. I wanted to take a photograph." He adds with a laugh, "But my sister said that it's not nice to take photographs like this."

The secret behind his beauty was exercise. His father Vishnu Talwalkar opened a gym back in 1932 in Mumbai. Talwalkar himself has been in the fitness business for over 50 years. Talwalkars Fitness Centres have 37 gyms across the country from Delhi to Chennai, extending to Nagpur and Kanpur.

He is a believer and a crusader. He attempts to convert everyone into a fitness worshipper. He knows that the desire for "a physically attractive body" is universal. He says anecdotally that today in Mumbai dowry rates are determined by body weight. The heavier the girl, the greater is the price demanded! Prospective brides join fitness centres in the hope of reducing the dowry.

Talwalkar classifies himself as "the most senior person in the largest chain of Indian health clubs." With dyed moustache he says, "I got everything due to exercise and fitness only.I got good physique, energy and good looks." He believes that exercise can even improve ones attitude to the world. At 74, Talwalkar might have grey hair, but he is of glowing complexion, broad shoulders and fortified build.

Having spread his centres across the country he believes, "without health all other pursuits in life are unattainable." He explains that there are two kinds of people who join fitness centres. Serious sportsmen and bodybuilders join the cheaper gyms. But `lifestylers', those with spare money and looking for a toned body and freedom from stress join more expensive gyms like Talwalkars.

Training

He rues that people are willing to spend money at fancy restaurants but are reluctant to spend on exercising. He says people are ignorant about the right foods and exercise and need to be guided. People need "an organised system" and should join gyms, "to prevent pains, improve posture, gain confidence and enhance the body." He says the stylish ambience, trained instructors, special equipment and years of experience make Talwalkars special.

He narrates an incident, which he thinks best illustrates the eminence of physique and fitness. One afternoon he was sitting at a Juhu salon having a haircut. Two eunuchs entered and asked for face cream, complaining that the sun was ruining their skin. One of them generously applied cream to her face. But the other slighted her by saying, "Cream lagane se kya faida. Peit kam kar. Peit kam kar."

At a sturdy five feet four, Talwalkar says confidently, "Exercise and education are the only two things that can remove an inferiority complex."

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