“Since childhood, I’ve been a sports lover. I used to play football during my younger days. I think I have found my passion for fitness from there itself. The thought of having a good physique has always driven me crazy. People call me Tamu. I have been into Bodybuilding for the past seven years.
Life was quite stable till 2014. After that, I decided to participate in a bodybuilding competition for the very first time. It was then I realized the fact that I’m just a fish in a pond with an ocean left to explore. Of course, I lost the show. That loss could have stopped me from grinding ahead. I could see people far better than me and with more facilities to become even better. There was a part of me which convinced me that I was inferior. But I decided to beat myself. The very next day I stood right in front of my coach with the zeal in my eyes to give it my all. I asked him to guide me to the best of his ability and promised to give my hundred percent into it.
My inner self believed in my hard work but it is difficult to convince the outside world. Everyone believed that this motivation of mine is temporary and the fire will extinguish soon. Even the person I believed to be my partner backed off at that crucial time. However it only worked as a catalyst for the fire within, this pain and anger supplemented my will and dedication. I was ready to go on par with any limits.
In the words of Will Smith, I would like to describe the situation. He once said: ‘You do not wake up one day and say I’m gonna build the best wall ever made but you wake up each day and lay a brick the best you can and a day will come you’ll see a wall in front of you.’ Similarly, I started working each day on my body because building a good physique is a dead slow process. Along with this, I was pursuing my graduation. With time, I was able to see good changes in my physique. I took part in a plethora of competitions but always missed the number 1 spot. Each failure made me more anxious. At times I used to cry myself to sleep but never had I thought of quitting this. I always knew I was made for this.
The time when my graduation was about to end, I realised this passion wouldn’t allow me to do a corporate job. Like any other middle-class parents, according to them quitting studies for passion is stupid whatsoever. Maybe they were right, as till now, I haven’t achieved anything substantial enough to prove my worth.
Technically speaking with our parents, ‘words can only negotiate love; faith and trust are negotiated through actions and results’. All these things combined turned my anxiety into depression. The last semester of my master’s degree was approaching. I was unable to decide what is to be done. One fine day I just thought of giving a random idea, a shot. That was probably the biggest risk of my life. I took all the money which was supposed to be submitted as my fees to book a place for my own gym. Still, I was in need of a strong amount for the proper setup with all the equipments. I didn’t know where to arrange the money from, but I believed that if you help yourself, God will help you too.
Out of nowhere, I found genuinely good people who showed faith in me and invested their money in setting up my gym. The gym set up was done right. As soon as my parents came to know about this, they were very angry. Any middle-class guy can easily relate to the amount of tension my decision had created at that time. There was a time, they were about to throw me out of the house. Gradually, they started hearing about me from people around the city. Actions and results negotiate for faith and trust, it worked in my case.
But still, I didn’t have the title I was hungry for. Along with all this drama and hustle, I got myself a new and constant coach. My focus now was just on my goal. Finally, the day came the day in 2018. I banged the stage at an International Show named Sheru Classic Pro. I was standing amongst the Top 6 World Class Athletes. Later I won three back to back titles of Mr. Uttarakhand 2019, Mr. Delhi 2018 and, Gold classic 2019. But the struggle is still on and I have my eyes fixed on the next goal.
If I had to tell someone in a nutshell that what it takes to be there, I would say that passion demands sacrifice and when everything leads you down, make sure the head is held high.
Instagram – @tamu_rawat
*The views expressed in the above article are of the writer and not the Winged Club.