UP, Close, and Fit with Milind Soman
CHENNAI : It’s 5 pm and we are at Green Park Hotel to meet fitness icon and founder of Pinkathon, Milind Soman. The 52-year-old, clad in a grey Pinkathon T-shirt which reads Pengalukku O Podunge, walks into the lobby. “I asked him for a picture...he agreed, but has one condition - he wants me to do five push-ups,” says a woman sitting adjacent to our table, giving us a peek into Milind’s dedication towards fitness and inspiring others to be fit. We mentally prepared ourselves for the overwhelming challenges that might be given to us, and began our conversation on mental discipline, fitness and Colors Pinkathon, India’s biggest women’s run, over a cup of hot coffee.
“When we launched Pinkathon in 2012, in Mumbai, we were excited by the response and wanted to take it to other cities as well. For a couple of years, the acceptance of such a marathon was slow in the city,” he recalls. In 2014, Chennai saw the first edition of the Pinkathon run where 5,000 women from all walks of life participated. “The growth in Chennai has been steady. There’s more interest and acceptance now from different pockets of the society,” he shares.
The marathon, he says promotes fitness of different women— women with visual impairment, cancer survivors, baby-wearing mothers and pregnant women. “There are women who don’t feel comfortable running in a gear. They take part in our Pinkathon, clad in saris and burka. So, there’s no stopping anyone and we go out of our way to reach out and encourage them,” he says. Milind emphasises that the fact it’s a women-only run is a big incentive. “One of the major challenges we see women face is that they don’t want to take part or go into a male-dominated space.
There’s reluctance and an inhibition that something might go wrong. So, when it’s a women-only space they don’t feel uncomfortable,” he says. V Divya, a 20-year-old visually impaired girl from Chennai, trained by Milind and his team, will take part in the marathon. Ask him if he would be working with people with other disabilities in the future editions, he says, “This attempt is quite new and exciting for all of us. The capacity different abled people have to inspire others is more.
To have Divya run 100 km is sure to inspire other women.” Shedding light on how mental discipline creates a ripple effect on physical health, he explains, “Most people think that the mind is smart and the body is weak. But, that’s not the case...in fact, it’s the opposite. The potential our body possesses is something we can’t fathom. My evaluation of fitness depends on the choices I make every day - mentally, physically and emotionally. Having a disciplined mind, that concentrates, focuses, and most importantly, is determined, is vital in pushing your boundaries physically.”
Talking about the ‘fat equals unfit’ theory and answering queries from some of our women readers who asked: “What if whatever I’m doing doesn’t show on the weighing scale”, he says, “When it comes to the science of health and medicine, it will tell that being overweight could lead to health issues. And when it comes to being fit, and you are constantly looking at the weighing scale for results, you are evaluating yourself mentally. In either situation, you have to start respecting your body. But, not look for results in a short span of time. Patience and respect for your body are key aspects that need to be worked on.”
The human body starts ‘sliding’ and deteriorating after the age of 25. “It’s never too late to get your body on the right track. But sometimes, it’s tough to go back, especially after a certain age. But, with mental discipline, you can stop the slide,” he adds. (The Pinkathon marathon will be conducted on August 5, from the war memorial side of Island Ground. To register, visit: www.pinkathon.in/ chennai)