The ground reality

Gurnaaz Kaur

Actor-singer Gurshabad, who is busy in the post-production of some of his upcoming songs and a movie with Rhythm Boyz, vouches for inner fitness to achieve physical strength. He says we must focus on being ‘soil freaks’ than gym freaks. What a ground can give, no machine can is what he believes… which is why he plays games such as basketball, football and badminton. He also makes sure to go for cycling twice a day but all this after his share of prayers, meditation and riyaaz.

Fitness for me is…

It is complete well-being of the body, mind and soul. If I am working out but my mind is somewhere else, the physical effort will bear no result, therefore I think the mind and body have to be in sync.

Spiritual fitness…

I start my day with paath, then I do riyaaz and yoga. After that I go for cycling.

My day starts with

I have two glasses of warm water. Some days I mix moringa powder, wheatgrass powder or neem powder. We grow these at home, so all are fresh and organic.

Food habits

My choice in food is very simple. Homegrown veggies with one chapati in the morning, milk and some nuts in the afternoon, early evening is when I eat daliya or khichadi. In the evening, when I come back from cycling, I have banana shake. I do not believe in anything artificial and keep away from junk food. At the same time, munching something every two hours, like fruits, nuts or roasted grains is a must.

No control please…

I don’t believe in restricting myself from eating anything. All these diets that people follow where they stop eating grains or only eat some particular type of foods, I am far from such fads. I think our body needs a certain amount of everything, we’ve grown up eating grains, so when we don’t feed it, the body asks for it.

Sports person, I am…

I play football and basketball with my friends. Have been doing so since schooland college days. These days, I play badminton.

Lockdown discovery

Since we couldn’t play these sports during the lockdown, I started with horse-riding. We have horses at home. I have been in my village Pampur Bhootwind, district Tarn Taran, throughout this time, so I took to this new activity and I can say I’ve become an expert. I go for a ride twice daily.

Indulgence means…

Lots of homemade white butter, paranthas made by my mom and topped with green chutney and chili pickle. And the cherry on top will be a big glass of lassi.

Matter of choice

I’ve hardly ever drank Coke or Pepsi. It’s a so unhealthy. When it comes to chips, I’d rather have a missi roti.

When it’s time to travel

So, whenever I am away from home for shoots or concerts, I book an Air BnB with kitchen and I stock up all the raw material and veggies and cook for myself.

Find inspiration in…

My grandfathers and his brothers. My both grandfathers were 6 ft 3 inch tall and had such good built. They never went to any gym or did anything special for fitness. Their life stories are my motivation. I try and follow what they did, so I can be as fit as them.

Sleep well…

Sleep is very important, it is like meditation. When the body asks for it, do give it but don’t be its slave.

A word of advice

Spend more time under the sky, sleep under it, it relaxes your mind and energizes your body. Be in touch with nature. Working out on machines is not important, they are all artificial means, groundwork on the other hand is more important. Play games, walk bare feet on grass. Connect with your roots; be a soil freak, not a gym freak.