He sells mouth-watering chicken xacuti, butter chicken, tandoori chicken, fried rice, cafreal, ros-omelette, omelette-pao and anda-bhurji “ at his fast food joint in Panaji to hundreds of customers a day and night. His gaddo starts at 5 pm, and by the time the last customer leaves, it’s almost 4 am. Of the three siblings who handle the business on shifts, Santosh Halarnkar aka Babu is the youngest. He does his six hours duty at the gaddo from 8 pm to 2 am and then sleeps till 8 am.
“During the rush hours, especially at intervals, I fry mega omelettes of 15, 20 or even 30 eggs at a time and believe me, it needs strength as well as skills,” boasts Babu whose customers are wowed to see him turning the king size omelette with a single knife. “The intervals are brief and I have to handle a crowd of 100-500 people at a time, all demanding omelette pao. Making a large omelette and then cutting it into pieces was easier than making individual omelettes each time,” says Babu.
But that’s not the only reason why Babu is being talked about. When he wakes up at 8am every day, he heads to the gym and spends at least two hours a day working out. This happens six days a week. More than a habit, his passion has turned into an addiction now. During the day he is preoccupied with preparations for the evening at the gaddo. Thrice a week he attends Zumba classes. He is also a yellow belt karatekar. In spite of keeping a busy schedule Babu is seriously chasing a dream “ of participating in the body building competition next year for which he has to lose few more kilos and add to his workout hours.
But why is he doing this? “I was overweight and maintained my weight at 130 kilos for almost 12-15 years,” recalls Babu. This is all in the past now. Babu began reducing his weight around five years ago and shedding almost 50 kilos has brought it down to 82 kilos now. “I am further shedding few extra kilos to reach the target of 75 kilos wherein I can participate in a bodybuilding competition in 2017,” states Babu. It began with walking and running for an hour on the trade mill at gym coupled with three hour extra walking rounds at Altinho with no fixed time “ some days in the morning, the other days in the evening. “All those who took rounds along with me used to disappear one by one after exhausting their stamina and I would be left alone, but undeterred I used to continue,” recalls Babu.
Those who have been habitual visitors Babu’s fast food gaddo on the 18th June road for the past 35 years, most Ponjekars are a witness to the graph of his changing weight. They had seen Babu’s slim trim figure gradually turn into an obese. Now that he is returning to his fitter days of yore, many wonder how he could achieve that. “My weight was the topic of the town. I was literally ashamed of my body and wanted badly to return to the old me. I thank my elder brother Gurudas who motivated me to join the gym. His wholehearted support pushed me towards fitness. Around the same time gym instructor Tariq Mohammad entered into my life. Both of us soon became friends, so much so that whenever Tariq joined a new gym I followed him and joined it too until he opened his own gym,” shares Babu.
On diet now with only salads, curd, chicken, eggs, whey and juices, Babu does not consume rice, bread, chapatti, tea-coffee or milk. He is now on a Ketogenic diet which is low-carb, adequate protein, high-fat diet that causes weight loss. But why does Babu want to show off his ‘earned’ body? “I have put in almost five years in gaining fitness. I pursued my goal seriously. I want to show the world that one can chase a dream. Tariq, participates in body building competitions and this time as his obedient ‘disciple’ I will accompany him,” smiles Babu. Pointing to Babu, Tariq says, “Babu is in his early 40s. At this age, it’s wonderful that he has maintained his weight for the past three years.”
Anyone can chase a dream and follow it religiously with patience, commitment and dedication. Babu and Tariq are doing just the same “ one is nurturing a dream and the other is aiding him. Babu’s perseverance is just an example of how even common men can nurture a dream of possessing a fit body and how people of all ages are fast embracing gym culture.
