"You can't hold him down, he gotta move" Article on Bhasker
From Times of India, Jan 15, 2011
MUMBAI: "You can't hold me down, I don't want to be down, I gotta move."
These lines from Jimi Hendrix's famous number 'Stone Free' signifies Bhaskar Desai's spirit and Zeal. He's closing in on his retirement age, but shows no signs of tiring. At 58, he's running better than he has ever done before.
Running has kept him going despite life's many setbacks. Bhaskar lost his son in a road accident in 2006. A few months later, in January 2007, his wife followed her son. "She hurt her head badly in a fall at home. She pulled on for six days in the hospital. On the seventh day, she decided to join our son," says Bhaskar.
"I decided to honour her spirited life by running the Mumbai Marathon two days after she passed away. If she was alive, she would have wanted me to run the marathon. She would have told me, "What are you doing Bhaskar? Go for your run!" he adds.
Bhaskar has no family members in India. "All my relatives, uncles, aunts, almost everybody in India have left me," he says. His siblings live in the US. But that does not allow him to brood. "I like to spread the cheer around. I have a bigger family of fellow runners now."
Bhaskar, 58, is an IITian and a textile expert. But business is just a pastime now. "When you look back, you realize you have got what it takes to lead a decent life. I want my two slices of bread and curry, I do enjoy my whiskey, but I also feel I need to look at those people in whose lives I could bring about a change.
"We provide some employment of sorts for the warli people of Dahanu. Their paintings are put on sale, and the money from the sale is used for their betterment. We ensure their children go to school, they have clean drinking water. Now their mortality rate is up from a stunning low of 55 years. Sometimes, during a run when I get tired, I draw positive energy from these people and from my angels. I look up to my wife Nina and son and ask them for strength. Then I start again on my merry journey," says Bhaskar.
Bhaskar's inspiration may be his angels, but his strength lies in the fact that he is lightweight. He weighs just a kg more than his physical age of 58. He also keeps his mind lightweight. "I have marked a lot of people keep looking at their watches all the time. They worry too much, whether to go fast or go slow. I never plan anything. I never even glance at my watch when I am running. I find it too depressing."
Bhaskar was not a born runner though. Despite working in the corporate world, he never led a corporate lifestyle. He had his quota of fun, but the triglycerides count in his body forced him to take up running. "My count was so high that an American doctor was shocked that I was still alive! It stood at an astonishing 900!" he recalls.
Though Bhaskar was a gym regular, the count alarmed him into cutting down on all fatty food. "It was in 2006 when I used to run around 2-3 kms in the gym treadmill when a gym regular, Venugopal, inspired me to attempt the 21km run in Mumbai which was just five weeks later. I graduated from two kms to 21kms by running behind a mall in Goregaon." Bhaskar clocked 1:45 in his first attempt at half marathon. And he has only kept pacing since.
Last year was his best so far. In August he clocked 1:48 in the 21k, in November at the Delhi half marathon, he returned with an encouraging 1:43 and in Goa four weeks later he set a personal best of 1:42 for the same distance. The next week in Ahmedabad, he ran a personal best of 3:45 in the 42k.
But Bhaskar promises to put more method to his running in the New Year. "I hope like some of my friends, I too can get a little more organized while running." He also wants to continue living by his favourite quote: "I want to give a date to future so that I do not get out of date."
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MUMBAI: "You can't hold me down, I don't want to be down, I gotta move."
These lines from Jimi Hendrix's famous number 'Stone Free' signifies Bhaskar Desai's spirit and Zeal. He's closing in on his retirement age, but shows no signs of tiring. At 58, he's running better than he has ever done before.
Running has kept him going despite life's many setbacks. Bhaskar lost his son in a road accident in 2006. A few months later, in January 2007, his wife followed her son. "She hurt her head badly in a fall at home. She pulled on for six days in the hospital. On the seventh day, she decided to join our son," says Bhaskar.
"I decided to honour her spirited life by running the Mumbai Marathon two days after she passed away. If she was alive, she would have wanted me to run the marathon. She would have told me, "What are you doing Bhaskar? Go for your run!" he adds.
Bhaskar has no family members in India. "All my relatives, uncles, aunts, almost everybody in India have left me," he says. His siblings live in the US. But that does not allow him to brood. "I like to spread the cheer around. I have a bigger family of fellow runners now."
Bhaskar, 58, is an IITian and a textile expert. But business is just a pastime now. "When you look back, you realize you have got what it takes to lead a decent life. I want my two slices of bread and curry, I do enjoy my whiskey, but I also feel I need to look at those people in whose lives I could bring about a change.
"We provide some employment of sorts for the warli people of Dahanu. Their paintings are put on sale, and the money from the sale is used for their betterment. We ensure their children go to school, they have clean drinking water. Now their mortality rate is up from a stunning low of 55 years. Sometimes, during a run when I get tired, I draw positive energy from these people and from my angels. I look up to my wife Nina and son and ask them for strength. Then I start again on my merry journey," says Bhaskar.
Bhaskar's inspiration may be his angels, but his strength lies in the fact that he is lightweight. He weighs just a kg more than his physical age of 58. He also keeps his mind lightweight. "I have marked a lot of people keep looking at their watches all the time. They worry too much, whether to go fast or go slow. I never plan anything. I never even glance at my watch when I am running. I find it too depressing."
Bhaskar was not a born runner though. Despite working in the corporate world, he never led a corporate lifestyle. He had his quota of fun, but the triglycerides count in his body forced him to take up running. "My count was so high that an American doctor was shocked that I was still alive! It stood at an astonishing 900!" he recalls.
Though Bhaskar was a gym regular, the count alarmed him into cutting down on all fatty food. "It was in 2006 when I used to run around 2-3 kms in the gym treadmill when a gym regular, Venugopal, inspired me to attempt the 21km run in Mumbai which was just five weeks later. I graduated from two kms to 21kms by running behind a mall in Goregaon." Bhaskar clocked 1:45 in his first attempt at half marathon. And he has only kept pacing since.
Last year was his best so far. In August he clocked 1:48 in the 21k, in November at the Delhi half marathon, he returned with an encouraging 1:43 and in Goa four weeks later he set a personal best of 1:42 for the same distance. The next week in Ahmedabad, he ran a personal best of 3:45 in the 42k.
But Bhaskar promises to put more method to his running in the New Year. "I hope like some of my friends, I too can get a little more organized while running." He also wants to continue living by his favourite quote: "I want to give a date to future so that I do not get out of date."
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