Girls of steel

Two women with a different past and a strikingly distinct present! A common thread runs between them which is also their identity — bodybuilding. Their stories are in contrast and the narration is no different. One begins by retracing the past, the other prefers to celebrate the present first. Monica Gupta from Jammu and Yashmeen Chauhan from Gurugram talk about their journey, the roadblocks that came their way and their final destination.

Monica Gupta

A visit to a gym three years ago changed her course of life. Happily married, mother to two grown-up children, now 22 and 12, a kitty party regular, Monica was everything a woman in her late thirties usually is. “I tried my hand at weight training by accident and fell for it. Later, my husband suggested that I should take up bodybuilding as a profession.” But in a city like Jammu, you require more than rigorous training and a protein-rich diet to develop biceps and triceps. “You need to shut people up, and focus hard.”  Many a mean statement was made. “Men in the gym would tease me that my muscles were like that of a man.” Not the one to be disheartened, she would tell them, “You must train hard too. You too might look like a man.” 

 Mocking didn’t stop at her. Her school-going children were extended the ‘favour’. “That was a break-down point. I wanted to give up my passion.” While her family stood by her, many warned her of consequences in the extended family. They were very uncomfortable with me wearing a two-piece costume at competitions. “Women wear two-piece while swimming. I was going to sport it to represent my city or country at competitions.”

Unfazed by criticism, she went on to win North India Bodybuilding Championship in March this year. A week ago, she became the first woman from Jammu and Kashmir to bring home a medal in the athletic woman category at the World Bodybuilding and Physique Sport Championship held in Mongolia. She found her calling at 39, and at 42 today, she is confident that future will be as rewarding as the present.