MANGALURU: Pull-ups, push-ups, crunches...sprayed and oiled, giving their skin a glow, these musclemen work hard towards getting that chiselled body.
The focus is on weight training and dieting, so central to the bodybuilding ethos. Welcome to Vyayama Shale, a place where bodybuilders, popularly known as pehelwans or pailwans, use traditional methods of physical exercise. However, they have now switched over to mats instead of muscling it in the mud.
Back then body building was hot.
With glitzy modern gyms being very popular now, can this once-cherished workout be cool again?
It has no modern equipment nor complex exercise regimen. Yet, these exercise houses attract youngsters. Ask Nithin Nayak (19), studying PUC in Canara Pre-University College here. He says he was weighing 50kg last year and his attempt to build his body by practising at a modern gym was not helpful. His PT teacher suggested that he join a Vyayama Shale. He now weighs 75kg. He says he is bowled over by the discipline, dedication and devotion. Inspired by him, three of his classmates joined the same traditional gym.
Nithesh Kumar Hegde, BE second semester student at Shri Devi College of Engineering, says he wanted to join a Vyayama Shale after watching a Kusthi tournament in Mangala Stadium. He says the traditional method not only keeps the body fit and supple but also serves as a stress-buster.
The students at Veeranjaneya Gymnasium in Maripalla say they have shifted from a modern gym to a traditional one. Rakesh Bangera (20), who weighs 89kg, says that his exercise starts with a prayer to Lord Hanuman. He has also inspired seven of his friends to join the Vyayama Shale. Modern gymnasiums are helpful for building the body for a temporary period while the toned body at the Shale is permanent, he says.
They say the workout builds the core strength and preserves youthful energy. They point to sprightly old men for proof.
Seventy-two-year-old Thukrappa Poojary of Vittal can lift a 30kg wooden mace effortlessly. He won the title of Pailwan in 1958. Being a Talim artist who performed during the festivals of local temples, Poojary was trained under Narayana Master in Puttur. In his heydays, he was able to take three rice bags of 90kg as head load. His wife says that Pailwans of those days were held in high esteem by the people.
Umesh Kotian, a wrestler, says the traditional style of body building is underlined by dedication. He says the fitness regimen used to be so good that his grandfather would anchor a fishing boat single-handedly.
Thumbey-based Rathnakar Suvarna (65), another wrestler, says that the trainers are recognised as Ustads and there was a special kind of respect for them.
These fitness rockers spent years and years of their lives focused on perfecting the human body through proper training and nutrition. These bodybuilding houses have started perking up with government support
and funds.
Dakshina Kannada boasts of bodybuilders like Raymond Dsouza, Roshan Ferrao and Vincent Prakash Carlo, to name a few.