When my husband was in his teens, he had opened his own gym in 1990's in Kashmir valley when insurgency was at its peak. Later, he winded up his business after facing financial crisis. He did restart it later but it didn't run smoothly.
When I got married to him in 2009, we could see a shortage of female trainers in the valley. Moreover, women often feel shy and uncomfortable doing their workouts in front of male instructors.
Suffered Depression
During that period, I suffered from postpartum depression. My doctor advised me to start exercising, but I was not ready that any male would touch my body. My husband and I started looking out for exclusive female gyms in Kashmir but unfortunately couldn't find any.
Due to my health conditions, we went to Delhi and there I was pretty inspired by women who were fit and how they would look after their health. I, too, decided to join the gym. To my utter disbelief, my life turned upside down. Within a few months, my weight came down from 85 kgs to 58 kgs and working out helped me uplift my mood. It would not be wrong to say if I say it helped me cure my depression.
But as soon as I returned to my hometown, the problem was still there as it was before. We had no female trainers here. Initially, I started working out in my husband's gym of my own along with other few ladies from the area, who were quite intrigued with my workout techniques. Also, my husband would always insist me to take over the charge and run his business.
So, one day, I decided to step in. I received my formal training in Hyderabad and came back in 2012 to become a full-fledged gym instructor. Since then, there has been no looking back.
Challenges And Criticism
Till now, I have trained thousands of women in the valley, especially from Srinagar. It also came up with enormous challenges. I had to manage between my kids, household chores along with my gym and my ow workout sessions. Also, I also faced a lot of criticism and backlash from society as well as relatives, I was even abused on social work for the work I did, which is mostly dominated by males. However, I never let that come along my way and gave it back with dignity.
Ladies here face a lot of health complications such as PCOD, Thyroid, obesity due to lack of fitness. It is unfortunate that most of these women rely on medications since early stages of their lives which later create further complications, when their recovery is completely possible if they include workout sessions in their daily lives.
I never intended to be a fitness trainer to earn money but instead wanted to create awareness among women regarding their health issues. I want our new generation, especially females, to be free of medications and opt for a natural way, wherever it is possible.
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