KOCHI: E P Chackochan, a former Mr Kerala was once a bodybuilding coach. Today, at the age of 58, he presses clothes for a living in Angamaly.
He is a garrulous person, who likes the company of friends. But on the day I met him, he was silent. If you looked around, you would know the reason. There was not a single piece of cloth on his dusty, old pressing table. Chacko, as everybody calls him, was jobless that day.
“I am pretty used to days when I have no work, but my wife Celina and I manage somehow,” he says. Suddenly, he says in broken English, “What can I do for you?”, and flashes a brilliant smile. It was as if the world has never been unkind to him. But it has been unkind. From being Ernakulam district bodybuilding champion three times and one-time state champion, the transition to a presser was not easy.
“I still remember the day Chackochan became the state champion,” says Celina. “It was 4th December 2004 at Njarakkal. I was the proudest wife.”
But to be a champion, Chackochan had to work hard and follow a specific diet. “The whites of thirty eggs, puttu without coconut, salmon, half kilo chicken, two hours sleep at noon, six hours of daily practice at the gym, and lots of water,” says Celina. “To do well in a single competition, he has to work hard for six months and spend ` 50,000. But when he wins, he gets a cash award of only ` 5,000. Even though Chackochan had sponsors, in the end we just could not make ends meet.” Today, they live in a rented house. To earn money Chackochan became a presser. “People have teased me a lot,” says Chackochan. “But I decided to do it because family is my priority.”