'Learn To Become Gems From Stones,' We Should Have Resolve To Learn To Live With Courage

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Forgetting our age i.e. the number of years we have lived on this earth we have to recognise the power within us. We have to wake it up by shaking ourselves considering that every day is a challenge in this journey. We should have the resolve to learn to live with courage.

Learn to paint life and learn to become a gem from stone.  This was said by three prominent people of the city - a doctor, a businessman and a government servant while addressing an open forum session here on Friday.

It was organised by Indore Management Association (IMA) on the topic ‘An Age is Only a Number-Stories of Grit, Determination & Adventure’. The guest panellists and speakers were Dr Arun Agarwal, cancer surgeon & Oncologist who is a trekker & skier even at the age of 55 plus. Vijay Sohni, assistant commissioner State GST who is a ‘Comrades Runner’ even at the age of 55 and Neeraj Yagnik, a businessman who is an ardent cyclist also at the age of 55.

The session was moderated by IMA vice president CA Navin Khandelwal, an insolvency professional & registered valuer. During this discussion, Dr. Agarwal informed that in 1993 when he was 37 years old, his weight was 92 kg and at that time his uncle had organised a 150 km track of youth hostel in SirhanSangla.

When he expressed his desire to go on this trek with his uncle, he saw his obesity and discouraged him from going on the trek. But he took that as a challenge and completed that trek successfully. This instilled confidence in him. Due to this, he fell in love with nature and mountains, and along with this he also lost weight.

Due to weight loss, he started feeling very energetic.  Started running at age of 51: Sohni Ultra-marathon runner Sohni stated that he started running for fitness at the age of 51 because he used to have severe acidity and also had blood pressure.

At the same time, I had heard about world-famous marathon runner Fauja Singh who started running at the age of 85 and completed the first marathon (42.195 km) at the age of 87. Fauja Singh is the only living marathon runner at the age of 109 who is also his role model. Sohni, completed his first full marathon in Hyderabad in 2014 at the age of 52.

This boosted his confidence a lot.  Love to sweat during exercise: Yagnik Cyclist Neeraj Yagnik said that he has been fond of fitness since 2006. He mentioned that he is in love with the sweat that comes out during exercise. He used to run before cycling but in 2018 he had a major neck bone surgery. After recovering, in 2019, he decided to cycle from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. Instead of a journey, it turned into a mission.