COVER STORY

DINAZ VERVATWALA FITNESS TRAINER

She has made fitness a serious business. She dispelled the myth of fitness being achieved in a half hour of dance moves or lifting the dumbbell or aerobics. If you desire fitness it demands that you invest time and energy. Setting an example Dinaz Vervatwala got herself into the Guinness Book of World Records in January this year for having showcased aerobics for a marathon 26-hour session.

Dinaz avers, ?When I attempted the Limca Records my idea was to give away the prize money directly to a charitable organisation. But nobody came forward and there were many who said, ?Who is going to pay you for doing this on stage??" Finally the Limca Records did happen ? she did 12 hours of non-stop aerobics in October; 16 hours in November and 20 hours in December last year.

For many, the Guinness Book record this year might have seemed like the next logical step, but Dinaz has something different to say, ?I wanted to show the world that fitness is serious business. Also by then, I had finished choreographing aerobics to a hundred film songs. Then one day my son and I talked about this and that is how the Guinness happened."

NIFTY-FIFTY

Dinaz?s Fitness Studio, started in 1993, is today synonymous with fitness and well-being. Dinaz, who was a chartered accountant by profession, speaks of her venture, ?My sister-in-law who started her own fitness classes in the Middle East inspired me. I did formal courses in fitness for a year and started off in a small way." A few years later, when the venture was still young, she began to initiate 50-plus women into a programme called ?Nifty-Fifty.? This caught the attention of the doctors from the Obstetrics and Gynaecologists Society of Hyderabad and the Indian Menopause Society, the Hyderabad Chapter. They invited her to give a talk and soon the medical fraternity took to the programme.

Dinaz offers advice that aspiring women may want to heed, ?We need to balance home and business. Many women call themselves career-oriented and neglect their homes. They need

to first be successful at home."